ACFL Division 2
St. Paul’s 2-9 Glenavy 2-10
Glenavy v. St.Paul’s
Two converted frees from Fergal Henry, late in the game snatched victory for Glenavy over a battling St. Paul’s in a well contested division 2 clash at Shaw’s Road last night. A couple of weeks back, St. Joseph’s Glenavy travelled to Ballymena and suffered a heavy defeat to All Saints. The turn around since has been remarkable. They recovered from that defeat to beat Gort na Mona at Chapel Hill and on Wednesday night they travelled to Shaw’s Road and edged out St. Paul’s in a real cliff hanger that wasn’t without its moments of drama.
Malachi Doherty’s opening goal from the penalty spot in the 6th minute after Charlie Gallagher had been brought down certainly got the crowd on its feet with referee Danny O’Neill ordering a retake after his original effort had sailed wide.
Doherty made no mistake on the second occasion to give his side the lead but St. Paul’s recovered from that early setback to draw level with a goal of their own, two minutes later as two evenly balanced side fought to gain supremacy.
The home side looked to be gaining control when they hit three unanswered points by the 16th minute before Fergal Henry replied with Glenavy’s first point of the evening but St. Paul’s replied immediately to maintain their three point advantage.
Both sides were finding the target elusive but a Ciaran Loney point for St. Joseph’s and a late point for the Shaw’s Road men saw the home side lead by three at the end of a low scoring opening half.
Half Time: St.Pauls: 1-5(8) Glenavy: 1-2(5)
St. Paul’s extended their lead on the restart with a point in the opening minute and another in the 6th minute saw them move five clear and they seemed to be taking control but Glenavy began to settle and responded with points from Fergal Henry, Ciaran Loney and Paddy Gallagher to bring them right back in touch by the 10th minute.
The Chapel Hill side were coming more and more into the game and hit the front for the second time in the contest when a long delivery broke to Ciaran Loney who split the defence.
The ball was delivered invitingly across goal and Charlie Gallagher was well placed to fist to the net.
The visitors looked to be in control at this stage as Ciaran Loney and Fergal Henry added points but St. Paul’s finished the game strongly with a couple of points to keep in touch.
Finn Shannon marked his introduction with a point for the visitors and they seemed to have rode the St. Paul’s storm but a goal for the Shaw’s Road men in the 24th minute put the game right back in the melting pot.
The goal put St. Paul’s ahead and the Hoops looked on their way to two much needed points but it was Glenavy who held their nerve with the impressive Fergal Henry kicking two late frees to clinch it for the visitors.
This win moves Glenavy onto 8 points and into fourth place with Davitt’s and Aldergrove both on 8 points but with games in hand and All Saints retaining top spot after a good win at Gort na Mona last night.
