ACFL Division 1

Roger Casements 0 – 16   St Marys, Ahoghill 0 – 06

A large crowd assembled at Kelly Park Portglenone to view the latest instalment of a local derby between the hosts and neighbouring Ahoghill. Though the length of the league table separated the sides, traditionally that has meant little, with players knowing each other so well from the days of the previous amalgamation between the two clubs.

A minutes silence was impeccably observed in memory of the late Mickey Kelly, followed by a warm round of applause for the large contribution he made to local GAA over a long period.

When referee Darren McKeown got the game underway both teams probed and built their way into the contest, and it was a full six minutes before Michael Hagan split the posts to open the scoring, in favour of the hosts.

The opening half was memorable mostly for some excellent long range score taking, points that would grace any occasion from Aidan McAleese (2) but also a brace from the lively Oisin Doherty and two more from the impressive Michael Hagan, as the hosts ran up a sizeable lead going into the break.

James O Connell got two back for the visitors, long range efforts, one from play, the other a free form all of fifty yards.

Another O Connell free in the opening minute of the second half narrowed the gap to four, and veteran observers of this fixture knew that this was not insurmountable. As it was though, Portglenone pushed on with the next four scores to open up the gap to eight – a mountain that Ahoghill never looked likely of reducing. Doherty was again on the board, with Ronan Kelly finishing off the best team move of the evening before Aidan McAleese landed two more of his trademarks from all of fifty yards.

Although Boris O Connell, Tom McGlone and Finbar O Neill took the fight right back to Casements, the visitors struggled to breakdown a resolute Portglenone defence where Ronan Delargy broke even, negating the influence of the visitors main threat, James OConnell.

Conceding fewer scores than any other team in the league to date, the home defence is proving to form a sound base from which to launch their attacks through a lively hard running half back line.

James O Connell did manage five points to his credit, three from play, but struggled for a playmaker to play off him, as Kevin O`Kane and Shane Delargy were on hand to sweep up anything that resembled a scoring opportunity for Cloney.

Impressive half back line duo Ruairi Hagan and Caolan Tierney chipped in to maintain a healthy lead for the current league champions, as Micheal Hagan secured the pre match target of a double digit victory just as Darren McKeown, who refereed this contest better than most in recent years, blew his long whistle.

Ahoghill are around the basement of this division once more, but they know how and when to pick their battles and tonight wasn’t one of them. If any club knows about survival and how to regroup pre championship, it’s the men from Cloney.

For John McKeever this was another satisfying performance despite having half a dozen usual staters missing, and a chance for a few squad players to show what they can offer as John continues to rotate players and build a squad mentality.

Patrick Graffin and Michael Og Kelly made their seasonal debuts, neither looking an inch out of place in a well-oiled Casements machine.

For the winners Shane Delargy was superb, maintaining his impressive start to the season, at the heart of a resolute defence where everyone played their part.

Enda Lynn continues to provide the fulcrum of attack, around which the footballing and sharpshooting talent of Oisin Doherty, Michael Hagan, and Aidan McAleese and others come to the fore, as the season concludes its opening quarter.

Scorers

Casements ; Michael Hagan 0 – 05, Aidan Mc Aleese 0 – 04, Oisin Doherty 0 – 04, Ronan Kelly 0 – 01, Caolan Tierney 0 – 01, Ruairi Hagan 0 – 01.

Ahoghill ; James OConnell 0 – 05, Ronan Graham 0 – 01.