Intermediate Football Championship
Ardoyne 0-10 Rasharkin 1-13
An afternoon of road blocks, traffic jams and a sense of unease saw a stop – start game between Ardoyne Kickhams and St Mary’s Rasharkin in the IFC at Fennell Park on Saturday.
Rasharkin will have been happy to leave with a six point victory, but the number of missed opportunities and wayward shooting will give them plenty to work on before their next game in the championship. Ardoyne, while losers on the day, will be encouraged by another spirited performance from a young and inexperienced team.
It was the Northenders who were first on the scoreboard with an opening 65 from Cormac Mullan. This was followed up by a strong run from Aran Stewart out of the heart of defence to slot the ball over the bar to give Ardoyne a two point lead.
Eamonn McNeill steadied the ship for Rasharkin with a strong drive through the Ardoyne defence and fired the ball over for the first of his six points of the afternoon.
Joe Gibson has been showing well for Ardoyne recently and he showed his potential with a beautiful point floated over from near the sideline. This saw a spirited response from Rasharkin with two points put on the scoreboard before a great piece of interplay saw them cut through the Ardoyne defence before man of the match Brian Og O’Neill found the net for the only goal of the game.
Ardoyne were more than holding their own despite falling behind and at the half-time whistle were only two points behind.
Half-time: Ardoyne 0-06 Rasharkin 1-05
The second half saw Rasharkin stamp their authority on the game with six points on the trot before Ardoyne managed to raise the white flag for their first point of the half.
Brian Og O’Neill was having a great afternoon in the forward line before a bad landing saw him being stretchered off after 20 minutes of the second half. His injury seemed to put a dampener on Rasharkin’s performance with Ardoyne putting up stiff resistance with 3 points in a row. Rasharkin eventually got their game together again and pulled away to secure a 6 point win.
Rasharkin will be hoping to improve on this performance as the championship progresses. Ardoyne, while still without a win this season, will be greatly encouraged by their recent improvement in form and the potential shown by the younger members of their team.
Ardoyne: Tiernan Hughes, Aran Stewart 0-1, Conor Magee, Oisin Hickey, Eoghan Corrigan 0-1, Pearse Marley, Joe Gibson 0-1, Gary McKernan 0-1, Keelan McCallan, Cormac Mullan 0-5 (4f), Odhran Mullan, Odhran McKee 0-1, Padraig McGreevey, Paddy Heaney, Fiontan Lagan, Ethan Magill, Daniel Moore, Padraig O’Deorain, Rian McGranaghan, Aodhan Quigg
Rasharkin: Cathair Henderson, Pearce Kelly, Emmet McFerran, Liam Quigg, Pearse McTeague 0-1, Seamus Ellis, Fergus Quigg, Ruairi O’Boyle 0-2(1f), Shane Hasson, Colm Kennedy, Eamonn O’Neill 0-6 (1f), Donagh Quigg, Tiernan O’Boyle 0-1, Brian Og O’Neill 1-3, Ferghal Kennedy, Killian O’Boyle, Ryan Lynch, Oisin Casey
Referee:
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