Month / May 2024

by thesaffrongael

Antrim Gaelic Masters maintain impressive start to the season.

Louth 0 – 04  v Antrim 4 – 19

Antrim Masters backed up their opening win two weeks ago against Monaghan with another impressive display, this time against Louth Masters, on Saturday in St Malachis Gaa club, Hacksballcross.

It took less than a minute for team captain for the day and recent Irish international Ryan Boyd to open the scoring and the big former Moneyglass man doubling this five minutes later to establish a lead that the Saffrons would go on to maintain fairly comfortably.

Playing a good blend of possession, Antrim started to open up a gaps in the Louth defence, the power and pace of attacking wing back Tony Scullion was causing all sorts of problems for the Louth defence, creating numerous goal scoring opportunities. Mark Graham got on the end of one such attack to finish to the net past Louth custodian Dermot Hickey, with Graham going on to post three more points in an impressive opening quarter.

It took Louth thirteen minutes to post their first score, a long range free converted by centre half forward Tommy Carr, but with half time approaching the fast feet of Carl O Neill eluded Hickey in the Louth goals, and when O Neill cooly rolled the ball into the corner of the net, this contest was starting to look fairly routine for the visitors.

Although Carr Clarke and Gogarty raised white flags to keep Louth in the contest, by the time referee Martin Conroy blew for half time there was a considerable ten point gap that in reality Antrim never looked likely of conceding.

The second half turned out to be a fairly routine affair, lively Mark Graham making no mistake to add another goal to take his tally for the day to a two goals and two points. Shortly after, impressive newcomer Niall Sweeney added a fourth, with unselfish contributions in that particular move from the commanding figure of Tony Convery, Barry Mc Mahon and Kevin McAllister, who himself made a huge contribution throughout, helping himself to a personal tally of five points.

Other players to catch the eye in a free scoring Saffron attack were Liam Magee and Declan McLarnon, whilst the hard working James McGreevy, Declan Hassen, Deaghlan White all made telling contributions.

Whilst Ken Golden Ryan Boyd and debutant Brendan Etherson were well in control of matters in or around the middle third, the basis for this impressive display was the entire Antrim defence who limited Louth to only one score from play throughout the hour.

Antrim’s half back line of Tony Scullion, Tony Convery and Thomas Doherty  can be well pleased with their contributions, all playing a prominent part in this excellent team performance, as can goalkeeper Sean Mc Greevys full back line that was superbly marshalled by Laurence Higgins Ryan Daly and the tireless running of Collie Connolly.

With numerous additions expected to this Antrim Squad in the coming weeks, including the return of Michael Herron from holidays and the awaited seasonal debut of Cargin’s highly decorated Kieran Close, it will be interesting to see if this rich vein of form can be continued when Donegal provide stiffer opposition in a fortnight in round three.

Antrim Scorers: Mark Graham 2 – 02, Kevin McAllister 0 – 06, Ryan Boyd 0 – 03, Niall Sweeney 1 – 01, Carl O’Neill 1 – 00, Liam Og Magee 0 – 03,  Declan McLarnon 0 – 01, Barry McMahon 0 – 01,  Tony Scullion 0 – 01, James McGreevy 0 – 01.

Louth Scorers: – T Carr 0- 02, J Tifoney 0 – 01, P Clarke 0 -01.

by thesaffrongael

Antrim Under 14 LGFA book All Ireland final place

Antrim 1-8 Monaghan 1-4

Antrim Under 14 Ladies brushed Monaghan aside in their All-Ireland Bronze semi-final at St Paul’s Lurgan on Saturday with a stunning 15-point victory over the Farney.

Antrim and Monaghan met back in March in the Ulster Festival of Football, and whilst the sun split the stones in Silverbridge that day too, the result was much closer, the Saffs running out 1-8 to 1-5 victors.

Antrim got off to a bright start when Ardoyne’s Ava Le Mahieu raised the green flag after palming in at the back post. Monaghan responded quickly with a point but Antrim went on to hit five unanswered, with two from Sophie Skelly and three from Aoibhea Stanton.

Monaghan though didn’t let their heads drop, and with pressure on the Antrim defence, Corduff’s Ellie King eventually hit the back of the net. The goal didn’t phase Antrim, Ava le Mahieu responding with a point. Five points up, Emyvale’s Aoibheann McCarron could only look on as Skelly shot into her goal to leave Antrim leading 2-6 to 1-1 at the break.

Monaghan would come out a different beast at the start of the second half, but for all the pressure they exerted the Saffs stood strong, the Farney Ladies unable to break through in the final third of the pitch. It would be more than ten minutes before Antrim registered their first score of the second period, Cargin’s Cliodhna McKeever opening her account for the day.

Caitlin Gaffin put in an incredible performance at centre-half back; every time Monaghan cleared their line the Moneyglass woman was on hand to pump the ball straight back into the attacking third. Then the Antrim forwards let loose; Cara Coogan, Anna Lean, Ellie Lynn, Cliodhna McKeever, Caitlin McKee and Sophia Reed all pointing in the final quarter.

Serious attacking firepower from the young Saffs, but huge credit also to the defence who managed to keep Monaghan out for the entire second half. Adrian Mullan, Orla Le Mahieu and Paul McGuigan will now lead their charges into the decider on 9 June with Limerick who dispatched Westmeath in the other semi-final today.

Antrim Scorers

Aoibhea Stanton (1-2), Ava le Mahieu (1-1) Sophie Skelly (0-3) Cliodhna McKeever (0-2) Caitlin McKee (0-1), Anna Lean (0-1), Ellie Lynn (0-1), Saorla O’Halloran (0-1), Sophia Reed (0-1)

Referee: Phillip Conway (Ard Mhacha)

by thesaffrongael

Kickham’s join the race at the top of the table

ACFL Division 1

St. John’s 0-7 Creggan 2-15

Kickham’s Creggan join Cargin, Portglenone and St. Brigid’s on 16 points at the top of division 1 following a bizarre weekend of results that saw all three lose their unbeaten league records

On a great night for football up in Corrigan Park after our County hurlers got the job done earlier in the day it was down to league business for the Johnnies and their visitors from Creggan.

Both teams went into this one under strength because of County commitments but never the less served up an entertaining game between these old rivals.

Kickhams got away to the perfect start with Sean Duffin and Dominic McAteer hitting a point each in the 3rd and 5th minutes then in the 7th minute Duffin again burst through the heart of the St John’s defence to score a great goal.

Duffin added another point on 17 minutes and Jamie McCann followed with 2 more in the 20th and 22nd minute.

Conal Mc Glade finally opened St. John’s account with a point in the 25th minute but Creggan finished the half strongly with two more points from Conor Small and Ricky Johnston to leave the score at halftime, St John’s 0-01 to Kickhams 1-07. 

With a lot of the hard work being done in the defence by Sam and Aiden Maguire it gave Creggan’s midfield and forwards the confidence to push on as the second half got underway again.

Kealan McCann and Jamie McCann added points in the first 2 minutes before Darren Bellew and Conor Mc Avoy replied for St John’s to bring their total for the evening to 0-3.

Exchanges were much more even at this stage of the contest as Dominic and Tiernan McAteer added to the Kickham’s total and once again the Johnnies came back with points from Conchúr Adams and Conal McGlade.

 In a tit for tat 15 minutes spell Jamie McCann and Tiernan McAteer kept the scoreboard ticking over and once again the Johnnies found a response through Adrian Oliver.

The Whiterock Road men never really looked like overcoming the deficit as Andy McGowan hit their final point but Dominic McAteer replied with a brilliant goal in the 24th minute before sharing the final two points of the game with his brother Tiernan to conclude the scoring.

This win sees Creggan join Cargin, Portglenone and St. Brigid’s on 16 points but the Kickham’s have played a game more but will be well satisfied with their recent good run of results.

With half a dozen rounds still to play it looks like the race for the title will go right down to the wire with only two points separating first and sixth in the table.

by thesaffrongael

Antrim beat Carlow to stay in Leinster Championship

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship – round robin 5

Antrim 4-22 Carlow 2-22

Relief rather than elation was the general feeling, at the end of Sunday’s game at Corrigan Park as the Saffrons retained their place in the Leinster Hurling Championship next season with a 4-22 to 2-22 win over 14 man Carlow in the final round of the Leinster Round Robin series. For most of the first half Carlow looked the more likely winner as they picked off some top class scores, but Antrim’s ability to find the back the Carlow net kept getting them back into contention. Conal Cunning and James McNaughton were the men to raise the green flags, Cunning hitting one from play and one from a penalty in the first half, while McNaughton got two from play, one in each half.

Each goal was vital for on three occasion it brought the home side back into the game Cunnings second goal coming ten minutes before the break lifting the Saffrons and following that they got ahead for the first time to go in with a one point advantage at the interval.

However it was the events just after the half time whistle which were to have a big bearing on the outcome of the game. A bout of ‘handbags’ broke out after referee James Owens sounded the whistle and while it looked pretty innocuous at the start it got a little nastier as the tensions rose. Owens was is deep discussion with his umpires and linesmen at they headed to the dressing room at the interval and when the sides re-emerged Carlow’s Chris Nolan received his marching orders and his side, who had been reduced to 14 minutes for the last ten minutes of the first half after defender Paul Doyle got a black card for denying Seaan Elliott a goal scoring chance.

It was a tense afternoon in Belfast, but one in which Antrim would ultimately prevail and it was a vital win for their progress.

Conal Cunning fires in Antrim’s opening goal and celebrates the vital score

Carlow had the better of things in the early stages as Martin Kavanagh and Seaan Elliott traded points before the visitors reeled off the next three.

Antrim had a goal chance after five minutes but Conal Cunning pulled on a ground ball, but he struck the top of the ball and it flew wide of the target. There was no denying the Dunloy man three minutes later when he was put clear in front of goal after great work by Conor McCann and James McNaughton and the the corner forward drilled a left sides shot to the Carlow net.

However Carlow were always able to find a response and they gradually opened a gap with a goal from Chris Nolan and points from Kavanagh, James Doyle and Conor Kehoe as the gap widened.

Antrim were falling adrift but on twenty minutes man of the match James McNaughton found himself through on goal and the Loughiel man finished with aplomb to bring his side back to within two.

The third came on 24 minutes from a Conal Cunning penalty, when Seaan Elliott was dragged down by Paul Doyle but there was brief respite for the home side as Carlow replied with three of the next four points, but Antrim finished the half well with a pair of Cunning frees and then Keelan Molloy clipped them into the lead for the first half in stoppage time as Antrim led 3-09 to 1-14.

Nolan’s red card didn’t appear to be hampering Carlow in the early stages of the new half and they hit the first two points to retake the lead. However Antrim began to take charge again with Keelan Molloy, Niall O’Connor and Gerard Walsh all finding the target from long range

The gap fluctuated between three to four as Carlow kept very much in touch and things got even closer when Ciaran Whelan blocked down O’Connor’s attempted clearance to set up a goal chance which Kavanagh squeezed over the line.

Antrim’s Niall McKenna in action during the Safrons’s win over Carlow

Antrim hit back through Conor Boyd and then a goal of their own as two minutes later, Elliott teed up McNaughton to crack home.

Carlow kept in touch through Kavanagh, but Antrim were finding the answers as they pulled away and saw it out to retain their McCarthy Cup status for next season.

Antrim’s Sean Elliott is dragged back just outside the Carlow penalty area in the incident that led to Antrim’s penalty

ANTRIM: Ryan Elliott, Conor Boyd (0-01), Rory McCloskey, Paddy Burke (0-01), Gerard Walsh (0-02, 2f), Niall O’Connor (0-02), Eoghan Campbell, Michael Bradley, Keelan Molloy (0-03), Nigel Elliott (0-01), James McNaughton (2-03), Niall McKenna, Conal Cunning (2-07, 1-00 pen, 0-06f, 0-02 65), Conor McCann (0-01), Seaan Elliott (0-01).

Subs: Paul Boyle for M Bradley (62), Joseph McLaughlin for C McCann (64), Christy McGarry for S Elliott (70+2), Rian McMullan for N Elliott (70+3), Fred McCurry for J McNaughton (70+4)

CARLOW: Brian Tracey, Paul Doyle, Dion Wall, Niall Boland; Jack Kavanagh (0-01), Kevin McDonald (0-01), Tony Lawlor, Jack McCullagh, Paddy Boland, Chris Nolan (1-01), Ciaran Whelan (0-01), Martin Kavanagh (1-11, 0-09f, 0-02 65s), Conor Kehoe (0-03), John Michael Nolan (0-1), James Doyle (0-03).

Subs: Fiachra Fitzpatrick for Kavanagh (47), Donagh Murphy for Nolan (65), Richard Coady for Whelan (70+1)

Referee: James Owens (Wexford)

Antrim’s Paddy Burke hand passes the ball away as he breaks out of defence
by thesaffrongael

Graham’s goal turns it decisively in Ahoghill’s favour

ACFL Division 1

Ahoghill 3-18 Aldergrove 1-9

St. James Aldergrove were forced to turn their jersey’s inside out to avoid a clash of colours on their visit to Clooney to play Ahoghgill on Sunday and by the time Cathal McDermott blew his full-time whistle they had been comprehensively beaten by a fluent St. Mary’s.

The visitors opened well and led 0-4 to 0-3 after 17 minutes but would only add one more before the break as the Clooney side came strong in the second quarter.

Ronan Graham (9) fires to the net for Ahoghill’s opening goal

Chris McGlone’s side came back with five points of their own and when Ronan Graham got in for their opening goal just before the half time whistle in looked a long way back for the Crumlin side.

Ahoghill pushed on to add two further second half goals through James O’Connell and Colla McDonnell when the visitors lost a player to a second Yellow with 7 minutes remaining it was all over.

To their credit they battled to the end and a goal from Ronan Hanna gave them a glimmer of hope but St. Mary’s replied with four points on the bounce to put the contest out of reach.

Conor Crossey and Dan O’Neill for Ahoghill and Brian McQuillan and Ronan Hanna for the visitors exchanged early points to leave it 0-2 apiece after 8 minutes before James O’Connell kicked two for the Clooney side to move them two in front by the 12th minute.

The visitors were giving as good as they got at this stage and came back with three unanswered points through Ronan Hanna, Corey Fogarty and Conleith O’Toole to take the lead by the 24th minute.

Oisin Graham, Aldergrove tries to get his side moving as Eamonn Brady looks on

It was the home side who found another gear in the minutes leading up to half time however as James O’Connell, ‘Bobby’ Magee, Donal Graham and O’Connell again moved them three in front by the 29th minute.

A strong run from Dan O’Neill down the right wing saw him find Ronan Graham with an inch perfect pass over the top and Graham took it in his stride as he broke clear on goal.

The Ahoghill mid-fielder’s initial shot was well saved by Ryan McCarthy in the St. James’ goal but it broke favourably for the Ahoghill number 9 and he followed up to fire to the net from close range to give his side a six point lead at the short whistle.

HT: Ahoghill 1-8 Aldergrove 0-5

St. Mary’s started the second half as they had finished the first with Diarmaid Graham pointing in the opening minute before Ryan McCarthy pulled off a great save to deny James O’Connell what looked a certain goal.

McCarthy’s save provided only temporary respite as Ronan Graham and James O’Connell 0-2 (1f) moved the Clooney side 1-12 to 0-5 ahead after 8 minutes and when James O’Connell took a fine pass from Dan O’Neill to finish to the net in the 15th minute it was as good as over.

James O’Connell fires past Ryan McCarthy for Ahoghill’s second goal

Cormac McGarry from a free and another from play pulled two back for the Crumlin side but when Colla McDonnell palmed home his side’s third goal with 13 minutes remaining there would be no way back for the visitors.

Malachy Burns responded with a point after a ‘Mark’ and Connell Hanna finished to the net with 6 minutes remaining but Ahoghill responded with points from James O’Connell 0-2, Ronan Graham 0-2 and Fionnbar O’Neill with Ronan Hanna kicking with a consolation point for the Crumlin side.

This win moves Ahoghill onto 7 points, four ahead of today’s opponents and sees them climb above the bottom six while Aldergrove showed enough in the early exchanges to suggest they can climb up the table in the coming weeks.

Ahoghill: Aiden Graham, Seamus McKeever, James Magee, Bernard Graham, Patrick Dougan, Fionnbar O’Neill, Diarmaid Graham, Thomas McGlone, Ronan Graham, Eamonn Brady, Conor Crossey, Dan O’Neill, James O’Connell, Neil O’Connell, Colla McDonnell.

Subs: Donal Graham for Tom McGlone, Conor McGarry for Neil O’Connell, Noah Friel for James O’Connell, Ryan McPeake for Ronan Graham

Aldergrove: 1 Ryan McCarthy, 2 Aiden Irvine, 3 Emmet Irvine, 4 Ronan Wilkinson, 5 Malachy Burns, 6 Chris McVeigh, 7 Eoin Hamill, 8 Brian McQuillan, 9 Corey Fogarty, 10 Gerald Mallon, 11 Conleith O’Toole, 12 Andy Flood, 13 Cormac McGarry, 14 Ronan Hamill, 15 Oisin Graham

Subs: David Aiken for Aiden Irvine, Connell Hanna for Gerad Mallon, Sean Fay for Malachy Burns

Colla McDonnell wheels away after scoring Ahoghill’s third goal in their victory over Aldergrove in Clooney