Northern Switchgear Antrim Senior Football Championship
Rossa 0-16 Gort na Móna 0-9
Four injury time points by Rossa gave them a seven point win over Gort na Móna in Sunday’s Antrim Senior Football Championship preliminary round at Hannahstown on Sunday. In a game played in sweltering heat the Shaw’s Road men were good value for their win but the final scoreline would suggest it was a stroll in the park which was far from the case. After trailing by 0-6 to 0-7 at half time Gort na Móna must have felt they were in with a great chance, and when they started the new half with two unanswered points to move a point clear it looked like their optimism was well justified. They were still level on 35 minutes when Patrick McCaffrey hit his fifth point of the game, but they would not score again for the remaining 25 minutes plus injury time and while Rossa weren’t exactly prolific either their more direct play gave them the edge.
Michael Armstrong, who had a great battle throughout the game with his midfield opponent Christopher Carson, got Rossa off to a sharp start when he won the ball from the throw-in before soloing through for a point inside 30 second. Armstrong added another two minutes later to give his team a two point cushion but the Gorts hit back with a well taken point from centre forward Patrick McCaffrey in the third minute. Colm Fleming stretched the Rossa lead to 0-3 to 0-1 when he pointed a free from 40 meters but a pointed free from Gort na Móna’s Dessie McClean left just a point between the sides in the ninth minute.
Two quick points from Thomas Morgan moved Rossa 0-5 to 0-2 ahead by the midway point of the first half and it appeared the Division 2 champions were gaining the upper hand but back came the Gorts with points from Dessie McClean and Patirck McCaffrey to cut the deficit to the minimum once again. Once more the men in blue pulled away as Morgan and Stephen Beatty split the Gort na Móna posts in the 23rd and 25th minutes, but the Turf Lodge men once again had an answer and two excellent points from David McErlean and Dessie McClean just before the break left them just one behind at the short whistle. (0-6 to 0-7).
When they started the second half with further points from McErlean and McClean the Gorts were in front for the first time in the game and thinks looked promising. Points from Eoghan McMenamin and Colm Fleming swung the game back in Rossa’s favour but Patrick McCaffrey brought his team level once again with a point following a good flowing move in the 38th minute.
At this stage it appeared this was going to be a tight affair but incredibly Gort na Móna would not score again. Midway through the half Dominic McEnhill gave Rossa back the elad and three minutes later he put them two ahead. Colm Fleming pushed the Rossa lead out to three with a well taken score from play in the 49th minute but they had to wait until injury time for the insurance point which McEnhill duly supplied with a good finish. That score seemed to kill off the Gorts and in the three minutes of injury time that remained Beatty, McEnhill and Crossan all added points to put seven between the side at the end.
ROSSA: Donal Armstrong, Michael McGreevey, Ciaran Orchin, Niall Crossan, Sean Finch, Cricky McGuinness, Michael Armstrong, Stephen Beatty, Gerard Walsh, Eoghan McMenamin, Darren Grego, Dominic McEnhill, Colm Fleming, Thomas Morgan.
Subs – Oisin McVicker, Cormac McGettigan, Conal McDonnell, James Cooley.
GORT NA MÓNA: Thomas McCaffrey, Conor Connolly, Christopher Devlin, Mark Rea, Christopher Browning, Aidan McDonagh, David McErlean, Christopher Carson, Caoimhin Magee, Padraig McHugh, Patrick McCaffrey, Conor Browning, Shane Scullion, Paul Conlan, Dessie McClean.
Referee – Colm McDonald
