Senior Football Championship – Group Two – Round One
Saturday 3rd August
Report by Niall Kelly
Tír Na nÓg Randalstown 0-09 Naomh Éoin 3-13
This game was the absolute epitome of the old adage, a game of two halves. The first was an attritional and cagey affair; a game of chess as each dared the other to make their move. Scores were at a premium and both were guilty of squandering a few scoring chances. St John’s enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the opening thirty but their lack of conviction in front of the posts for much of the half would’ve been a cause for concern for the visitor’s management team. However, the second half saw some sparkling football on display from the Corrigan Park outfit. Their high press and ability to attack with dynamism and pace caused all sorts of headaches for the Randalstown rearguard. County men Conor Hand and Paddy McBride were hugely influential in galvanising their team whilst Conall Bohill, Ronan Quinn and Conor Adams put in a great day’s work.
Tír Na nÓg’s Darragh Fagan got the scoring underway from the placed ball on the fifth minute before Conor Adams replied with a free of his own. Both sides were methodical and patient in their approach as they tried to negotiate their way through packed defences. It was Tír Na nÓg though who made the most of their scoring opportunities as Aaron McNeilly put the finishing gloss on a slick move involving Emmett Murray and Fagan before tapping over a close-range free minutes later.
St John’s looked to respond and showed glimpses of the threat they posed, but too often in these opening exchanges, they lacked the end product. They then tried to mix it up with the long, direct ball into the forward line but time and again it was thwarted as the hosts had their tails up. Fagan, who was a constant danger when supplied, doubled his account five minutes before the end of the half to extend the gap to three and from a Whitehill perspective, all seemed well.
Finally, it started to click for St John’s and they ended the half with a flurry of scores with four points in as many minutes. First, Conall McGlade angled his effort to perfection from a tight angle before Conor Adams unleashed an absolute towering effort from just outside the 45.
Riding a wave of momentum, the visitors looked like a different team and their high press on the resulting kickout paid dividends as Conall Quinn got his name on the scoresheet. With the scores level at four a piece, we seemed destined for a stalemate at the interval, but Paddy McBride had other ideas. His drilled ball into Quinn was returned to sender and the Johnnies number 10 made no mistake with his execution caressing the ball over from a tight angle.
The final five minutes of the first half proved to be the St John’s blueprint for the second as they turned the screw. Right from the off, they meant business. Conor Hand fired a warning shot in the opening 25 seconds as he rampaged up the field straight from the throw in and was unlucky to see his drilled effort veer the wrong side of McAtamney’s post. Josh Higgins managed to level the game moments later with a superb effort, negotiating his way through the tightest of spaces.
However, this would be their last score for a quarter of an hour, and it would be in this fifteen minutes were the visitors put the game to bed. Determined to rectify for his earlier miss, Conor Hand was a man possessed and registered three crucial scores in a row. After some intricate play with Conall Quinn, the Naomh Éoin number 14 split the posts from a tight angle to edge in front once more. Moments later, he was at it again and his slaloming surge forward paved just enough space for him to convert from a similar angle. He would then deal a hammerblow to the host’s hopes of victory. Conall Bohill’s quick free caught the Randalstown defence on their heels as Hand raced out to gather the size five before turning his man and slotting nonchalantly into the bottom corner.
Tír Na nÓg sought desperately to respond and pushed higher up the field but they couldn’t make it stick on the scoreboard and their wide count was growing. Their opponents were in no mood to relent though and Paddy McBride doubled his tally finishing off a marauding run before Ronan Quinn popped up with a great score.
The barrage of attacks just kept coming and despite battling valiantly, Randalstown were powerless to stop the St John’s juggernaut as Conor Adams netted his side’s second goal with a powerful finish on the forty fifth minute.
To their credit, the hosts rallied bravely and continued their advances in search of paving a path back into contention. Darragh Fagan slotted over a much-needed score from a 45 but again the visitors would catch the men in blue on their heels as Conall McGlade and Conor Adams bolstered their individual tallies.
With ten minutes to go, the hosts drove forward and began to implement a more direct approach with the high ball in to their forwards. Although it wouldn’t quite stick for them, they did manage some success as McNeilly and Paul McCloskey’s efforts both found their mark to slightly reduce the gap.
However, St John’s were determined to finish the stronger and further points from McGlade and McBride were sandwiched either side of yet another major. This time it came in the form of wing-back Ronan Quinn whose driving runs forward were finally rewarded as he latched onto Conall Quinn’s through pass before driving to the net.
A statement of intent perhaps from St John’s as they leave their disappointing league campaign in the rear-view mirror. If they can replicate that second half performance in future games, they will certainly be a match for anyone in this year’s Senior Championship. For Randalstown, it’ll be back to the drawing board. In patches, they played some good football, but it was too infrequent and slower than their usual offensive approach. However, they know the potential that they possess in their artillery and will look to make amends in their next outing against Rossa.
Teams:
Tír Na nÓg:
S.P McAtamney; B McLarnon, C McGrelis, S McKeown; P McCloskey (0-01,) B McCormick, C O’Neill; O McAtamney, J Higgins (0-01;) A McNeilly (0-03,) E Óg McAllister, E Murray; A Tolan, D Fagan (0-04,) C Sheerin
Naomh Éoin:
E Rua Lambert; E McGurk, J Garland, C McEvoy; L Pedan, C Bohill, R Quinn (1-01;) A McGowan, R McNulty; P McBride (0-03,) S Tierney, C McGlade (0-03;) C Quinn (0-01,) C Hand (1-02,) C Adams (1-03)
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