Creagh Concrete U-17B Football Final
St. Gall’s v St. Ergnat’s
Sunday 1:15 pm at Glenavy
St. Ergnat’s Moneyglass will start Sunday Minor B Football final against St. Gall’s at Glenavy as slight favourites following a win over the same opposition earlier in the year and a resounding win over Cuchullain’s Dunloy in last weekend’s semi-final.
The sides met in the U17 League Cup final back in September and a great exhibition of point taking by Connlaodh McCann inspired St. Ergnat’s Moneyglass to victory over St. Gall’s in an exciting final at Sunday’s venue.
The South West side held a slender one point lead at half time but were rocked by a goal from Niall Fallon in the 17th minute of the second half which gave the Milltown youngsters the lead for the first time since the 13th minute.
St. Ergnat’s refused to panic however as they stepped up their game substantially in the final quarter to hold their opponents scoreless while adding six unanswered points to run out three point winners in the end.
Connlaodh McCann was the man who led the come-back as he pointed a free in the 19thminute to close the gap to the minimum with the Gall’s defending desperately to hold onto that lead. McCann fired over the equaliser with four minutes remaining to set the scene for a grandstand finish.
St. Ergnat’s finished the stronger however with their opponents conceding frees and Connlaodh McCann punished those indiscretions as he pointed three in succession and added another from play to secure the Moneyglass side the title.
St. Gall’s recovered from that league Final defeat to reach the final of this year’s championship and have been impressive in their progress to Sunday’s decider.
They scored 8-10 against Tir na nOg in the opening round but were pushed much harder next day out before beating Gort Na Mona 3-8 to 0-14 at Enright Park in the quarter-final, setting up a semi-final meeting with Con Magee’s, Glenravel.
A great start for the Milltown side provided the platform to secure a final spot when the sides met at at Dunsilly. Ahead by 1-5 to 0-1 after 13 minutes the Milltown boys were in control, though Glenravel battled back to cut the gap to a single point (1-8 to 1-7).
St Gall’s started the second half, just as they had the first and added a goal and three points without reply to all but seal the win, and though the Con Magee’s closed the gap once again they were still two short at the final whistle.
Moneyglass came out tops in a well contested opening round game when they travelled to Chapel Hill and defeated St. Joseph’s Glenavy by 1-19 to 1-16 in a game that could have gone either way.
The young Ergnat’s were on the road again when they were drawn against Corpus Christi Gaels but once again the Moneyglass youngsters displayed their ability and resilience to beat their opponents by nine points at Corrigan Park.
Cuchullain’s Dunloy were expected to provide a stern test when the sides met in last Sunday’s semi-final at Dunsilly but St. Ergnat’s took control from early in the game before running out convincing winners by 5-21 to 3-3 and install themselves as favourites on Sunday.
St. Ergnat’s are a strong side with Matthew Mullen, Paul Duffinand Sennan O’Boyle central in a solid defence while Kevin McCann and Tiarnan McCormick are excellent mid-fielders.
Connlaodh McCann spearheads a strong attack and is an accurate free taker while Zac Hamill and Rory Taggart are others who can be relied on for scores in a lively attack.
Oisin Maskey, Gairech MacAdhaim, Luke Burns, Manus Crossan, Segde MacAdhaim, Ciaran Og Mullan, Padraig O’Muirigh, Niall Fallon and Dubhaltach Crawford are the men who will carry the St. Gall’s challenge as they attempt to avenge that three point league final defeat earlier in the season and there might not be too much between the sides at the final whistle on Sunday.