Under 21 Football Championship
Aghagallon 1-13 St Brigid’s 1-09
Aghagallon secured their place in the semi-final of the Antrim Under 21 Football Championship when they beat St Brigid’s in Sunday’s quarter final in Aghagallon. There was little between the two sides during a cautious opening half as both sides struggled to adapt to the wet conditions which made underfoot conditions difficult. JJ Higgins put St Brigid’s ahead in the opening minute,, but Ciaran Maginnis and Enda McCartin came back with points for the home side to put them 0-2 to 0-1 ahead by the ninth minute.
St Brigid’s ended a fourteen minute scoreless spell when Higgins got his second point of the game on 14 minutes and they went back ahead three minutes later when Rory McErlean hit the target. Hugh Hannon and Jack Toner exchanged points to keep the visitor noses in front, but Aghagallon finished the half strongly with an Eoin Maginnis point and a goal from Michael McStravick two minutes from the break to give their side a 1-5 to 0-4 lead at the short whistle.
A strong start to the second half put the home side in a strong position as Johnny Hannon, Sean Gowdy and Thompson Mallon hit unanswered points to stretch their team’s lead to seven. St Brigid’s Rory McErlean got the Belfast side’s first point of the second half on 41 minutes, and though Sean Gowdy came back with one for the home team Jack Toney closed the gap to six once again midway through the second half. Corner forward Gowdy again hit the target to keep the home side well on top, but the Musgrave Park men got back into the contest when Toner found the Aghagallon net after a goalmouth scramble. When Rory McErlean pointed again for the visitors on 51 minutes the gap was down to just three but the home team steadied the ship on the run-in and outscored the visitors 3 to 1 in those hectic final minutes to end up four clear at the end, their points coming from Michael McStravick, Enda McCartan and Hugh Hannon to secure their place in the semi-final next weekend.
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