Homefit ACFL Division One
Aghagallon 1-07-7-17 Lámh Dhearg
Kevin Herron reports from Pairc Na nGael
Lámh Dhearg ended phase one of the league with a convincing 7-17-1-07 win over Aghagallon at Pairc Na nGael on Wednesday evening.
Four of the visitors’ majors came in a ruthless ten-minute spell as Terry McCrudden palmed in unopposed, Ryan Murray blasted home a brace in-between a converted Paddy Cunningham penalty.
It also coincided with the Ahgagallon being reduced to 14-men when Liam Russell was dismissed, although Adam Loughran did convert a late penalty before the interval.
The Lámhs went about their business after the break and a late flurry of goals from Cunningham, Declan Lynch and Marc Jordan further emphasised their dominance over the course of the evening.
Stephen Devlin departed through a second yellow card in-between the late trio of strikes as the home side ended proceedings with 13-men.
Both sides went into the encounter in contrasting form with the visiting Lámhs securing their top-six status for the upcoming split with victory over St Galls at the weekend.
Aghagallon sat on the periphery until a few weeks ago, though three defeats on the bounce ensured that they would ply their trade in the bottom half of the league.
Carl Maxwell gave the visitors an early lead with a nice point on the turn, only for Pauric Maginnis to squeeze his shot inside the post at the other end and restore parity early-on.
The opening goal arrived after eight minutes and was well constructed with Marc Jordan laying off to Declan Lynch, he quickly moved it into Declan Dunne and a switch to Terry McCrudden at the back post was palmed home by the Lámhs captain.
The hosts responded when Liam Russell twisted, turned and popped over a point, only for Aaron McAufield to forge forward and play a one-two with Declan Lynch before slipping the ball over the bar.
Aghagallon’s task was made harder on 13 minutes when they were reduced to 14-men following Liam Russell’s departure for an off the ball incident.
Paddy Cunningham landed a free in the immediate aftermath and midway through the half the Hannahstown side hit their second goal.
Marc Jordan collected Aaron Doherty’s kick-out in midfield and after moving the ball through the hands and into space, Declan Smith charged towards goal, laid off to Ryan Murray and he shot into the corner of the net to make it 2-03-0-02.
Goal number three arrived not long after, Paddy Cunningham got his foot to the ball and forced a turnover in his defensive third and the youngster Fionn Mervyn galloped forward; found the run of Smith- who was bundled over by Adam Loughran and referee Kevin Parke signalled for a penalty.
Paddy Cunningham stepped up and despite guessing correctly- Aaron Doherty was unable to prevent Cunningham from slotting home his sides third.
The final goal in the ten-minutes blitz came when Terry McCrudden nipped in and collected the breaking ball, he offloaded to Conor Murray- who played a one-two with Paddy Cunningham- before fisting the ball into the path of younger brother Ryan to hammer low into the net.
With little under twenty minutes gone the writing seemed to be on the wall and Aghagallon faced an uphill task, they did conjure the next scores however with Eunan Walsh and Adam Loughran dropping shots over the black spot.
Ryan Murray converted a free, but his sides numerical advantage was temporarily wiped out when Aaron McAufield received a black card for a pulling down Eunan Walsh.
Then referee Kevin Parke awarded the hosts a penalty when he spotted a collusion inside the area and Adam Loughran sent John Finucane the wrong way and shot low to the net to make it 4-04-1-04.
Lámh Dhearg steadied themselves with points from Paddy Cunningham (free) and Conor Murray ensuring they went in at the interval with a comfortable 4-06-1-04 advantage.
After a couple of early wides in the opening stages of the second period, Ryan Murray shot over his second point of the game, Marc Jordan followed up with another shortly afterwards and Paddy Cunningham converted his first free of the half.
Declan Smith then received a pop off the shoulder from Carl Maxwell and steered the ball over with Paddy Cunningham notching back-to-back scores, the first from a free and the next a fantastic, angled effort from play.
It took 12 minutes for Aghagallon to open their account for the half, coming through a converted Jonathan Hannon free.
Scores were coming easier for Lámh Dhearg with Ryan Murray kicking his third point of the evening and Terry McCrudden slotting over a free.
Eunan Walsh doubled his account for the evening with a fine effort that drifted inside the near post, and he could have found a second goal for his side, but Ross Murray got in the way of his goal-bound effort.
Marc Jordan and Marc McAfee would trade points, McAfee’s proving to be his sides last of the contest.
But Lámh Dhearg weren’t finished yet, Paddy Cunningham landed a fourth free of the evening and after Ryan Murray was caught late by Stephen Devlin- a tackle that led to him receiving a second yellow-card- Cunningham caught the hosts napping and blasted the resulting free to the net to make it 5-16-1-07.
Another flurry of goals followed as Cunningham took advantage of yet more slack defending, catching Aghagallon off guard again to slip the ball across to Declan Lynch at the back-post and Lynch shot past Doherty.
The final point arrived courtesy of a 45’ from Declan Dunne before Marc Jordan finished the rout off with his sides seventh goal of the night to give them a 7-17-1-07 win at the game conclusion.
Aghagallon: A Doherty, K Hamill, A Mulholland, S Devlin, C Maginnis, P Branagan, P Gowdy, P Maginnis (0-01), A Loughran (1-01, 1-00p), L Russell (0-01), E McCartan, M McAfee (0-01), N Patterson, E Walsh (0-02), J Hannon (0-01f).
Lámh Dhearg: J Finucane, F Mervyn, A McAufield (0-01), R Murray, D Smith (0-01), P Mervyn, M Jordan (1-02), D Lynch (1-00), E Matassa, R Murray (2-03, 0-01f), C Murray (0-01), C Maxwell (0-01), P Cunningham (2-06, 1-05f, 1-00p), D Dunne (0-01 45’), T McCrudden (1-01, 0-01f). Subs: P Larkin for F Mervyn (45), A Byrne for C Maxwell (45), C Boyd for T McCrudden (53), C Fitzsimons for D Smith (56).
Referee: Kevin Parke (Naomh Eánna)