ACFL Division 1
Casement’s 2-12 Tir na nOg 0-10
A strong second half from the home side proved the difference in this all South West game at Kelly Park Portglenone.
The first half was a tight encounter with the visitors taking the game to Casements. Tir na nOg were on top of the majority of the half with Casements men happy to go in at half time with the game level.
The visitors were first to register and Pearse Sheerin edged them ahead with a point in the second minute with Conall Delargy squaring the contest from an 8th minute free.
Thye Whitehill side were giving as good as they got as Aaron McNeilly restored their one point advantage with Delargy squaring the contest for a second time with a point in the 14th minute.
Tir na nOg continued to take the game to the opposition and Sean Duffin edged them ahead for the third time with a point in the 16th minute and when Aaron McNeilly followed with another to move them two in front they seemed to be gaining the upper hand.
Portglenone fought hard to get their own game going and Michael Hagan fired over their first point from play but Barry McCormick responded with a point for the visitors to edge them two in front again after 23 minutes play.
It was Portglenone who finished the half stronger however with points from Conall Delargy, Ronan Kelly and Stephen Kelly with Ryan O’Neill on target for the Randalstown men to leave it all square as the half time whistle sounded.
Whatever John McKeever said to his side at half time seemed to work as Casements came out of the blocks flying at the start of the second half, hitting 2-3 without reply in the opening 12 minutes.
Michael Hagan began the second half scoring with a point in the first minute and when Niall Delargy got through for a goal in the third minute the balance of play had swung strongly in favour of the league leaders.
The home side were totally dominant during this period and missed several more goal chances including a penalty from Michael Hagan with six minutes on the clock.
Corey McLaughlin and Ronan Kelly added points before the excellent Conall Delargy got in for their second goal with only 9 minutes on the clock.
Tir na nOg were fighting hard to get back into contention but were finding the home defence hard to penetrate but Ciaran O’Neill finally openbed heir second half account with a point in the 12th minute.
Caolan Tierney and Niall Delargy for Casement’s and Aaron McNeilly and Ciaran Logan for Tir na Nog exchanged further points as the visitors fought hard to close the gap but although they hit three of the final four points of the game they were unable to get the goal that might have ignited a comeback.
Ciaran Logan 0-2 and Ciaran O’Neill were the men on target for the Whitehill side with Oisin Doherty the Casement’s marksman as the Kelly Park side ran out winners by eight points to keep their unbeaten start the season intact and they sit proudly on top of the table with six points from three starts.
Casements: 1. Ryan O’Neill 2 Ronan Delargy 3 Shane Delargy 4 Johnny Convery 5 Ryan Convery 6 Dermot McAleese 7 Caolan Tierney 0.1 8 Niall Delargy 1.1 9 Niall McKeever 10 Paddy Carey 11 Conall Delargy 1.3 12 Corey McLaughlin 0.1 13 Ronan Kelly 0.2 14 Stephen Kelly 0.1 15 Michael Hagan 0.2 Subs: Oisín Doherty 0.1, Sean Byrne, Kevin O’Kane Aidan Kearney.
Tir na nOg: 1. Sean Paul McAtamney 2 Ethan Higgins 3 Brendan McLarnon 4 Barry Magee 5 Ciaran O’Neill 6 Barry McCormick 7 Oliver McAtamney 8 Ryan O’Neill 10 Darragh Fagan 11 Sean Duffin 12 Aaron Mcneilly 13 Conor Hastings 14 Pearse Sheerin 15 Daniel Martin
Referee: Eamon McAuley (Cargin)