Glenravel beat All Saints to move level at the top with their rivals.

O’Neill Sportswear Football League – Division 1

All Saints 0-07 Glenravel 0-11

***All Saints Eoin Walsh in action against Glenravel’s Cormac McKeown during Wednesday evening’s league game at Quinn Park***

Con Magees Glenravel secured two vitally important points in this top of the table clash with neighbours Ballymena in a hard fought game in Quinn Park. All Saints might rue their missed chances in the first half that meant they went in at half time just two points ahead and that after the visitors squandered the best chance of the game when Ryan McQuillan’s shot from close range fizzed across the goal line and wide when he looked odds on to score. That indeed was the final play of the first half. However a totally revitalised Glenravel came out in the second half and swept Ballymena aside, holding the home team to just a single point, while adding seven of their own, to secure a four point victory which leaves both sides level on points at the top of Division Two with three games remaining.

**The Glenravel team stand for a minute’s silence at Wedensday evening’s game in memory of club stalwart Sean Higgins who was buried earlier that day**

The home side started brightly and their lively corner forward Ronan McKillop popped over a fine score in the second minute. Ballymena doubled their lead seven minutes later when Shaun O’ Callaghan, listed at centre half back, made one of his many forays upfield and put the home side two points up. It wasn’t until the eleventh minute that Glenravel troubled the umpires as Declan Traynor burst through a tight All Saints defence and scored. McKillop and O’Callaghan added two further points between which Eamon Fyfe pointed from play so with twenty mines gone, Ballymena led 0-04 to 0-02.

Glenravel’s Declan Traynor turns away after scoring

With only six minutes of the half remaining Eamon Fyfe pointed from a free, the only score from a placed ball in the opening half and three minutes later Declan Traynor levelled the game at four points each. In the closing minutes though the home side finished stronger as Brendan McDonnell scored a brace of points to restore Ballymena’s two point lead. A long kickout from Glenravel found Eamon Fyfe free and when he off loaded to Ryan McQuillan the away supporters were hoping for a green flag but McQuillan’s shot grazed the left hand post and went wide. So when referee Patrick Tumelty blew the short whistle Ballymena held a two point advantage.0-6 to 0-4

***All Saints Sean McVeigh goes high to catch a ball during Wednesday evening’s top of the table clash at Quinn Park, Ballymena.***

Eamon Fyfe reduced that gap to a single point in the opening minute of the second period and one minute later Ronan McKillop put All Saints back two in front. With only two and a half minutes gone in the second half you would have got good odds that this score would be Ballymena’s final score of the game – but so it proved. In the following thirty minutes they failed to raise a flag of any kind whilst their rivals would notch up six unanswered points from Sean McKay, Charlie Henry, Eamon Fyfe, Cormac McKeown and Ryan McQuillan (0-02) to give Glenravel a four point lead at the end of the game. Ballymena were reduced to fourteen men for a black card offence with ten minutes to play and then to thirteen for a second yellow card with five minutes to play but in truth the game was over as a contest by then.