ACHL Division 2
St. Gall’s 1-11 Clooney Gaels 2-10
Second half goals from Ronan Graham and Colla McDonnell sealed an opening day victory for Cloney Gaels over St. Gall’s at the Bog Meadow on Sunday. The visitors edged a well contested opening half to lead by three at the break and Graham’s goal in the 11th minute steadied the ship after the hosts had threatened to stage a comeback.
Colla McDonnell second for the visitors put a bit of daylight between the sides after St. Gall’s had replied with a goal of their own but they were forced to defend in numbers as the Milltown Row men staged a strong finish but ultimately came up short.
Cloney Gaels travelled to Belfast on Sunday without their talisman forward, James O’Connell but over the hour they proved they are far from being a one man show as each player played their part in gaining victory in what is always a difficult fixture.
It was the Graham clan, Patrick and Ronan who got the ball rolling with Ronan hitting a second and Donal Graham edging the visitors 0-4 to 0-3 ahead after 8 minutes.
St. Gall’s would add only two more points before the break as the Graham’s continued to add to the Ahoghill total with Eoin Graham and Ronan 0-2 before Colla McDonnell broke the sequence with the visitors final point of the half.
Once again the name Graham continued to dominate the visitors score sheet in the second half with Eoin 0-2 and Ronan on target and Ronan adding to a great personal performance with the game’s opening goal and Colla McDonnell getting their second.
A good win for Cloney Gaels who have been going through a transition over the last couple of years with Shea Neeson, Paddy Dougan and Harry O’Donnell improving game by game in a new look full-back line and Noah Friel, Adam Mullan, Ryan Martin and Michael martin all seeing game time on Milltown Row.
St. Gall’s Scorers Eoghan Farrelly 1-1, Ptrick Friel 0-3, Ewan Rush 0-2, Aodh Mullan 0-2, Dubhaltach MacLiam 0-2, Ronan Crossan 0-1
Cloney Gaels: 1. Aiden Graham 2. Shea Neeson 3. Paddy Dougan 4. Harry O’Donnell 5. Charlie McCloskey 6. Bobby Magee 7. Dan O’Neill 8. Eamonn Brady 9. Conor Crossey 10. Patrick Graham 11. Ronan Graham 12. Eoin Graham 13. Donal Graham 14. Colla McDonnell 15. Noah Friel
Subs: Adam Mullan for Harry O’Donnell (half time). Ryan Martin for Crossey about (45mins) Ben Friel for (Eoin Graham 50mins) Michael Martin for Noah Friel (55minutes)
Referee: Fionntan McCotter (Sarsfields)