ACHL Division 2
Creggan 0-18 Carey 1-19
Report and Pics: Joe Rice
It was an early start on Sunday Morning for the men from North Antrim as they found themselves on their way to Creggan for a 10am throw in. The punters would have had Carey firm favourites as they had defeated Creggan in last year’s Intermediate Championship Final. The home side had their County players away and had a few missing with injury problems to contend with. Creggan started the better with the first two scores of the game but it took Carey 9 minutes to register their first point. The home side had the assistance of a strong breeze and managed to go 5 points in front with 20 minutes on the clock in the first half but Carey fought back hard to close the gap with only the minimum separating the sides at half time – Creggan one point up.
With the second half under way the visitors now had the breeze at their backs and it was beginning to pay dividends with 3 unanswered points and one goal in the 35th minute, putting some distance between the sides. It took the home side 40 minutes to register their first score of the second half, nevertheless, it was Carey’s goal that sealed their victory.
Kealan McCann got Creggan up and running with the home sides’ first 2 scores within the first minutes. Carey’s response was from Conleith McKinley with a free dropped over the bar, one of many he would add to his tally. Oran McCann, Creggan’s free taker, was on target almost 100% turnover with his frees putting the home side 2 points ahead. The visitors’ Conleith McKinley then popped one over to leave them one point adrift. Caolan McAughan’s first effort levelled proceedings heading towards the short whistle. Both sides were well matched cancelling out point-for-point with the home side’s scores coming from 3 points from Sean Duffin, 2 apiece for Oran and Kealan McCann and one each for Liam McCann, Aidan McKeown and Michael Maguire. Carey were also on target with 3 further points from Conleith McKinley, and one each for Caolan McAughan and Patrick McBride.
HALF TIME SCORE: CREGGAN 0.11 v CAREY 0.10.
Carey came out eager to get going again and hoped that the strong breeze would continue to assist them in their efforts, which it did. Three unanswered points within the first 5 minutes, 2 points from Conleith McKinley and one from Patrick Gillan. This looked to set the visitors up for a comfortable victory after Fiachra McVeigh was more than fortunate to put one past Creggan’s keeper, Brendan Prenter, who managed to get a touch on the ball but wasn’t enough to stop it from creeping over the line. As we edged towards the 40th minute the home side were pressing on and not giving up hope. It was 40 minutes in but Oran McCann got their first point of the second half and they only had themselves to blame for conceding the next 3 points with some poor passes that gave the visitors’ some very easy scores with a point a piece from James Black and Caolan McAughan and 2 quick points in succession from the visitors’ No.20 substitute. Oran McCann was the only scorer for Creggan in the second half with 7 points – 3 frees and 4 from play but it wasn’t enough to catch the Ballyvoy men and it was McKinley who scored the final point for the visitors although his points tally was one less that Creggan’s McCann.
CREGGAN: No.1 Brendan Prenter, No.2 Aidan Maguire, No.3 Thomas McCann, No.4 Jake McAteer, No.5 Liam McCann (0.01), No.6 Aidan McKeown (0.01), No.7 Dannan O’Hara, No.8 Kealan McCann (0,02), Tiernan McLarnon, No.10 Nial McAuley, No.11 Oran McCann (0.10), No.12 Sean Duffin (0.03), No.13 Michael Maguire (0.01), No.14 Cormac Rice, No.15 Aaron Hughes, No.17 Joe James Smyth, No.19 Michael Carey Small, No.20 Callum McCann, No.22 Mark McCann, No.26 Oliver Duffin, No.29 Owen Grant.
CAREY: No.1 Darren McGovern, No.2 David McBride, No.3 Sean McBride, No.4 Daniel Hill, No.5 Michael McVeigh, No.6 James McCouaig, No.7 Peter McVeigh, No.8 Conleith McKinley (0.09), No.9 Fionntan McCarry, No.10 Caolan McAughan (0.03), No.11 Fiachra McVeigh (1.01), No.12 James Black (0.01), No.13 John McBride, No.14 Patrick McBride (0.01), No.15 Patrick Gillan (0.02), No.20 Substitute (0.02).
