Month / August 2024

by thesaffrongael

Early goals the key to success for the reigning champions

Senior Football Championship Group 2

Erin’s Own Cargin 5-10 O’ Donovan Rossa 0-12

Reigning county champions, Erin’s Own Cargin struck with three early goals in the opening six minutes to overcome the challenge of visitors Rossa in this SFC Group 2 opener in Toome on Saturday evening.

Michael Mc Cann had the ball in the back of the net in the opening minute with Conhuir Johnston and James Laverty following suit shortly after to lay the foundations for victory and ask questions aplenty to their city based visitors.

Rossa were caught unawares in the opening minute as David Johnston’s found Michael Mc Cann in front of the posts and the full forward was not about to fluff his lines.

The visitors hardly had time to recover from the opening strike when the home side added a second as Conan Johnston placed Conhuir Johnston to fire home, following a fine fetch and delivery from Benen Kelly.

Rossa replied with points from Dominic Mc Enhill (2) and a long range effort by Stephen Beatty in answer to a fine Conan Johnston score.

Goal number three arrived for the Toome men shortly after as a super catch on the ‘40’ by Jamie Gribbin sent Tom Shivers to finish to the net and the impressive Benen Kelly raised back to back points before the visitors lost a player to a second yellow card.

Rossa did have the last say of the opening half when Dominic McEnhill pointed a free just prior to the short whistle with the home side ahead 4-03 to 0-05 as the sides left the field for the half time break.

Erin’s Own started the second half with a ten point advantage but Hugh Mc Gettigan’s charges were quick to add to their tally on the restart as Richie Gowdy delivered between the posts in the 33rd minute.

James Laverty replied at the other end before Cormac McGettigan’s long range strike yielded another for the Shaw’s Road side.

The visitors were battling hard with Stephen Beatty and Cormac Mc Gettigan trying to rally their side but after Conhuir Johnston and Rossa net minder Michael Byrne swapped points they were hit with a fourth goal.

A superb fetch and delivery by Benen Kelly opened the way for Tom Shivers to fire over and to move the home side 4-09 to 0-08 ahead at the end of the third quarter.

The visitors were still giving it everything and replied with a point from Dominic McEnhill but the tome men were quick to respond again as James Laverty and Pat Shivers split the posts.

Tom Shivers added another before Jamie Gribbin and James Laverty combined to open the way for Shivers to add his second and his side’s fifth goal to put the contest out of sight.

Cargin had it all wrapped up  but Rossa, to their credit kept going to the end and were rewarded with late points from replacement Patrick Moyes and Cormac Mc Gettigan (2) but these were very much consolation scores at this stage of the contest.

A good start to this year’s championship by the reigning champions and on this performance they look the side that the others will have to beat if they are to wrestle the title from them.

Cargin: John Mc Nabb, Benen Kelly (0-03), Kevin Mc Shane, Ronan Gribbin, Justin Crozier, Jamie Gribbin, James Laverty (1-02), Pat Shivers (0-02), Gerard Mc Cann, David Johnston, Tom Shivers (2-03), Conan Johnston (0-01), Tomas Mc Cann, Michael Mc Cann, Conhuir Johnston (1-02)

Subs

Paudie Mc Laughlin

Sean Og O’ Neill

Enda Mc Grogan

Jack Harney

Rossa: Michael Byrne (0-01), Adam Devlin, Ciaran Orchin, Jack Morris, Niall Crossan, Gerard Walsh, Richard Gowdie, Eoghan Mc Menamin, Oisin Mc Vicar, Conall Mc Donnell, Cormac Mc Gettigan (0-03), Stephen Beatty (0-01), Cathan Canavan, Dominic Mc Enhill (0-06), Colm Fleming

Subs

Patrick Moyes (0-01)

Referee: Cathal McDermott (Tir na nOg)

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by thesaffrongael

Two from two for impressive St. Paul’s

IFC Group 1

St. Paul’s 1-14 Naomh Padraig 0-4

St. Paul’s made it two win from two starts in Group 1 of the Intermediate Football championship when they recorded a resounding win over a disappointing Naomh Padraig at Shaw’s Road on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors were in contention during the opening half when facing a strong breeze and trailed by only two with 11 minutes of the half remaining but the home side enjoyed an excellent 15-minute spell either side of the break to put themselves in a commanding position.

Indeed it was the Lisburn side who were first on the score-board and a good move saw Conor Ewing swing over the opening point to give them the lead after two minutes.

St. Paul’s were enjoying a lot of possession but were finding it difficult breaking down the visitors defence and were off target on a couple of occasions before Niall McStravick fired over the equaliser.

St. Paul’s Liam McLarnon rises above Che Smyth, |Naomh Padraigto win the ball

Caoimhin Duffy rose too fist over a Lorcan Phillips dipping shot as the home side began to find their range and McStravick added another to move the Shaw’s Road side 0-3 to 0-1 ahead with 11 minutes gone.

The visitors were finding it difficult to break down a solid St. Paul’s defence but were rewarded for their persistence when Ben McMullan got forward for an excellent point in the 13th minute to leave just one between the sides.

Lorcan Phillips, who was a constant threat throughout replied immediately and Niall McStravick extended the gap to three by the 20th minute but at this stage the visitors would have been fairly happy, given the strength of the breeze.

An Eoin Dixon point closed the gap to two with 9 minutes remaining to the break but a Lorcan Phillips goal at the other end in the 24th minute swung the game decisively in favour of Donagh Finnegan’s side.

Ciaran McAlea’s direct run opened up the visitors defence and created the space as he placed Phillips who took his opportunity to finish to the net and suddenly the game had turned decisively in favour of the ‘Hoops’.

St Paul’s were flying as Pearse Magee, Niall Ward and a Phillips frees moved them 1-8 to 0-3 ahead at the short whistle.

Niall ward, St. Paul’s comes under pressure from Che Smyth

Naomh Padraig needed a good start to the second half but the breeze had dropped as they returned to the action and in truth they never looked like getting back into contention.

Instead it was St. Paul’s who continued where they had left off with Lorcan Phillips and Liam McLarnon kicking frees, whilst Phillips would add another two, one from play, to extend their lead to 12 points.

The home side were playing smart possession football with their opponents unable to lay their hands on the ball for long periods and it took 13 minutes before substitute Francis McMeel fisted over to open their second half account.

It proved to be the Lisburn side’s sum total for a very disappointing second half as the home side continued to boss possession as they took the opportunity to empty their bench.

They would add two further points to bring their total for the evening to 1-14 with Caoimhin Duffin and corner back, Gary McGroarty on target but were content to run down the clock as the visitors ran out of ideas.

This win makes it two from two for the Shaw’s Road side who look favourites to top the group with games against St. Teresa’s and Ardoyne still to come but don’t play again until the 31st of August when they travel to the Glen Road side.

Naomh Padraig take on Kickham’s Ardoyne at Fennell Park on the 18th of August and would probably need a win there if they are to get their own qualification ambitions back on track but will have to show a big improvement from today’s performance.

St. Paul’s: 1 Jack McAufield, 2 Aodhan Kavanagh, 3 James Farrell, 4 Gary McGroarty, 5 Miceal Duffy, 6 Stephen Rooney, 7 Niall Ward, 8 Mark Munce, 17 Ciaran McAlea, 10 Pearse Magee, 11 Niall McStravick, 12 Caoimhin Duffy, 13 Conall Duffy, 14 Liam McLarnon, 25 Lorcan Phillips

Subs: Shea Burns, Oisin McCann, Niall Crawford, Aidan Finnegan.

Naomh Padraig: 1 Ruadhan McKenna, 2 Jack Broderick, 3 Thomas Burns, 4 Paul Law, 5 Colm Burns, 6 Ben McMullan, 7 Josh McMullan, 9 Che Smyth, 10 Rory Kennedy, 11 Eoin Dixon, 12 Sean Burns, 13 Conor Ewing, 14 Rory McFlynn, 15 Adam Patterson, 16 Peter O’Neill,

Subs: Conor Dixon, Luca Mulholland, Francis McMeel, Conor Doran

Referee: Ray Matthews (Rossa)

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by thesaffrongael

Scintillating second half sees Johnnies reign supreme

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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by thesaffrongael

St Malachy’s finish strong to beat Wolfe Tones convincingly

Junior Football Championship – Round 1

Wolfe Tones 1-4 St Malachy’s 2-13

St Malachy’s got their Junior Football Championship off to a great start when they travelled to the Valley Leisure Centre on Friday evening and beat Wolfe Tones by twelve points. The scoreline might suggest this was a very one sided game but to be fair it was a tougher challenge than the scoreline would suggest. The Greencastle men trailed by five at half time, but a goal six minutes into the second half breathed new life into the Tones challenge. They had the gap down to two points at one stage but St Malachy’s found their form again and pulled away to win convincingly in the end.

Wolf Tones started with a point from half back Kieran Maloney in the third minute and it was seven minutes later before St Malachy’s got their first score on the board through Criostoir Devlin. The home team went back in front a minute later when midfielder Martin Connor sent one over from a free, but the men from the Markets were starting to find their range and they dominated the remainder of the half, hitting six points without reply through midfielder Ciaran Vernon (2), Anthony Dobbin, Devlin, Jack McGivern and Devlin again to lead by 0-7 to 0-2 at the interval.

Vernon got the first point of the second half to stretch the Mal’s lead to six, but Wolfe Tones grabbed a lifeline when corner forward Aodhan Maloney cut in from the right and fired low to the St Malachy’s net in the 36th minute. The goal breathed new life into the Tones and although St Malachy’s replied with a point from McGivern, the home side grabbed the next two scores through substitute Declan Madden to close the gap to just two.

That was as close as they would get however as St Malachy’s, brilliantly led by right half forward McGivern, they dominated the final quarter. Centre forward Anton McGreevy started the run with a point from play on 47 minutes and McGivern added another a minute later. Patrick McDairmuid made it three points in as many minutes when he slotted over a free, McGivern grabbed another two minutes later while substitute Gavin McManus and the excellent Vernon grabbed late goals to wrap it all up.

St Malachy’s face St Comgall’s at home next time out with the winners almost sure of a semi-final spot in what should be a real cracker.

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by thesaffrongael

Patchett leads Naomh Comhghall to opening day victory

Junior Football Championship-Group 2

Eire Og 0-3 Naomh Comhghall 1-13

Division 3 league winners, Naomh Comhghall took the first steps towards what they hope will be a league and championship double when they recorded a resounding victory over Eire Og at Woodlands on Friday night.

Tom Patchett led the ‘Town’ charge and would finish the game with a personal total of 1-5 and scored the opening three points of the game as the Antrim side moved three clear by the 9th minute.

Stephen Erskine got the City side off the mark with a point in the 10th minute but it would be their only score of the opening half as wayward shooting and the concession of silly frees contributed to their demise.

Ryan Clarke was on hand to take advantage of those concessions with points in the 13th and 14th minute to move Naomh Comhghall four ahead and two more from the deadly duo, Patchett and Clarke had the Antrim town men 0-7 to 0-1 ahead at the break.

The same pair added two more on the restart with Patchett fisting over and Clarke following with another to move the South West side eight ahead by the 5th minute.

Mark Hamill in the Og’s goal pulled off a great save as Naomh Comhghall threatened to over run their opponents and this save brought a response from his Eire Og colleagues.

Peter James Toal replied with a point at the other end in the 13th minute and the same player converted a 15th minute free to close the gap to six and hand his side a glimmer of hope.

That hope would be quickly extinguished however as Colm Logue and James McClory fired over points at the other end and when the superb Tom Patchett finished to the net in the 28th minute it was well and truly over.

Ryan Clarke and Louis Higgins would conclude the scoring with late points for an excellent Naomh Comhghall who on this performance, look certain to top a Group 2 which includes St. Malachy’s and Wolf Tones

Eire Og: 1 Mark Hamill, 2 James McClory, 3 Jarlath Devlin, 4 Ciaran Rice, 5 Ryan Clarke, 6 Conor McKenna, 7 Niall Doherty, 8 Conor Erskine, 9 Conall Smyth, 10 Daniel Campbell, 11 Peter James Toal, 12 Eanna McNulty, 13 Stephen Erskine, 14 Gavin Donnelly, 15 Ronan Donnelly.

Naomh Comhghall: 1 Peter McAuley, 2 Shane Og Gribben, 3 Cathal Donnelly, 4 Stephen Sloan, 5 Dannan O’Hara, 6 James McCabe, 7 Michael McCabe, 8 Louis Higgins, 10 Patrick O’Connor, 11 Shane Hinfey, 12 Joseph Webb, 13 Ryan Clarke, 14 Miles Devine, 15 Tom Patchett.

Subs – 16 Caolan McKeown, 19 Colm Logue, 24 Aaron Murray.

Referee: Chris Brown

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