South West U13 Shield final
All Saints 1-9 Erin’s Own 0-4
A bigger and stronger All Saints overcame the challenge of a small but very skilful Cargin in this South West U13 Shield final that was played as part of a triple-header in perfect conditions in Ahoghill on Sunday.
The Ballymena side went on the offensive right from the start and Eoin Lorcan Bradley gave them the lead with a point in the second minute.
Cargin responded and might have went ahead when a good move saw Dillon Loughran through on goal but Christopher Devlin made an excellent save to deny the big number 15.
It would prove to be a rare opportunity for the Toome lads as Jayden Cassley and Shayne Dorrity fired over at the other end to move the Ballymena lads 0-3 to 0-0 ahead.
All Saints continued to press and another promising attack saw the ball break from a crowded goalmouth to Finn Hudson and he fired first time from the ground to place the ball in the corner of the Cargin net.
The young Erin’s Own were giving it everything against a much bigger opponent and were rewarded for their efforts when the excellent Oisin McGuckin got their first score of the game with a point in the 10th minute.
Back came the Slemish Park side and Eoin Lorcan Bradley pointed a close range free and Joseph O’Hara followed from a ‘45’ before Ryan McCann replied with a good point for Cargin in the 16th minute.
The final score of the half would fall to All Saints as Ruairi Hamill came forward from defence to send over a fine effort to put his side in a fairly healthy 1-6 to 0-2 lead.
The Toome boys needed a good start to the second half if they were to get back into contention but in the event it was the lively Eoin Lorcan Braddley who would extend the All Saints lead with two early points.
Brian Og McCann kicked an excellent ‘45’ to open Cargin’s second half account in the 10th minute but the scoring dried up after this as play became scrappy and disjointed.
Ballymena captain, Shayne Dorrity got the score board moving again with a good point in the 15th minute but it would be their final score with Cargin’s only reply coming from Conor McCann with a point in the 19th minute.
It was handshakes and congratulations at the end as the Cargin team and their mentors sportingly stayed to applaud the opposition as South West Chairman, Stephen Graham presented the South West U13 Shield to All Saints captain, Shayne Dorrity.
