Northern Switchgear SFC Quarter-Final

Portglenone 1-15 Gort na Mona 0-5

It turned out to be comfortable in the end for Casement’s Portglenone when they proved too good for a battling Gort na Mona in this second Northern Switchgear SFC quarter-final at Dunsilly on Saturday.

The Turf Lodge side gave it everything and indeed took a two point lead after 5 minutes with Niall Mellaney swinging over a sweet left footed point and wing half, Neil Henry adding an equally impressive effort.

Portglenone took a time to get into their stride but Aidan McAleese opened their account in the 7^th minute with a fine point before Conal Delargy soloed through for the equaliser in the 8^th minute and they looked to be gaining the upper hand.

Gort na Mona were having none of it as they kept possession well before breaking forward again and Padraig McHugh edged them in front once more from a free in the 12^th minute.

Things were certainly starting to liven up and Paddy Kelly’s free at the other end just made it over off the crossbar but the same player made sure with another from play which sailed clean between the uprights to move his side ahead for the first time in the 17^th minute.

Oisin Doherty followed with a great point in the 20^th minute to move the South West side two in front as they began to play with a bit of confidence and when Ruairi Hagan got through for his first of the game they had moved three in front.

Gort na Mona were still battling for every ball and were rewarded for their efforts when Padraig McHugh converted his second free of the half in the 27^th minute but once again their opponents responded and Caolan Tierney and Paddy Kelly from a ‘45’ hit the final two scores of the half to move them 0-8 to 0-4 ahead at the break.

Darren Boyd replaced Aidan McDonagh in the Gort na Mona side at the start of the second half and the Belfast side looked to be in for an early goal but Christopher Carson scuffed his effort and it sailed wide of the upright.

Portglenone replied and from the resulting kick-out the ball was transferred quickly to attack and Michael Hagan finished in style to move his side five in front.

Back came the Turf Lodge men and Padraig McHugh pointed a free in the 9^th minute to again close the gap to four and give his side renewed hope but it would prove to be their final score of the game as Casement’s took control.

Aidan McAleese replied with a point at the other end and then Thomas McCafferty in the Gort’s goals brought off a great save to deny Ruairi Hagan what looked a certain goal as Ciaron McKenna replaced Conal Delargy in the Portglenone attack.

Paddy Kelly pointed the resulting ‘45’ and Michael Hagan pointed from a free before McKenna got his name on the score-sheet with a good point as John McKeever’s side started to pull away.

Once again it was that man McCafferty who came to Gort na Mona’s rescue with his second splendid save of the second half but he was finally beaten when Ryan Convery got on the end of a good build up to finish Oisin Doherty pass to the net in the 27^th minute to put the game well out of reach of their opponents.

The Belfast side kept going to the end with the towering Christopher Carson moved to the edge of the square and they launched several Hail-Mary’s into the danger area but Portglenone had doubled up on the big number 11 and their efforts came to nothing.

Portglenone now go forward to meet the winners of tomorrow’s quarter-final between St. Brigid’s and Aghagallon and there will no doubt be more than a few interested observers from the South West side at Hannastown for that one.

Casement’s: 1 Ryan O’Neill, 3 Jonny Convery, 4 Ronan Delargy, 5 Caolan Tierney, 6 Dermot McAleese, 7 Ryan Convery, 8 Niall Delargy, 9 Niall McKeever, 10 Ruairi Hagan, 11 Michael Hagan, 12 Stephen Kelly, 13 Aidan McAleese, 22 Paddy Kelly, 14 Conal Delargy, 15 Oisin Doherty, Subs: 19 Shane Delargy, 24 Michael Kelly

Gort na Mona: 1 Thomas McCafferty, 2 Connor Connolly, 3 Gavin McKenna, 4 Padraig Cournane, 5 Aidan McDonagh, 6 Michael Savage, 7 Neil Henry, 8 Caoimhin Magee, 10 Padraig Mulvenna, 11 Christopher Carson, 12 Niall Mellaney, 13 Dessie McLean, 14 Patrick McCafferty, 15 Padraig McHugh, 19 Brendan Burns. Subs: Darren Boyd, Ciaran McKenna, Manus McMullan

Referee: Eamon McAuley (Cargin)

Northern Switchgear Antrim Senior Football Championship Quarter-Final 

Cargin 0-13-0-09 Lámh Dhearg 

Kevin Herron reports from Dunsilly 

Cargin bounced back from defeat to Rossa in their last Group game and laid down a marker for the later stages of the Championship with a 0-13-0-09 win over Lámh Dhearg in Friday evenings quarter final at Dunsilly. 

The Toome outfit never fell behind over the course of the evening and could have had a much larger margin of victory, but they failed to find the goal that they threatened from the off. 

There was much anticipation of a thrilling Championship classic that the sides have served up over recent years. 

Cargin began as slight favourites having won six of the last eight Championship meetings since the Lámhs last got the better of them back in 2011. 

Pat Shivers opened the scoring early-on with a point that could so easily have been a goal after a long pass forward picked out the towering corner-forward, but his shot rose over the bar. 

Lámh Dhearg should have restored parity at the very least in the aftermath and had created various opportunities – but Ryan Murray dropped back-to-back frees short of the target, shot wide from play and older sibling Conor saw a promising attack shut-down.

Instead, the Toome men doubled their lead through goalkeeper John McNabb- who joined their attack up field and steered an effort between the posts. 

Ryan Murray atoned for his earlier free misses and got his side off the mark after cutting in along the by-line and thumping an angled shot high between the posts. 

Cargin moved 0-04-0-01 ahead as Jamie Gribbin dropped a shot over the bar from wide of the right and Justin Crozier followed-up with another a few minutes later.  

Murray’s burst of speed was causing a few problems and he sent over a further angled score before swinging a fantastic point from the opposite side to bring the Lámhs back into things. 

Points from Cahir Donnelly and a simple fisted point from John Carron restored Cargin’s three-point lead- though Ben Rice slipped a nice score in reply. 

Pat Shivers had a second opening on goal when he cut inside and waited for John Finucane to make his move, the veteran goal-keeper didn’t panic and delayed the inevitable and Shivers instead opted for a fist pass to Paul McCann to pull the trigger – but Declan Lynch somehow deflected the shot behind for a 45’ – which McNabb converted. 

Declan Smyth produced a fine score in response before danger-man Shivers wound-up and kicked his second score of the half. 

Just before the break Terry McCrudden landed an impressive score to ensure that two-points separated the sides at break (0-08-0-06). 

Lámh Dhearg were first off the mark at the beginning of the second period as Owen McKeown showed his pace and trickery to burst through, but he drove his shot over the bar to reduce arrears. 

Shivers converted a free in response and Paul McCann kicked a magnificent score to extend their sides half-time advantage. 

The Hannahstown men introduced Shaun McManus, Declan Dunne and Paddy Cunningham from the bench to try and turn the tide. 

There was a glimmer of hope that they might make the use of a numerical advantage after Gerard McCann halted the forward momentum of Marc Jordan and was shown a black card by referee Mark O’Neill. 

The 14-men had a further goal chance in the aftermath with Shivers flighting a marvellous pass on-top of Tomas McCann, McCann was able to steer the ball down and fire a low shot between Finucane and Marc McGarry – but the Lámhs shot stopper parried his dangerous effort. 

Jamie Gribbin moved his side four-points ahead moments later with his second score of the evening, but substitute Paddy Cunningham kept his side in touch through a converted free. 

Shivers and Cunningham trade further scores from play in the aftermath as the game ticked towards injury-time. 

Lámh Dhearg tried in vain to find a goal that would have forced extra-time – but nothing was forthcoming from their late pressure and there was almost a sense of déjà vu to 12-months earlier when Portglenone countered them and found a goal to secure victory in their quarter-final meeting at the same venue. 

This time around substitute Benen Kelly was happy enough to fire over the bar with time quickly elapsing. 

It proved the insurance point as Cargin ran out 0-13-0-09 winners at the conclusion to advance to the last four and a meeting with the winners of Sundays tie between Rossa and Champions Creggan. 

Cargin: J McNabb (0-02, 0-01f), K O’Boyle, J Crozier (0-01), C Donnelly (0-01), J Laverty, S O’Neill, R Gribbin, J Carron (0-01), G McCann, C Bradley, P McCann, T McCann, P Shivers (0-04, 0-01f), M McCann (0-01), J Gribbin (0-02). Subs: B Kelly (0-01) for R Gribbin (38), K Close to T McCann (56), K McShane for C Donnelly (59), D Johnston for J Gribbin (60+4). 

Lámh Dhearg: J Finucane, F Mervyn, M McGarry, M Hynes, D Smyth (0-01), D Lynch, B Rice (0-01), P Mervyn, M Jordan, R Murray (0-03), O McKeown (0-01), C Maxwell, T McCrudden (0-01), C Murray, K Quinn. Subs: S McManus for B Rice (41), D Dunne for K Quinn (46), P Cunningham (0-02, 0-01f) for T McCrudden (50), A Byrne for C Maxwell (55), M Herron for M Hynes (60+4). 

Referee: Mark O’Neill (Armoy)