ACFL Division 1
Tir na nOg 1-10 All Saints 2-19
All Saints produced a strong second half performance to sweep aside the challenge of an under strength, Tir na nOg at Whitehill on Wednesday night. The Randalstown club went into this one minus a few regulars while the visitors were boosted by the availability of their County panellist for the first time this season.
There wasn’t much between the sides in the opening half with the Ballymena side leading by the minimum at the halfway stage but after the break the visitors really stepped it up several gears, outscoring their hosts 1-11 to 0-3.
It was the Whiehill side who made the better start with Darragh Fagan and Aaron McNeilly kicking two pointers to leave it 0-4 to 0-2 after 7 minutes and Ciaran Campbell and Connell Lemon responding for the visitors.
Slowly All Saints began to settle however and Conor Stewart, Sean O’Callaghan, Paddy McAleer and Benny McDonnell hit unanswered points to move them two in front by the 13th minute.
Conor Stewart added his second of the evening and it looked like the Slemish Park side were taking over but Tir na nOg found a response and Caleb Smith fired over and Aaron McNeilly added another from a free before Emmet Murray found himself in acres of space and he made no mistake to move his side two in front.
The visitors looked in a bit of trouble but they replied positively with Conor Stewart splitting the posts following a turn over and when Paddy McAleer drilled his shot low to the corner of Sean Paul McAtamney’s net the tide had turned again.
The home side then suffered a blow when mid-fielder, Ryan O’Neill limped out of the contest to be replaced by Sean McKeown and minutes later Paddy McAleer had the ball in the net for a second time but the score was rightly ruled out for a ‘square ball’ infringement.
That proved to be the last piece of action of the half as referee Patrick Tumelty sounded his half time whistle and the visitors headed to the dressing rooms with a one point lead.
All Saints were quickly into the action as the game got under way for the second half with keeper, Conor Brennan stepping forward to direct a ’45’ between the uprights but Aaron McNeilly replied from a close range free to keep the gap at one with 7 minutes of the new half gone.
McNeilly tied the contest from a similar scenario, two minutes later and we looked to have a real battle on our hands but the home side would add only one further point as Baker Bradley’s side found another gear.
James McDonnell replied with a point as Michael McCarry and Sean McVeigh replaced Ciaran Campbell and ‘Pizza’ McReynolds and McVeigh was quickly into the action as he raised the Orange flag and added another point to move his side five ahead.
Youngster, Caleb Smith replied with Tir na nOg’s third point of the half with 11 minutes remaining but it would be their final score as All Saints took control.
Paddy McAleer struck an impressive 2 pointer and Brenda McDonnell followed with another before Ronan McKillop finished to the net for their second goal following a fast defence splitting build up.
Full-back Kavan Keenan moved forward from defence to kick a massive 2pointer and conclude the scoring as the final whistle sounded to conclude the action for the evening.
This win makes it three wins out of four for the Ballymena side and keeps them in touch with the leading pack while Tir na nOg have only one point from their opening four games and will be hoping for an opening win when they travel to Dunloy on the 23d of April.
Tir na nOg: 1 Sean Paul McAtamney, 2 Manus Smith, Ciaran McGrellis, Ciaran Logan, 5 Paul McCloskey, 6 Barry McCormick, 7 Brandon McLarnon, 8 Ciaran O’Neill, 9 Ryan O’Neill, 10 Aaron McNeilly, 11 Joshua Higgins, 12 Dylan McLarnon, 13 Emmet Murray, 14 Darragh Fagan, 15 Caleb Smith.
Subs: Sean McKeown for Ryan O’Neill, Alex O’Donnell for Caleb Smith
All Saints: Conor Brennan, 2 Matthew Downey, 3 Kavan Keenan, 4 Cal O’Brien, 5 Sean O’Callaghan, 6 Connell Lemon, 7 Jasmes McDonnell, 8 Emmet Killough, 9 Conor Stewart, 11 Patrick Ferris, 12 Peter McReynolds, 13 Ciaran Campbell, 14 Paddy McAleer, 15 Ronan McKillop.
Subs: Michael McCarry for Peter McReynolds, Sean McVeigh for Ciaran Campbell, Harry Connon for Brendan McDonnell.
Referee: Patrick Tumelty (Lamh Dhearg)
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