Month / October 2021

by thesaffrongael

Tir na nOg win sets up all South West final

OB Construction Antrim Intermediate Football Championship semi-final

Tír na nÓg 1-14 Sarsfield’s 0-9

Tir na nOg proved too good for Sarsfield’s in this OB Construction IFC semi-final at Davitt Park today to set up an all South West final against All Saints next Sunday. The Whitehill side was solid at the back and much more fluid in attack as they led throughout this semi-final and were full value for their win in the end.

Sarsfield’s were just two adrift at the break but Tír na nÓg stepped it up a notch in the second half and pushed on to win with something to spare in the end.

Sarsfield’s battled hard throughout but lacked the fluency of their opponents who finished the game with 10 different scorers with Aaron McNeilly finishing as their top scorer with 0-4. Niall McKenna was Sarsfield’s top man once again and contributed 0-5 over the hour but lacked support on the day.

Sean Duffin sends over Tir na nOg’s opening point

Sarsfield’s attempted to keep possession in the early stages but they lacked the knowhow to open up a disciplined Tir na nOg defence who coped with everything that came their way and broke to good effect when the opportunity presented itself.

The Randalstown side were much more direct with their attacks and it paid dividends as Ciaran O’Neill and Sean Duffin fired over from distance to settle the early nerves.

Niall McKenna opened up Sarsfield’s account from a free but Aaron McNeilly replied immediately at the other end to maintain the Randalstown men’s two point advantage.

The early exchanges in the contest were interrupted by a series of stoppages due to injury and this

didn’t help with the flow of the game, but it was Tír na nÓg who finally ended a barren nine minutes with Darren McCormick kicking them into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead at the water break.

Sarsfield’s were starting to enjoy a bit of success but their shooting didn’t match their approach play and  despite playing with the wind they were only able to add three points, all coming from placed balls with Niall McKenna kicking two and Niall McAlea adding his name to the scoresheet.

Sarsfields’s Niall McKenna makes a break

Tír na nÓg were much more efficient with Darren Fagan pointing a free and Kevin Sheerin added another after claiming a mark, to leave the Whitehill side 0-6 to 0-4 ahead at half time.

The South West side pushed on at the start of the second half as they added five points in the opening nine minutes to give themselves a lead that looked fairly comfortable even at this early juncture.

It took just 18 seconds for Ciaran O’Neill to thump over another from range, with Aaron McNeilly adding one from the left and then Ciaran McKeown fisted over when through as the Randalstown side dominated the early second half exchanges.

They looked in for a goal in the 35th minute as Kevin Sheerin gathered a broken ball but his punched effort came back off the post with Ciaran McGrellis following up to fist over and when McNeilly burst clear to add another, the league winners were on their way to the final.

Sarsfield’s were battling hard but just couldn’t get their game together but finally added to their tally with Rian McShane finishing a decent move, but a Darragh Fagan free and a point on the break from Eamonn Og McAllister left Tír na nÓg 0-13 to 0-5 ahead at the second water break.

Sarsfield’s chances looked to have improved when Ciaran O’Neill was black carded on 49 minutes but the South Antrim side failed to capitalise on the extra man and couldn’t produce the goal they badly needed to reignite their challenge.

Niall McKenna did add a couple of frees and Daniel McKernan pointed from play to bring them back to within six points but time was against therm.

Aaron McNeilly settled any Tír na nÓg nerves with a point with Sarsfield’s substitute Miceal Ferris sending a rasping drive over the bar but that was as close as they got.

The only goal of the game did arrive but it was at the other end when Tír na nÓg were awarded a penalty after McAllister was bundled over and goalkeeper Sean Paul McAtamney stepped up to tuck it away and seal Tír na nÓg’s place in the final.

TÍR NA nÓG: SP McAtamney (1-0 pen); B McLarnon, C McGrellis (0-1), P Cullan; C O’Neill (0-2), B McCormick, C Duffin; D McCormick (0-1), R O’Neill; A McNeilly (0-4, 1 free), S Duffin (0-1), D Fagan (0-2, both frees); C McKeown (0-1), K Sheerin (0-1 mark), D Martin.

Subs: E Og McAllister (0-1) for D Martin (42), C Sheerin for D Fagan (48), C Logan for K Sheerin (54)

SARSFIELD’S: M Brady; P McPeake, E Quinn, M Johnston; M McPolin, D McKernan (0-1), L Mitchell; C Murray, N McKenna (0-5, 3 frees); R McShane (0-1), G Lennon, C Laverty; T Skillen, N McAlea (0-1), K Floyd.

Subs: E Mervyn for C Laverty (20), D McGuinness for E Quinn (36), S Walsh for R McShane (42), M Ferris (0-1) for K Floyd (42), J McNally for T Skillen (46)

REFEREE: Darren McKeown (St Gall’s)

by thesaffrongael

Dunloy book final spot against Loughiel

Antrim Senior Camogie Championship semi-final

Dunloy 1-16 Cushendall 0-6

Dunloy booked their place in next weekend’s Antrim Senior Camogie final when they beat Cushendall by nine points in Saturday’s semi-final in Ahoghill.

On top from the early stages the Cuchullains led by eight points at half time and pushed on to win in the end by thirteen.

It was six minutes before either team troubled the scoreboard operator, Nicole O’Neill raising the first flag from a free. That started a run of scores which saw left half forward O’Neill add two more, one from a free and one from play, while Erin Elliott and full forward Cassie McArthur added one apiece.

Dervla Cosgrove opened Cushendall’s account just before the first half water break, but Dunloy came back with another from an O’Neill free and one from play by corner forward Aine Magill. Cosgrove pulled another point back from a free, but Dunloy were now dominating and two more from player of the match Nicole O’Neill and one from Caitlin Crawford stretched the lead to nine, though an injury time point from Cushendall’s Aoife Delargy cut it back to eight by half time.

Dervla Cosgrove had two of the first three points of the second half to reduce the gap to seven, and is stayed that way for the next fifteen minutes as neither team could raise a flag. It was actually the twenty fourth minute of the second half before Dunloy got their second point of the half, a scoreless spell of twenty-two minutes, but once Nicole O’Neill got them going the scores flowed more freely. Aine Magill, Erin Elliott, O’Neill tacked on points to stretch the gap before Aine Maill got her team’s only goal a minute into injury time.

Dunloy were always in control of the game but they will know that it will take something more convincing if they are to trouble Loughgiel in next week’s final

DUNLOY

Mary Martin, Eimear McMullan, Eilis Kearns, Brid Magill, Chloe Draine, Katie Molloy, Dearphaili Elliott, Aileen McManus, Caoimhe Conlon, Nicole O’Neill, Caoimhe Molloy, Erin Elliott, Michaela Elliott, Cassie McArthur, Aine Magill.

CUSHENDALL

Sarah Kane, Annie Leech, Aoife McClafferty, Anna McNeill, Aimee McDonnell, Coimhe McNaughton, Coleen Patterson, Dervla Cosgrove, Siobhan McKillop, Laura McMullan, Sinead Cosgrove, Brogan Abram, Clodagh McKillop, Monique O’Boyle, Aofie Delargy.

by thesaffrongael

Casement’s edge Ergnat’s in excellent final

U13 B Football Final

Casement’s Portglenone 1-11 St. Ergnat’s Portglenone 2-4

Casement’s Portglenone are this year’s South West league U13 champions. In an excellent final they proved too strong in the end for a battling St. Ergnat’s Moneyglass who were well in the game at the half way stage and kept battling to the end.

It was Portglenone who opened the scoring with a point from James McVeigh in the second minute and Odhran Duffin added a second with six minutes on the clock.  Caolan Boyd pulled one back for St. Ergnat’s but Conor McKeever replied immediately at the other end to restore the Casement’s two point advantage

The Portglenone side were enjoying the better of the exchanges at this stage and Odhran Duffin and Tom Duffin extended their lead to four by the 10th minute and Moneyglass looked in need of inspiration at this stage and Ewan McGrath provided it when he got in for the game’s opening goal in the 11th minute.

McGrath quickly added a point to level the contest and we looked to have a game on our hands but it was the young Casements who finished the half strongly with points from Conor McKeever and Odhran Doherty and a goal from the impressive Tom Duffin to lead by five at the break.

Casement’s extended their lead with points from Tom Convery 0-2 and Odhran Duffin to move eight in front with 10 minutes of the second half gone and it looked as good as over at this stage but St. Ergnat’s rallied and that man McGrath got in for their second goal in the 12th minute to give them renewed hope.

The Moneyglass side were boosted by McGrath’s finish and they came back again with two points from Joey Griffin to leave just three between the sides with ten minutes remaining and the momentum was with the Marian Hill side at this stage but the Casement’s defence shut up shop at this stage.

Both sides battled hard during the final quarter with both defences cancelling out the opposition attacks and the only remaining score of the game came from the excellent Odhran Doherty who fired over the insurance point for the Casement’s in the final minute.

An excellent game of football between two talented sides and both teams are laced with players who look to have a bright future for their clubs if they keep working hard at their game and listen to their mentors.

Casement’s: Conall Morgan, Cillian McDaniel, Christy McDonnell, Cillian McKenna, Thomas Douthart, Tom Duffin, Frank McAleese, Odhran Doherty, James McVeigh, Eoghan McErlean, Tom Convery, Conor Burns, Conor McKeever,

Moneyglass: 2 Conall Gribben, 5 Sionan McCormick, 6 Eunan McErlain, 7 Daniel McErlean, 8  Odhran Duffin, 9 Canice McIntosh, 10 Joey Griffin, 11 Caolan Boud, 12 Gerard Quinn, 14 Ewan McGrath, 15 Cadhan McCoy, 17 Dara McCloskey, 18 Rossa Duffin, 19 Conor Taggart, 20 Bradan O’Donnell, 21 Niall Quinn, 22 Daniel Traynor, 23 David Kennedy, 24 Shea Quinn

by thesaffrongael

Magic Murphy shatters Ballycastle hopes

Antrim Senior Camogie semi-final

Loughgiel 4-13 Ballycastle 0-9

Antrim county champions Loughgiel produced a power packed performance to overcome the challenge of Ballycastle in Saturday’s semi-final at Quinn Park, Ballymena. When the side met in the league a few weeks ago there was only four points between the sides, but once again the Shamrocks proved that they save their best for the big occasion, and on this form will start next weekend’s final against Dunloy as firm favourites.

Rachael Murphy was always a problem for any defence and on Saturday, she returned to full-forward for Loughgiel and destroyed any hopes that last year’s finalists Ballycastle might have had of stopping the Shamrocks’ juggernaut.

Murphy grabbed a hat-trick in the 4-13 to 0-9 win over Ballycastle with her first two goals arguably killing the game before it had any opportunity to burst into life.

Annie Lynn raced in on goal in the second minute, Murphy pulled off to the right, received the pass and fired a bullet to the net.

Murphy then laid on a pass for Emma McMullan to go for goal a couple of minutes later. McMullan was blocked down, but recovered and kicked the sliotar to the net.

If Ballycastle were not in trouble at that point, they certainly were in the 12th minute when a long ball in from Róisín McCormick dropped in the goal area and Murphy scrambled it home and the Shamrocks were 3-3 to 0-1 up and on their way to a comfortable victory.

Their half-back line, with Lucia McNaughton superb in the role of sweeper, cut out everything that the challengers threw at them and Ballycastle had to bring Maeve Kelly to midfield to get a foothold in the game.

From 3-4 to 0-2 down at the water-break, they clawed back to 3-5 to 0-5 at half-time and Nuala Devlin scored an excellent point at the start of the second half.

However Róisín McCormick then took over and from frees and open play she hit the target six times during the final half hour with Racquel Murphy providing 1-1 taking a high delivery from Maeve Connolly in the 46th minute to complete her hat-trick.

It turned out easier than expected for the Shamrocks, their team-work much superior to the younger Ballycastle team. Niamh Donnelly had a great game at centre back for Ballycastle and Maeve Kelly showed just how dangerous she can be with a good supply of ball, but overall the rest of the team never really got to the pace of the game as Loughgiel’s stranglehold on the championship crown shows no sign of loosening.

Loughgiel : Racquel Murphy 3-1, Emma McMullan 1-1, Róirín McCormick 0-9, 5 frees, Maeve Connolly 0-1, Annie Lynn 0-1.

Ballycastle: Caoimhe Wright 0-3, 2 frees, Maeve Kelly 0-3, 1 free, Nuala Devlin 0-1, Fionnuala Kelly 0-1, Faye McIntosh 0-1.

by thesaffrongael

Impressive Cargin take another step in defence of their title

Northern Switchgear Senior Football Championship quarter-final

Erin’s Own Cargin 3-16 St Gall’s 0-07

Reigning champions Erin’s Own Cargin took another step in defence of their title when they brushed aside the challenge of former All Ireland club champions St Gall’s to reach the semi-finals at Hightown on Saturday afternoon.

The Toome men dominated from start to finish and opened account through a Jamie Gribbin point and when Paudie McLaughlin added a goal a minute later they never looked back.

Gribbin settled the butterflies in the first minute after being sent away by Ronan Devlin and Pat Shivers collected in the centre before placing McLaughlin to despatch to the back of the net.

A slick getaway from the Toome men and Damien Cassidy’s men looked well prepared for this challenge.

St Gall’s have a proud record in Antrim, Ulster, and at All Ireland level and responded with back to back points from Barra Mc Caffrey and Caolan Chada, but in the event that was as close as the Milltown men would get as Cargin took control

The impressive Paudie McLaughlin grabbed a second major before the first water break to aid Cargin to a 2-04 to 0-02 lead as they dominated the central zone with Kevin McShane and Pat Shivers on top and they moved well clear 2-08 to 0-04 at the short whistle and barring major accident on the way to the semis.

Pat Shivers added a point before and after the first water break with Ciaran Bradley following with another before the Milltown side replied with points from Barra McCaffrey and Kevin Niblock but Tomas McCann added a couple at the other end to ensure a ten point lead at half time.

St Gall’s introduced Mickey Pollock for the second half but it was Cargin who maintained a firm grip on proceedings, strong and unyielding in defence with Justin Crozier and James Laverty to the fore.

They continued to dominate in the central sector and a Tomas McCann goal saw them in total control as early as the 40th minute at 3-09 to 0-04

The elusive Mc Cann added a further three points to make addition to the Cargin total and although Kevin Niblock pointed a free just prior to the last break the score came as scant consolation and the Toome men were on course for a place in the semis.

Cargin emptied their bench but the pace did not slacken and although the gallant Milltown men raised flags through Barra McCaffrey and Aodhan Gallagher there would be no halting the rampant champions with Pat Shivers, Kieran Close and Tomas McCann replying to see Erin’s Own take a step onward into the semi-final.

On today’s showing they will be hard to beat but asre likely to face a sterner test from the winners of tomorrow’s clash between St. John’s and Creggan at the same venue.

Cargin: Michael Magill, Sean og O’ Neill (0-01), Justin Crozier, Brendan Laverty, James Laverty, Kevin O’ Boyle, Ronan Devlin, Pat Shivers (0-03), Kevin Mc Shane, Ciaran Bradley (1-00), Michael Mc Cann, Jamie Gribbin (0-01), Paudie Mc Laughlin (2-00), Tomas Mc Cann (0-08)

Subs

Kieran Close (0-01) for M Kelly

David Johnston for J Gribbin

Gerard Mc Corley for R Devlin

Gerard Mc Cann for K Mc Shane

John Carron for Ciaran Bradley

St. Gall’s: Chris Kerr, Shane O’ Hagan, Marcus Donnelly,  Conor Stinton, John Mc Caffrey, Ryan Irvine, Eoghan Mc Cabe (0-01), Aodhan Gallagher (0-01), Thomas Bunting, Caolan Chada(0-02), Terry O’ Neill, Sean Kelly, Barra Mc Caffrey (0-02), Kevin Niblock (0-01),

Subs

Michael Pollock for T O’ Neill

Mark Cummings for S O’ Hagan

Niall Burns for N O’ Neill

Tomas O’ Ciaran for T Bunting

Conaill Murray for K Niblock

Referee: B Toland (Lamh Dhearg)