Graham Tarmac JFC
NA Piarsaigh 2-13 Eire Og 2-7
Photographs: Bert Trowlen
Na Piarsaigh join O’Donnell’s on 4 points from 2 starts in Group 1 of the Graham Tarmac Junior Football Championship with this six point win over Eire Og at Fennell Park on Friday night. The North Belfast side were forced to come from behind however with Eire Og flying into a 1-1 to 0-0 lead after 7 minutes.
Pearses settled however and came back strongly to lead 1-6 to 1-3 at half time before pushing home their advantage in the second half and their final game against the O’D‘s in a fortnight’s time will decide the winner of the group.
Kevin Clarke pointed Eire Og ahead in the third minute and when Niall Ward followed up to direct the ball to the net after a fine save by Pearses keeper Niall Largey they looked in a strong position.
Na Piarsaigh began to settle however and replied with points from Sean Moreland and 2 from Stephen Fitzsimmons before Ronan Donnerlly stretched the Eire Og lead to two once more.
Oisin Grew replied for Pearses before their keeper brought off a good save and they finished the half strongly as Stephen Fitzsimmons brought his contribution for the first half to 0-4 and when the same player hammered home a 26th minute goal they looked in control.
Fionn Grew and Fitzsimmons extended the Na Piarsaigh lead on the restart and Liam Campbell from a long range free and Grew added two more by the second water break with Eire Og failing to score during the third quarter. The Pearses dominance continued on the restart as Campbell fisted over and added a point with his trusty boot and when Nathan Gorman got in for their second goal it was all over.
To their credit Eire Og came back with points from James Toal and Murray and an excellent goal from Ciaran Rice but they could not sustain their challenge and it was Na Piarsaigh who had the final say with a point from Sean Moreland.
Na Piarsaigh: 1 Niall Largey, 2 Cormac Gillespie, 3 Andrew Goodall, 4 Ciaran McCavanna, 5 Cormac O’Neill, 6 Aodhan McCavanna, 7 Nathan Gorman, 8 Ruairi Bannon, 9 Piaras Donaghy, 10 Philip Murray, 11 Stephen Fitzsimmons, 12 Sean Moreland, 13 Fionn Grew, 14 Liam Campbell, 15 Oisin Grew,
Eire Og: 14 Brendan Shannon, 2 Paddy Loughran, 4 Jarlath Devlin, 5 Ciaran Rice, 6 Ronan Donnelly, 7 Conor Ellis, 9 Tomas Malone, 11 P James Toal, 12 Stephen Erskine, 13 Kevin Clarke, 15 Niall Ward, 17 Dermot Murray, 23 Damian Edgar, 27 Alex McKnight, 29 Mark Hamill
Referee: Paul Burns (Naomh Comhghall)
