South West U23 Development League final
Tir na nOg 3-7 All Saints 0-8
A strong second half saw Tir na nOg defeat All Saints in the inaugural Under 23 South West Winter Development Cup Final at Dunsilly on Sunday afternoon.
In a competitive fixture, Tir na nOg ran out 7-point winners though the final scoreline doesn’t reflect the balance of play. Tir na nOg, backboned by 9 of their senior Championship side were considered slight favourites coming into the game despite All Saints winning the earlier group stage fixture at Whitehill. Nevertheless, a competitive game was expected and it didn’t disappoint.
All Saints started off brightly and played some good football in the 1st half taking an early lead with a good point from Ciaran Campbell before Tir Na Og responded with a free from the reliable Aaron McNeilly.
The Ballymena side dominated the early exchanges and went into a 0.3 to 0.1 lead with points from play by Shaun O’ Callaghan and Ronan McKillop. Tir na nOg struggled to get their game going and relied on frees from McNeilly (0.2) to keep in touch but Cal O Brien then scored an excellent point to leave All Saints leading 0.4 to 0.3 mid-way through the opening half.
In the 2nd quarter, All Saints registered 3 more scores, with a McKillop free followed by 2 from play by O Callaghan before the Randalstown side responded in the 28th minute with their 1st from play through Ciaran O’Neill to leave All Saints lead at break, 0.7 to 0.3 and at this stage they looked the better side.
Playing with the breeze in 2nd half, Tir na nOg began to dominate the All Saints kick out and registered the first 3 scores with good points coming from play by Joe McCormack followed by frees from Aaron McNeilly and Conor Hastings to level the game at 0.7 apiece.
The game was nip and tuck throughout the half though All Saints were struggling to register on the scoreboard with momentum shifting in favour of the Whitehill men. In the 18th minute, with the sides still level, All Saints lost possession in the opposition half and a long ball found Eamon Og McAllister and showing great pace, he raced forward and finished an excellent goal to the corner of the net.
This opened up a 3-point gap and gave Tir Na Og the lead for 1st time. Despite quite a stop start 2nd half, All Saints continued to probe and closed the gap to two in the 20th minute with a well taken free by McKillop again, which proved to be their final score of the game.
The Slemish Park side then lost McKillop to a black card for the final 10 minutes of normal time. As the game approached the end of normal time and Tir Na Og leading by 2 points, Conor Hastings took advantage of a mistake in the All Saints defence and calmly slotted the ball to the net to open up a 5 point gap.
As the game approached the end of 5 minutes of injury time, things got a bit heated and All Saints lost 2 men to straight red cards and conceded a another late goal, finished to the net by Emmet Murray.
This proved to be the last action of the game, Tir na nOg winning on a final scoreline of 3-7 to 0-8. A deserved victory based on their 2nd half performance and they just had a little bit more senior experience on show which told in the end.
A competitive and at times feisty encounter but both clubs will be happy with their U23 campaigns as a developmental competition.
Teams and Scorers:
Tir Na Og: Sean Og McAtamney, Ryan Crilly, Brandon McLarnon, Peter Cullen, Paul McCloskey, Ciaran O Neill (0.1), Ethan Higgins, Cormac Devlin, Oliver McAtamney, Aaron McNeilly (0.4 4F), Eamon Og McAllister (1.0), Joe McCormack (0.1), Emmett Murray (1.0), Conor Hastings (1.1), Sean McKeown
All Saints
Ryan Stewart, Ryan Thom, Conall Killough, Michael Read, Matthew Downey, Patrick Ferris, Ronan Laverty, Cal O Brien (0.1), Cormac Lemon, Shaun O Callaghan (0.3), Darach Bradley, Jake White, Ciaran Campbell (0.1), Ronan McKillop (0.3 2F), Charlie Metrustry
Subs used: Brendan McDonnell, Oliver O Rawe, Conlin Neill, Kevin Brady
Referee: John Moran (Aldergrove)
