Antrim Minor Football Championship Final
St Paul’s 1-08-2-08 St Brigid’s
Kevin Herron reports from Hannahstown
ST BRIGID’S dethroned St Paul’s and lifted the Antrim Minor Football Championship thanks to a late first half double from Joe Mulgrew and Joseph Mallon in their 2-08-1-08 win at a rainswept Hannahstown on Sunday afternoon.
A heavy fog descended on Hannahstown pre-game and by throw-in the heavy rain made an already soft surface, tough to adapt to.
Understandably, both sides tried their best to adapt and scores were at a premium with Jack Ireland edging the holders ahead and JJ Higgins restoring parity from a free on the 10th minute.
They would be the only scores until the 26th minute but in-between the duo did create further opportunities and just lacked the killer instinct.
St Paul’s restored their advantage after Oisin Gamble had his shot blocked down, Niall Carmichael flicked the loose ball on, and Sean Og McLaren popped over.
The Biddies ended their 17-minute scoreless period with the opening goal of the final. Peter Molloy entered the fray midway through the half and he popped a fine pass into the path of Joe Mulgrew who slotted his shot past Adam Carroll to give his side a 1-01-0-02 lead.
Ciaran Rogers-Duffy immediately halved the deficit, but the Shaws Road outfit found themselves further in arrears at the break as St Brigid’s hit their second goal in the space of two minutes.
Matthew Lloyd forced a turnover and laid the ball off to Joseph Mallon and he flashed a shot high into the roof of the net to make it 2-01-0-03 at the break.
St Brigid’s extended their lead shortly after the restart with Lloyd clipping over, and Niall Carmichael burst forward and kicked an angled point almost ten minutes into half in response.
Rogers-Duffy doubled his account for the afternoon with a 42nd minute free after Shea Burns was felled- but four unanswered points in the space of two minutes gave the Champions an uphill task in their comeback pursuit.
Donncha McGurk played a one-two with Dara Quinn and swung over a point, JJ Higgins and Joseph Logan added points within less than 60-seconds and Peter Mulgrew shot sailed between the posts to open up a 2-06-0-05 lead.
St Pauls’ needed a goal to breathe new life into the game on the 51st minute they found it.
Niall Carmichael used his pace to burst forward across the by-line and he popped a ball into the square where Sean Og McLaren rose at the back post to palm home.
Carmichael curled over his second point of the half shortly afterwards and suddenly their daunting task looked slightly more retainable with a goal separating the sides on the 53rd minute.
They could have pulled level when Ciaran Rogers-Duffy was threaded through one-on-one, though St Brigid’s keeper Luke Cullinan repelled the initial shot and Niall Carmichael’s follow-up was scrambled to safety.
With five minutes remaining Joseph Logan coolly slotted over to make it a two-point game, but back-to-back converted frees from Ciaran Rogers-Duffy had the game on a knife-edge going into three additional minutes.
Try as they might, St Paul’s were unable to force a second goal that would have tipped the balance at the death and a minute and a half into added time JJ Higgins converted his second free of the day to close out the scoring at 2-08-1-08.
St Paul’s launched late charge to find a goal that would have forced extra time, but time was against them and referee Paddy Tumelty brought proceedings to close as St Brigid’s celebrated their second Antrim Minor Championship triumph in three-years and extended their season until the Christmas period when they will represent Antrim in the prestigious FonaCAB Ulster Minor Tournament at St Paul’s.
ST PAUL’S: A Carroll, C McDonnell, C McAlea, G Cowan, C McCann, C Burke, O McCann, C Trainor, E McGreevy, O Gamble, J Ireland (0-1), N Carmichael (0-2), S Burns, S Og McLaren (1-1), C Rogers-Duffy (0-4, 0-3f). Subs: O Casey for C Trainor (32), B McMorrow for E McGreevy (54).
ST BRIGID’S: L Cullinan, C McElhatton, S Doyle, C O’Carroll, J Mulgrew (1-0), E Sherry, O Conlon, P Mulgrew (0-1), D McGurk (0-1), T McGarvey, D Quinn, J Mallon (1-0), J Logan (0-2), JJ Higgins (0-3, 0-2f), M Lloyd (0-1). Subs: P Molloy for T McGarvey (15), J Blaney for P Molloy (53), P McConnell for P Mulgrew (58).
REFEREE: Paddy Tumelty (LÁMH DHEARG)
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