Antrim Under 20 Football Championship
St Galls 1-5 St Brigids 4-8 at Milltown Row
A St Brigids side with a much slicker forward unit saw off a dogged St Galls side at a wet and slippery Milltown Row on Saturday afternoon writes Paul McIntyre.
It was the visitors’ ability to make much more of their chances as strikes from Liam Finnegan, Conan McNicholl, Ronan Boyle and Thomas Lloyd sent the pre-match favourites through.
The 12-point difference at the end was a tad harsh on the home side but there was no questioning that the better side won.
St Galls did find the net in the 13th minute through Joseph Diamond and they did have further chances to add to their tally, but twice Niall Fallon was denied from point-blank range.
Firstly, from a smart save from Declan Heery in the 16th minute, and a minute later from covering Reuben Carleton when Fallon managed to find a way past Heery.
St Brigid’s rode their luck, tightened up the ship with Reuben Carleton dropping back to take up position in front of Fallon. It made life a lot more comfortable for the visitors.
At the other end McNicholl added four points to his 22nd minute goal with Ronan Boyle, Jack Logue and Donal Bradley also making telling contributions.
The busy duo of Oisin McDonnell and Lorcan Burns gave the St Galls full back line constant headaches from start to finish while Niall Duffy will be pushing hard for a starting place next day out with an impressive showing from the bench.
Manus McCrossan and Conal McGirr fought a good fight for St Galls but the loss of John McCullough to a serious shoulder injury was a major blow to the Milltown Row men. To make matters worse, St Galls had already used all five replacements meaning the had to see out the final minutes a player down.
McCullough was certainly in the wars as a head injury forced him to sit out 14 minutes of the first half.
Heery got a hand to Diamond’s shot in the 13th minute but it wasn’t enough to stop the ball trickling over the line for the game’s first goal.
It gave St Galls a three-point lead but it was wiped out within seconds as a Burns pass picked out an unmarked Finnegan. In acres of space with only Louis McCormick to beat, the St Brigids forward placed his shot into the bottom corner.
Points from Bradley and O’Donnell came either side of McNicholl’s goal as the visitors threatened to run away with the tie. McNicholl’s crashing drive gave McCormick no chance as he finished a sweeping move to the net with Rory McErlean and Boyle instrumental in the build-up.
It helped St Brigids to a half time lead of five-points, 2-3 to 1-1.
Twenty seconds into the second half, a defence splitting pass from Bradley presented Boyle with a goal opportunity and the county Under 20 captain duly accepted the chance given by netting St Brigids third goal of the game.
Aodh Mullan and Callum Walsh replied for St Galls but St Brigids kept the scoreboard ticking over through Bradley and McNicholl.
As the game progressed St Brigids were happy to soak up the pressure and hit St Galls on the break. Duffy’s point opened up a nine-point lead as the game ticked ever closer to it’s end with the final play of the contest, another replacement, Lloyd claimed St Brigids fourth goal of the day.
It sealed a deserving win as the South Belfast men look to add the championship to the league title, they have already claimed this season.
St Galls: Louis McCormick, Daniel Churchill, Gairéch Mac Adhaimh, Oisin Crawford, Connla Maguire, Conal McGirr (0-2 1f), Conall McCabe, Aodh Mullan (0-1), Manus McCrossan, (0-1), Dara Delaney, Callum Walsh (0-1), John McCullough, Joseph Diamond, Niall Fallon, Fergus Donnelly.
Replacements: Dubhaltach Mac Liam for McCabe (29), Oisin Kelly for Churchill (29), Oisin Maskey for Diamond (46), Ciaran Og Mullan for A Mullan (46), A Mullan for Donnelly (49).
Blood Sub: D Mac Liam for McCullough (6-20).
St Brigids: Declan Heery, Donal Harrison, Joe McCarney, Niall Finnegan, Conor Logue, Reuben Carleton, Cathal Maguire, Jack Logue, Donal Bradley (0-2), Ronan Boyle (1-0), Conan McNicholl (1-4 3f), Liam Finnegan (1-0), Oisin McDonnell (0-1 Mark), Toirealach Brolly, Lorcan Burns.
Replacements: Rory McErlean for C Logue (20), Niall Duffy (0-1) for McDonnell (35), Matthew Smyth for (45), Thomas Lloyd (1-0) for Brolly (49).
Referee: Mr Patrick Tumelty Lamh Dhearg.
