ACHL Division 2
Tir na nOg 1-23 Clooney Gaels 2-20
Clooney Gaels maintain top spot in division 2 of the ACHL Division 2 following an enthralling draw with Tir na nOg at Whitehill on Wednesday night. The game turned into a second half shootout between Tir na nOg’s Ciaran Logan and Clooney’s James O’Connell with O’Connell pulling his side level from a pointed free as the game entered time added on.
Logan, who had been excellent throughout had an opportunity to snatch it for 14 man Tir na nOg four minutes into injury time but this time his radar was just off as his free from a difficult angle sailed just wide of the upright, much to the relief of the opposition.
It was the Whitehill side who made the better start and they raced into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead with Joshua Higgins, Caoimhin Duffin and Darragh Fagan their marksmen and the Clooney reply coming from James O’Connell.
The visitors had been slow to settle but they hit the front in the 8th minute when an excellent move out of defence saw James O’Connell break clear before setting up Owen Neeson who made no mistake from 20 meters out.
The home side recovered from this early setback and responded with points from Joshua Higgins Colm Duffin, Darragh Fagan and Pearse Sheerin to move three clear by the 13th minute.
Back came the Ahoghill side as Donal Graham, 0-2 and Joe Logan hit three unanswered points to draw their side level and the Randalstown side then suffered another blow when Sean McKinley was shown Red following a reckless pull on Ronan Graham.
Graham was able to continue after treatment as James O’Connell from the resulting free moved the visitor’s one ahead and when Owen Neeson took advantage of a slip in the Tir na nOg defence to fire home their second goal from close range they looked to be taking control.
Two points from Ciaran Logan and another from Colm Duffin in reply to a pointed O’Connell free and another from Ronan Graham had the visitors 2-10 to 0-10 ahead at the interval and they must have been confident heading to the dressing rooms at half time.
It was a more focused Tir na nOg who returned to the field for the second half with Pearse Sheerin and Darragh Fagan on target with points in the opening 10 minutes.
Donal Graham edged Clooney Gaels five in front again but a couple of pointed frees from the increasingly affective Ciaran Logan had it back to three at the end of the third quarter.
Tir na nOg were now enjoying the better of the exchanges and when Pearse Sheerin took advantage of a slip by Patrick Logan to fire to the net it was all square as the big home support roared their approval.
It was nip and tuck during the closing stages as James O’Connell hit two more in reply to one from Daniel Martin to move the visitors one ahead but the Whitehill side hit a purple patch with Ciaran Logan 0-2 and Joshua Higgins on target and Owen Neeson replying for the Gaels.
And so it continued with Joshua Higgins and Emmet Murray moving the Whitehill men two in front and O’Connell 0-2 again closing the gap to the minimum with four minutes of normal time remaining.
It was nail biting stuff as both sides went looking for the winner with Logan again obliging from another free and Ronan Graham responding with a good point for the visitors.
Fagan looked to have clinched it for the Blues with a point in the 29th minute and it took a smart save from Aiden Graham to deny Joshua Higgins with O’Connell’s late pointed free tying it for the last time and keeping Clooney Gaels top of the table.
Shane O’Neill’s have moved into second place following their win over Oisin Glenariffe at Feystown and have a game in hand while Carey Faughs with two still to play and St. Galls with one in hand are all in a strong position as we reach the split.
Tir na nOg: 1 Michael Higgins, 2 Ciaran O’Neill, 3 Christy Sheerin, 4 Dara Martin, 5 Daniel Martin, 6 Caoimhin Duffin, 7 Sean McKinley, 8 Ciaran McKeown, 9 Emmet Murray, 10 Ciaran Logan, 11 Neil Shannon, 12 Joshua Higgins, 13 Joe McCormick, 14 Pearse Sheerin, 15 Darragh Fagan,
Subs: 17 Colm Duffin for Joe McCormick, Sean McConnan for Daniel martin
Clooney Gaels: 1 Aiden Graham, 2 Conal Walls, 3 Patrick Dougan, 4 Charlie McCloskey, 5 Fionnbar O’Neill, 6 James Magee, 7 Diarmaid Graham, 8 Eamonn Brady, 9 Conor Crossey, 10 Donal Graham, 11 Ronan Graham, 12 James O’Connell, 13 Owen Neeson, 14 Martin Graham, 15 Joseph Logan
Subs: Harry O’Donnell for Conall Walls, Noah Friel, Jack McFall
Referee: Fionntan McCotter (Sarsfields)
