Laverty Cup Final
Aldergrove 1.12 (15)
Tír na nÓg 1.10 (13)
Photographs: Bert Trowlen
In what was a tight encounter and a game that went down to the wire St James’ Aldergrove ran out two point winners over Tír na nÓg Randalstown in the Laverty Cup Final in Aghagallon tonight.
With better game management in the dying minutes and with a man of the match performance from Conor Morris, Aldergrove maintained their lead throughout the 60 minutes. Substitute Daniel Shields came on and kicked three second half points while Emmett Murray pulled Tír na nÓg back from being 4 points down in the first half.
Corner forward Glenn Dunnan got the first point of the game after 2 minutes before Tír na nÓg talisman Emmett Murray equalised immediately. Kian Jones duly stepped up to convert a free after a foul on Eoin Gough to edge St. James ahead once more and for the next 15 minutes Aldergrove were completely dominant. They were denied by the post and also an excellent one on one save by Ricardo Conceicao between the sticks. Morris got his first point of the game and Jones made no mistake with two pointed frees.
With Aldergrove leading by five, Emmett Murray took the game by the scruff of the neck and spilt the posts twice to reduce the deficit to three and give the blues some momentum. Excellent defensive play as Brandon McLarnon pulled off a brilliant block to set Ethan Higgins off on an attacking run. Higgins put the ball in front of Eamon Óg McAllister who danced around McGarry in goals and scored to bring matters level again. For the final score of the half, Oisin Graham made the most of a spilled kick out to set Morris up for his second score to leave the minimum between the teams at half time.
At the beginning of the second half Aldergrove maintained possession and were very patient in their build up prior to Eoin Hamill converting after 5 minutes. The resultant kick-out bounced over midfield where Connor Hastings picked it up and pointed. With the game on a knives edge Morris stepped up again to increase his team’s lead by two. On Tír na nÓg’s next attack Conor Fogarty met his man with a fair heavy shoulder to set his team up on the counter attack. Morris collected the ball out wide and fed Jones with a direct ball who found the back of the net.
With 15 minutes remaining McAllister got the next score after getting his fist to a high dropping ball. Emmett Murray knocked a 21m free over the bar after a foul on Connor Crossey who was bearing down on goal and Aldergrove’s lead was back to three points. Tír na nÓg were happy to keep possession and were rewarded after playing into a scoreable position for Murray’s 5th point of the game. Substitute Daniel Shields made an immediate impact when he pointed with his first touch before Ciaran O’Neill responded with a point from distance after excellent play from Ryan Crilly.
With the clock ticking down and 8 minutes remaining Shields struck again. Tír na nÓg were not going to go away that easy. After an effort from distance McAllister’s effort bounced over the keeper’s head and over the bar after dropping short. The excitement continued to build as the Randalstown men had a ball cleared off the line with only 2 points the difference. Daniel Shields who had an excellent game secured his third point of the game and his team’s final score before Ciaran O’Neill converted a last minute free. Shields score insured a 2 point victory to send the Laverty Cup home to Crumlin.
Tír na nÓg: 1. R. Conceicao 2. O. McAtamney 3. S. Hinfey 4. C. McCamphill 5. R. Crilly 6. B. McLarnon 7. E. Higgins 8. E. Óg McAllister 9. C. O’Neill 10. R. Mullan 11. E. Murray 12. C. Crossey 13. C. Hastings 14. A. Reid 15. S. Grant 17. C. McDonnell 18. P. Dougan 19. D. O’Neill 20. B. Fitzgerald 21. R. R McDonnell 22. J. Murray
Subs used: C. McDonnell for S. Grant, P. Dougan for C. Hastings, D. O’Neill for E. McAllister (BC)
Scorers: E. Murray (0.5- 1 free), E. McAllister (1.2), C. Hastings (0.1), C. O’Neill (0.2- 1 free)
Aldergrove: 1. O. McGarry 2. S. Bradley 3. D. Aiken 4. E. Flemming 5. L. McCusker 6. E. Gough 7. D. Gough 8. C. Fogarty 9. O. Graham 10. E. Hamill 11. A. O’Connor 12. C. Morris 13. G. Dunnan 14. C. Quinn 15. K. Jones Scorers: G. Dunnan (0.1), K. Jones (1.4- 3 frees), C. Morris (0.3), E. Hamill (0.1), D. Shields (0-1)
