Antrim Senior Football Championship – Round 3
St Brigid’s 0-15 Aghagallon 1-10
At half time in Sunday’s Antrim Senior Football Championship Round 3 game at Corrigan Park it looked like St Brigid’s participation in this year’s campaign may well be coming to an end as they trailed Aghagallon by seven points. They had been totally outplayed in the first half by a hard-working and skilful Aghagallon side, for who left half forward Johnny Hannon had been excellent, picking off five points of his team’s 1-7 total, the goal coming from Eunan Walsh in the ninth minute. The south Antrim men had struggled to gain possession throughout the field and had managed just three points throughout the thirty minutes, just one of those coming in the last eighteen minutes.
The St Mary’s men must have been confident pushing on and making it through to the knock-out stages, but when the sides re-emerged for the second half what we saw was a mirror image of the first half with the roles reversed. Right form the throw-in at the start of the second half the men from Musgrave Park took control of the game as they assumed the role that Aghagallon had played in the first. Within the third quarter they were totally dominant, hitting six points without reply to bring themselves back to within a point, and out of the danger area.
Aghagallon got them back in contention again with three points in a six minutes spell, but that was the end of their scoring and St Bride’s regained control to push on and win the game by two points, to end up group winners and set up a quarter final meeting with Dunloy in two weeks’ time.
Hannon was top man in the first half getting his team off the mark with an early point from play and though Conon McNicholl brought St Brigid’s level on six minutes, Aghagallon were ruling the roost as Hannon put them back in front with a pointed free from distance on eight minute and when Eunan Walsh grabbed the only goal of the game a minute later the men from the Lough Shore were flying high.
Peter King settled the St Brigid’s nerves with a point on twelve minutes, but it was to a be a brief respite for the Belfast side as Aghagallon came roaring back and three in a row from Eunan Walsh and Hannon (2) pushed their lead out to six by the 20th minute. James Smith pulled one back for St Brigid’s on 24 minutes to close the gap to five, but Aghagallon finished the half strongly and points from Mark McAfee and Hannon sent them in at the break with a seven point cushion.
Although the breeze did not seem excessive during the first half it soon became clear that his was stronger than most people sitting in the shelter of the stand had thought, as St Brigid’s re-emerged a transformed side. Points from Patrick Finnegan and Conor McNicholl in the first two minutes gave them the lift they needed and when McNicholl added another on five minutes it was clear they had taken control. A pointed 45 by goalkeeper Declan Heery made it five in a row for the south Antirm men and a minute later Michael Cummings fisted over to reduce the gap to a single point.
Substitue Pauric Maginnis got Aghagallon’s first score of the second half when he finished a good move by cutting in along the endline and fisting the ball over the bar, but there could well have been a goal on offer as St Brigid’s were caught out at the back. The next five minutes saw both teams hit two apiece as Aghagallon goalkeeper Luke Mulholland and substitute Maginnis sent over in reply to King and Heery for St Brigid’s. For a while it looked like St Brigid’s would be content to qualify without actually winning the game, but in the final minutes they pushed on to hit four in a row to end up winners by 0-15 to 1-10 and set up a meeting with Dunloy.
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