O’Neill’s Sportswear Antrim Football League Division Three

Éire Óg 1-13 St Malachy’s 3-3

PJ Toal was the difference in the end as Eire Og pipped St. Malachy’s in an entertaining and keenly contested game to deny the ‘Mals’ their first points in division 3 this year.

Mid-fielder Toal hit 0-7 on the evening as his side won by the minimum in this Belfast derby at Woodlands on Wednesday evening.

Both sides had early chances but it took a few minutes for the opening score to arrive and it proved to be a huge boost for the visitors as a long ball was broken down to James McGivern who burst in on the left and thumped high into the net.

Éire Óg responded well as PJ Toal opened his account for the night from a free and Ronan Donnelly sent a long range effort between the uprights.

It was end to end at this stage as Patrick McDiarmid guided over for the South Belfast men, but Eire Og were growing into the game as as PJ Toal landed another free and then Stephen Erskine intercepted a pass before feeding Conor McKenna who shrugged off a challenge and finished to the net.

Toal added a point from play, but on 17 minutes the sides were level once more as Anthony Dobbin was tripped inside the area when trying to get onto a long ball and a penalty was awarded that was well finished to the corner by team captain Ciaran Vernon.

St Malachy’s failed to build on it however as Éire Óg came strong in the period leading up to the break as Mark Graham and Conall Smyth found their range in-between a pair of  PJ Toal frees to put their side into a 1-8 to 2-1 lead at the break.

St Malachy’s made a good start to the second half as Anton McGreevy got his hand to a dropping Vernon free to guide the ball over, but Conor McKenna hit back and then with his first touch since being introduced, Conor Erskine clipped over to push the gap to five.

That remained the difference after Vernon and Toal swapped points as the game was becoming disjointed with plenty of hits going in but little by way of flowing play.

It appeared to suit St Malachy’s who were pressing up in numbers in an attempt to get themselves back into the game and they were rewarded in the 55^th minute from a turnover as Vernon put McDiarmid away to finish low to the corner of the net and leave two between them.

This was as close as they would get as late points from Ronan Donnelly and Toal’s seventh of the night sealed the points for Éire Óg as St Malachy’s continue their search for their opening points of the season.

ÉIRE ÓG: C McMenamin; C Rice, P Loughran, R Clarke; J Devlin, C McKenna (1-1), S McEvoy; C Smyth (0-1), PJ Toal (0-7, 5f); D Campbell, R Donnelly (0-2), E McNulty; S Erskine, M Graham (0-1), C Carberry.

Subs: C Erskine (0-1) for C Carberry (36), E Holmes for E McNulty (44), D Doonan for S McEvoy (58)