Antrim U-21 B Football Championship
Lamh Dhearg 3-13-0-12 Gort na Mona
From Kevin Herron at Hannahstown
A hat-trick of John Boyd goals was the difference in yesterday’s Belfast derby as Lamh Dhearg got the better of Gort na Mona to progress to the semi-final of the U-21B Football Championship with a 3-13-0-12 victory at Hannahstown.
Though the hosts didn’t have it all their own way as they came stumbling out of the blocks against an eager and hungry Gort na Mona outfit.
The Turf Lodge side hit the front after Ciaran Donnelly linked-up with Caoimhin Beck who popped the ball over. Donnelly was himself on the score-sheet and a converted free from Niall Melaney had the visitors 0-03-0-00 to the good.
It took Lamh Dhearg six minutes to reply through a converted free from Mark Finnegan and with 11 minutes on the clock the opening goal of the game saw the Hannahstown side hit the front.
Jack Summersgill won possession and took off towards the target before floating a high ball into the danger area – which was met by the fist of John Boyd who diverted it past Ruairi Dixon and into the net.
Finnegan added his second placed ball in the aftermath and goal scorer Boyd conjured up back to back points to give his side a 1-04-0-03 advantage with ten minutes of the half remaining.
A second score from Melaney closed the deficit but Lamh Dhearg and Boyd doubled their goal tally on the 21st minute.
A sensational pass from Mark Finnegan was gathered by Boyd and the full-forward strode towards the target and picked his spot low past Dixon to make it 2-04-0-04.
The rest of the half belonged to the hosts as Boyd hit back to back points for the second time in the half, followed by further points from Declan Smith and Finnegan as Lamh Dhearg held a 2-08-0-04 lead at the midway point of proceedings.
Mark Finnegan converted his third free within sixty seconds of the restart and it was game set and match two minutes later as John Boyd capitalised on some generous Gort’s defending to lash past Dixon and give his side a 3-09-0-04 advantage.
Lamh Dhearg stretched their lead to 15-points by the 40th minute mark as Mark Finnegan (free) and Jack Summersgill responded to a Niall Melaney point in the aftermath of Boyd’s goal.
To their credit, Gort na Mona rallied and tagged on six unanswered points in a dominant ten minute spell to reduce arrears to single figures.
Ciaran Scullion began the scoring spree with Caoimhin Beck converting a free shortly afterwards. Full-forward Niall Melaney picked off some excellent scores over the course of the game and added two further points to his tally and some confident shooting from Ciaran Donnelly ensuring that with ten minutes to go the Lamhs were wobbling slightly and leading by nine (3-11-0-11).
Defender Ethan Mervyn eased the host’s fears on a brief burst forward, popping the ball over the bar from the angle with Paul Mullan fisting over in response at the other end.
The Gort’s pushed for a late consolation goal in hope that it may have planted a small seed of doubt, but it didn’t materialise and John Boyd conjured up the final score of the game to end the afternoon with 3-05 of his sides 3-13 as Lamh Dhearg progressed to a last four meeting with Aldergrove next weekend.
Lamh Dhearg: D Hartley, A Ferris, R Fegan, S McCullough, E Mervyn (0-01), E Matassa, R Murray, D Larkin, D Dunne, J Summersgill (0-01), M Finnegan (0-05, 0-04f), C Ketting, A Cunningham, J Boyd (3-05), D Smith (0-01). Subs: M Pettigrew for D Dunne (37); S Diamond for A Ferris (46); B Cunningham for A Cunningham (46).
Gort na Mona: R Dixon, C Traynor-O’Neill, P Cournane, L Dixon, D Cahill, T Morton, A Dempster, T Keenan, P Mullan (0-01), M Brady, N Healy, C Donnelly (0-03), C Beck (0-02, 0-01f), N Melaney (0-05, 0-01f), C Scullion (0-01). Subs: O Cordner for A Dempster (17); R Coleman for M Brady (43).
Referee: Paul Hughes (O’Donnells)