Eire Og put themselves back in the hunt for a play-off place in the Antrim Junior Football Championship with a good win over a battling Wolfe Tones at MacRory Park on Saturday evening.
The Doire Achaidh side were in control for much of the contest but were made to fight all the way by a Wolfe Tones side taking part in only their second year of championship football.
The opening exchanges were close enough as James McClory pointed Eire Og ahead before Martin Connor replied from a 6th minute pointed free for the Greencastle side to level the contest.
With Niall Ward orchestrating matters from around mid-field Eire Og slowly got on top as Mark Graham and Peter James Toal moved them two in front by the 16th minute and then Tones keeper, Danny McIvor pulled off a splendid save to deny Kevin Clarke from close range.
Toal added a point for the Og’s before Martin Connor replied from a second free for he Greencastle side and the goal that had been threatening duly arrived when Niall Ward fired home in the 22nd minute.
Eire Og would push on to lead 1-6 to 0-2 at half time with further points from Kevin Clarke and Peter James Toal and Wolfe Tones looked to have plenty to do to get back into contention as the sides headed to the MacRory Park dressing rooms.
The Greencastle side’s best player got them off the mark for the second half with his third pointed free of the afternoon but Eire Og responded through Mark Graham and Daniel Campbell to move 8 ahead by the 10th minute.
With Kevin Clarke moving out field and Mark Graham on the edge of the square the space was beginning to open up for the Doire Achaidh side and Daniel Campbell struck an excellent goal in the 13th minute following a defence splitting build-up.
Eire Og then lost Gavin Donnelly to a Black card and Wolfe Tones were handed a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty which Martin Connor confidently fired past Mark Hamill to give his side a glimmer of hope.
That hope was soon dashed however as a great move from deep in defence saw Eire Og move the ball with precision and Stephen Erskine struck a superb goal to put the contest beyond reach.
Gavin Donnelly fired over the final point of the game to see his side safely home and with St. Malachy’s falling heavily to Naomh Comhghall at Lamh Dhearg, Eire Og will have the opportunity to climb to second place if the can beat the men from the ‘Markets’ in their final game on the 30th August.
Eire Og: 1 Mark Hamill, 2 Ryan Clarke, 3 Jarlath Devlin, 4 Ciaran Rice, 5 James McClory, 6 Conor McKenna, 7 Shane McEvoy, 8 Peter James Toal, 9 Ronan Donnelly, 10 Stephen Erskine, 11 Mark Graham, 12 Gavin Donnelly, 13 Daniel Campbell, 14 Kevin Clarke, 15 Niall Ward
Subs: Joseph Melarkey, Oran McMenamin
Wolfe Tones: 1 Danny McIvor, 2 Fergal Quinn, 22 Matt McCann, 4 Eamon O’Sullivan, 5 Chris Dawson, 6 Jack Parke, 7 Joseph Carmichael, 8 Kieran Maloney, 9 Martin Connor, 10 Jamie Carberry, 11 Aaron McAllister, 12 Aodhan Maloney, 13 Declan Madden, 14 Gerard McDonnell, 15 Declan O’Neill
Dunloy made it two from two and safe passage to the quarter final with a comfortable win against Naomh Éanna at Hightown on Saturday. The Cuchullains were rarely troubled on the evening and despite a slow start, they created scoring chances with a range of attacking threats.
An impressive total of 10 different scorers and holding the Hightown Road men to just one point in the second half, Dunloy controlled this contest for the overwhelming majority of the hour.
Keelan Molloy would top score for his side, finishing with 1-4 beside his name before the Dunloy management rang the changes. Further first half goals from Anthony Smith and Caolan Gillan from the penalty spot ensured this game was all but over before half time.
Naomh Éanna started brightly and throughout the first half had an attacking threat in Fiontan O’Connor. He was proving a handful for the Dunloy defence with his ability to win primary possession while the intelligent runs of Ruairi Hamilton and Conor Maxwell always gave the Glengormley side options.
Naomh Éanna just couldn’t make inwards in a well organised Dunloy defence that was well marshalled by Deaglan Smith and Eoin McFerran while Oran Quinn and Conor Kinsella also shone.
The home side tried various options to try and nullify the Dunloy attack with Philly Curran playing in a sweeping position before having to come off at half time with an injury while Killian Jennings put in a mountain of defensive work. The Cuchullains did manage to cut through the centre of the Naomh Éanna defence with regular precision however and passed up a number of goal scoring opportunities.
Naomh Éanna made an impressive start to this contest by adding two points in the opening three minutes. A free from Stephen O’Connor opening the scoring before Lorcan Murray split the uprights with a confident score despite the pressure of the Dunloy defence. They wouldn’t trouble the scoreboard operatives for another 15 minutes however as Dunloy found some footing in the game.
A super score from Chrissy McMahon was followed some seven minutes later by the opening goal of the game from Anthony Smith. It came from the visitors pressing high and forcing a turnover in the Naomh Éanna defence. Oran Quinn and Nigel Elliott combined before finding Smith in space and he finished expertly.
Nigel Elliott split the uprights before Dunloy’s second major. A long ball was delivered into Molloy and he turned onto his left foot, he got the half yard he needed and while his shot looked to be falling harmlessly into the waiting arms of Sean Nagle in the Naomh Éanna goals, he misjudged the flight and Molloy’s effort dropped into the back of the net.
A Stephen O’Connor free briefly halted the Dunloy charge but further scores followed from Molloy (two) and Seaan Elliott. Elliott showing his trademark change of direction and burst of pace to evade the Naomh Éanna challenges.
Stephen O’Connor’s third of the half and first from play came in the 25th minute of the game, cutting in from the left hand side O’Connor split the uprights with an excellent finish but it would be their last score of the half.
Points came from midfielder Ryan McGarry and the impressive Deaglan Smith before some super defending from Oran Quinn denied Fiontan O’Connor when through on goal.
McMahon’s second of the half, this one from distance off his right while the third Dunloy goal followed in the last minute of the half. Caolan Gillan intercepted a Naomh Éanna restart and was one on one with Sean Nagle. He tried to go around the Naomh Éanna ‘keeper and Nagle dived at his feet but brought Gillan to the ground. The Dunloy man dusted himself off and converted the spot kick with what was the last meaningful action of the half to leave the half time score 3-8 to 0-4.
The second half restarted with Dunloy on the front foot once again and could have had another fortuitous goal. Molloy once again causing problems but Sean Nagle managed to scramble the ball clear with both umpires well positioned to make the call. A brace of frees from Deaglan Smith and Molloy edged the Cuchullains further ahead before Eoghan O’Hare would score Naomh Éanna’s only score of the half in the 38th minute. Sending a long ball into the forward line, it would bounce over everyone and clear the bar.
Dunloy’s attacking ingenuity kept the Naomh Éanna defence guessing with a varied range of threats coming from deep and through the middle. The home side abandoned their sweeper and went man for man but Dunloy were content to be more methodical in their approach.
Points from Gillan and Molloy (free) took the deficit to 16 before McMahon was unlucky not to score a fourth Dunloy goal. He saw a snapshot cleared off the line by Conan Lyttle.
As the half progressed, both sides rang the changes and while Naomh Éanna did pose more of an attacking threat, the Cuchullains remained happy to control the game.
Both sides had further goal chances before Dunloy would add to their tally – Anthony Smith fluffing his lines after a precise and patient move found him in space while substitute Paddy Doran’s effort was deflected onto the post.
Substitutes Karl Fitzpatrick and Kevin McQuillan (free) rounded up the scoring in the last five minutes as Dunloy ran out comfortable winners. They face Lámh Dhearg in two weeks time with the winner topping the group but both sides safely through to the knock out stages with a game to spare.
TEAMS
Dunloy: Sean Doherty; Conor Kinsella, Eoin McFerran, James Scally; Oran Quinn, Deaglan Smith, Seaan Elliott; Ryan McGarry, Aodhan McGarry; Nigel Elliott, Caolan Gillan, Tom McFerran; Anthony Smith, Keelan Molloy, Chrissy McMahon
Subs: Cathaoir McCloskey for O Quinn (43); Kevin McQuillan for K Molloy (46); Karl Fitzpatrick for N Elliott (46); Ryan McFarlane for R McGarry (50); Ciaran McQuillan for D Smith (53)
Scorers: K Molloy 1-4 (3fs); C Gillan 1-1 (1-00 pen); A Smith 1-1 (1f); C McMahon 0-2; D Smith 0-2 (1f); S Elliott 0-1; R McGarry 0-1; N Elliott 0-1; K Fitzpatrick 0-1; K McQuillan 0-1 (1f)
NaomhÉanna: Sean Nagle; Eoghan O’Hare, Philip Curran, Diarmuid McNulty; Conor Maxwell, Conan Lyttle, Ruairi Hamilton; Niall McKeown, Sean Murray; Lorcan Murray, Cormac Morgan, Sean McBride; Killian Jennings, Fiontan O’Connor, Stephen O’Connor
Subs: Tomás Gilmour for P Curran (HT); Paddy Doran for C Morgan (47); Ciaran McKeown for C Maxwell (53); Colm McCabe for R Hamilton (58)
Scorers: S O’Connor 0-3 (2fs); E O’Hare 0-1; L Murray 0-1
Referee: Paul Burns (St Comgalls)
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Sarsfield’s sit proudly at the top of Group 2 following this narrow win over a fancied All Saints as they grabbed a last gasp victory when Gary Lennon rose to get his fist to a Conor Moley dropping free to send over for the winning score.
Phillip McPeake’s goal in the 60th minute gave the Paddies the lead and although they were pegged back by a Michael McCarry free, Lennon, became the Sarsfield’s hero with virtually the last touch of the game.
Prior to that, it appeared Shaun O’Callaghan’s first-half goal for All Saints looked like the score that had swung it in favour of the division 1 side and the Ballymena men led virtually all the way but the late drama saw the points remain in the Bear Pit.
Conor Stewart gave the All Saints the lead after three minutes, but it would be another 19 minutes before they would add another score as Sarsfield’s took early control.
The home side levelled soon after through Conor Glenholmes with Sam Walsh edging them ahead after 9 minutes in an opening quarter where scores were proving hard to come-bye.
Sean McVeigh and Emmet Killough celebrate Sean O’Callaghan’s first half goal that gave the Ballymena side a 1-5 to 0-5 half-time lead
The visitors sat deep with men behind the ball and tried to break at pace but too often they were turned over or kicked promising looking possession away.
The Paddies extended their lead from a 16th-minute Garry Lennon free, but All Saints struck with an excellent goal in the 22nd minute when Sean McVeigh’s clever flick to an Emmet Killough delivery placed Shaun O’Callaghan to finish low to the net.
A Michael McCarry free followed as the game opened up a bit for All Saints and after Christopher Loughran replied for the hosts, Paddy McAleer and Cornell Lemon were on target to put that goal between them at the break.
Half Time: Sarsfields 0-5 All Saints 1-5.
Two Lennon converted frees on the restart cut the gap to the minimum but All Saints replied through O’Callaghan and McCarry soon after to go three ahead once more.
An Ethan Mervyn point narrowed the gap again before All Saints looked to have scored a second goal after 46 minutes when Sean McVeigh rose to palm home at the back post, but their celebrations were cut short after it was ruled out for a square ball.
Moley and McCarry traded with the former adding another to leave one in it again, while Lemon saw an effort crash off the bar and end up going wide.
Still, All Saints always seemed to have a response with McCarry pointing a free and although Moley was on target again, Kavan Keenan drilled over to put two between the sides and might have had a goal.
Sarsfield’s were still very much in contention and struck with a vengeance in the 60th minute as a probing ball inside found McPeake who guided his shot into the far corner of the net.
Now the onus was on Ballymena to get back into it and they were level when McCarry converted a free.
There was still time for a winner and it was Sarsfield’s who refused to settle for the draw as Thomas Skillen was taken out by a sliding challenge by Lemon which saw him red-carded.
The resulting free was not easy as the rain was driving into the face of Moley whose shot was on target, but dropped short and Lennon climbed above the pack to get his fist to it and send it over the bar with the last act of the game to see Sarsfield’s snatch a huge win.
St. Joseph’s Glenavy can climb into second place if they defeat Gort na Mona at Enright Park on Sunday and All Saints may need to win their final two games, at home to Davitt’s and away to St. Joseph’s if they are to qualify for the semi’s
Sarsfield’s: M Brady; P Murray, C Laverty, M McPolin; E Mervyn (0-1), L Mitchell, C Loughran (0-1); C Moley (0-3, 1f), N McKenna; P McPeake (1-1), N McAlea, S Walsh (0-1); C Glenholmes (0-1), G Lennon (0-5, 4f), T Skillen.
Subs: J McNally for C Glenholmes (41), F Jemfrey for N McAlea (45), C Glenholmes for S Walsh (49).
All Saints: R Stewart; M Read, C O’Brien, J Gillan; K Keenan (01), S O’Callaghan (1-1), J Rafferty; P McAleer (0-2, 1m), P McNicholl; C Lemon (0-1), M McCarry (0-5,3f), C Stewart (0-1); E Killough, S McVeigh, C Campbell.
Subs: R Thom for J Gillan (17), B McDonnell for C Campbell (46), P Ferris for J Rafferty (57).
A totally dominant second half saw Pearses come from behind to beat O’Donnell’s in Friday evening’s Junior Football Championship Round 2 game at St Agnes. At the end of the opening quarter O’Dees appeared to be in a strong position when they led by three points, but two goals in as many minutes for Pearses turned the game on its head as Pearses pushed on to lead by 2-05 to 0-08 at half time.
After the change of ends the 2022 winners took full control conceding just one more point while adding six of their own to win by eight in the end, and move above O’Donnell’s in score difference in the group.
With a stiff breeze behind them in the first half O’Donnell’s went three ahead inside eight minutes with points from Pearse Rice, John Rafferty and Johnny O’Donnell, who fisted over from close range. Two points from Pearses centre forward Stephen Fitzsimons cut the gap back to a single point, but O’Dee’s responded well and points from Joe Rafferty and Pearse Rice stretched the gap out to three again at the end of the opening quarter.
The gap was still at three with eighteen minutes gone, but Pearses hit back with two goals and a point in quick succession, man of the match Fitzsimons getting the first goal and adding a point immediately afterwards, while corner forward Sean Moreland got the second goal a minute later.
Padraig McKissock and Johnny O’Donnell came back with two for O’Donnell’s but Fitzsimons and Moreland ended the half strongly for Pearses to give them a 2-5 to 0-08 lead at the interval.
Liam Deegan stretched the Pearses lead to four in the first minute of the second half, and though O’Donnell’s came back with one at the other end soon afterwards it was to be their last score of the game. With the wind behind them there was no stopping Pearses and with the excellent Fitzsimons adding four more points and Moreland and Pater Johnston also getting in on the score act, they pushed on to win with a bit to spare.
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LÁMH DHEARG made the most of their numerical advantage and moved a step closer to the quarter-final of the Northern Switchgear Senior Football Championship with a 0-19-0-10 win over Aldergrove in Crumlin on Friday evening.
The turning point came with little over 10-minutes remaining in the aftermath of a Conor Murray score that had opened up a four-point gap, Emmett Irvine was red-carded for an off the ball incident on the full-forward and the four-point deficit would stretch to nine by the conclusion.
Until that point the hosts were had remained in the game, largely thanks to the threat of Seamus McGarry in attack.
Both sides had contrasting fortunes in their opening encounters with Aldergrove losing on the road to Dunloy and Lámh Dhearg accounting for St Enda’s.
Lámh Dhearg were first off the mark after Terry McCrudden sent a high ball towards Pearse Fitzsimons- who was fouled- and Conor Murray converted the resulting free.
Michael Herron then continued a run forward and sent an angled shot between the posts, with Seamus McGarry hitting back in response.
The lead was extended after Declan Smyth clipped over from range and Owen McKeown then swung over a tricky point after a fine link-up with Marc Jordan.
Aldergrove hit back with an angled Ronan Hanna shot crashing over via the large post, but Conor Murray doubled his personal tally from a free and Ben Rice then perfectly shot inside the posts.
The theme of the half continued as Cormac McGarry took a pass from Emmett Irvine to drop over, only for back-to-back points in response from a brace of Conor Murray free’s that had opened up a 0-08-0-03 gap.
Things could have better for the visitors after Declan Lynch continued a probe forward and let fly with a low that crashed off the base of the post and out.
Successive scores from Seamus McGarry (free) and Brian McQuillan narrowed the deficit and the sides traded the last two scores of the half, Seamus McGarry doubling his tally from the placed ball after Conor Murray had kicked his first from play as Lámh Dhearg went in with a 0-09-0-06 lead at the midway point.
The Lámhs extended their lead upon the resumption through a Shaun McManus point on the turn, though their lead was halved with McGarry kicking his third free and then dropping over his second from play.
Owen McKeown eased the pressure on side with his second score of the evening and Conor Murray notched his fifth placed ball of the evening to move his side 0-12-0-08 ahead with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Aldergrove’s penultimate score of the evening came in the form of a Ronan Hanna free but just moments later their discipline that kept them in the contest until that point let them down.
Despite the best efforts of Declan Gough , Conor Murray saw his deflected shot rise of the bar and in the aftermath, Emmett Irvine caught Murray off the ball and in the presence of referee Colm McDonald- who issued Irvine with a red-card that brought his evening to a premature end.
Thereafter the visitors made the most of the extra-man and tagged on four-points unanswered.
Terry McCrudden swung over a magnificent point and Marc Jordan fisted over after a breakaway move involving Daniel and Conor Murray.
Talisman Murray kicked his third from play and substitute Adam Murray would get in on the act as his side moved 0-17-0-09 ahead.
A converted Ronan Hanna free in the closing stages briefly halted the Lámhs momentum but Calum Lappin fisted over in injury time and Declan Smyth popped over to finish the evenings scoring and ensure that Lámh Dhearg made it two wins from two and are on the brink of a place in the last eight.
ST JAMES, ALDERGROVE: C Totten, A Irvine, E Irvine, C O’Toole, E Gough, C McVeigh, D Gough, O Graham, B McQuillan (0-01), A Flood, C McGarry (0-01), G Mallon, P Burns, R Hanna (0-03, 0-02f), S McGarry (0-05, 0-03f). SUBS: C McSteen for C McGarry (42), D Aiken for C O’Toole (54), C Fogerty for P Burns (56).
LÁMH DHEARG: G Smyth, B Rice (0-01), M McGarry, F Mervyn, O McKeown (0-02), D Lynch, D Smyth (0-02), P Fitzsimons, M Jordan (0-01), D Murray, S McManus (0-01), E Matassa, M Herron (0-01), C Murray (0-08, 0-05f), T McCrudden (0-01). SUBS: C Fegan (0-01) for S McManus (38), A Murray (0-01) for D Murray (55), D Martin for O McKeown (57), N McGarry for E Matassa (59), C Boyd for C Murray (60+1).
