Antrim Football League Division 1
Dunloy 1-15 Aldergrove 3-14
A late rally by Dunloy came up short against visitors Aldergrove in Wednesday evening’s Division 1 Football League game at Pearse Park. When Aldergrove started the second half by adding a goal and four points to their half time tally of 2-06 they were ten clear and it looked like it was all going to be one way traffic. However the Cuchullains were not going to give it up that easily and during the final quarter they fought back to hit a goal, two 2-pointers and two single points, in reply to a single point from the visitors and suddenly there was just one score between the sides. The fans who made the journey from Crumlin down to Dunloy must surely have been biting their nails at the thought of losing a game they had dominated for long periods, but their top performer Seamus McGarry settled thing down with a well taken point before right half back Declan Gough fisted over the insurance point deep in injury time.
Playing with the aid of the fresh breeze Dunloy started with a 2-pointer from centre back James Scally, but a minute later Eoin Gough put Aldergrove ahead with a goal from a narrow angle on the right. Corner forward Ryan McCarthy pointed for Aldergrove to put them two ahead but points from the excellent Paudi Martin and Kevin McQuillan had the home side back on terms by the 12th minute. It was score for score for the next ten minutes until Aldergrove got their second goal thanks to an element of good fortune. Man of the match Seamus McGarry won the ball on the edge of the large square and appeared to be firing over another point, but Dunloy midfielder Padraig McGilligan got a touch to the ball as McGarry connected and it spun up into the air and dropped into the corner the net just out of reach of reach of the despairing dive of the home team’s goalkeeper Sean Doherty. Aldrgrove’s Oisin Graham added a point to put five between the sides, but Dunloy ended the half with two pointed frees from full forward Kevin McQuillan to trail by three at the interval. (0-09 to 2-06)
Aldergorve sprinted from the traps at the start of the second half and after adding a point in the first minute they added a goal a minute later when corner forward Ryan McCarthy drove a low shot to the Dunloy net. Three more points followed, two of them from McGarry and one from Chris McSteen and suddenly the gap was out to ten.
It looked like Dunloy were down and out, but they steadied the ship and held Aldergrove scoreless for the next seven minute as the found their bearings again. Kevin McQuillan settled them with a point from a free before corner forward Fitzpatrick struck a two pointer into the breeze on 45 minutes. Eight minutes later he did it again with another great strike, but there still seemed to be no threat to the Aldergrove lead.
That was to change when the visitors somehow brought the ball back from inside the Dunloy twenty metre line, right back down the field to their own danger area, before losing possession, which let Dunloy through for a goal. The pressure was on but to their credit the Crumlin men never panicked and they slotted over two injury time points to seal the win.
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