ACFL Division 1
All Saints 0-21 St. Mary’s Ahoghill 1-16
All Saints, Ballymena retained second place at the top of division 1 when they withstood a second half rally from St. Mary’s Ahoghill at Slemish Park on Sunday evening.
Baker Bradley’s side led 0-16 to 0-6 at half time and were good value for that victory with Ronan McKillop in excellent scoring form and Peter McReynolds controlling matters around mid-field.
McKillop scored 0-6 during that opening period where the home side were on top for most of the 30 minutes but he failed to return for the second half with a tight hamstring causing his withdrawel while McReynolds limped off after 20 minutes when he came down awkwardly following a spectacular catch.
Still it didn’t seem to matter that much as the sides headed to the dressing room with ten points separating them and All Saints good value for that lead but St. Mary’s had other ideas as they set about reeling in the opposition in a wind assisted second half.
The Cloney side dominated the second half kick-outs with Boris O’Connell and Patrick Graham catching or picking up everything that Conor Brennan drove into the middle third and a goal in the 6th minute from Colla McDonnell and a point from Neil O’Connell had the gap back to two by the 7th minute and All Saints recent good run of wins looked in decided danger.
Connell Lemon and Sean O’Callaghan replied with points for the Ballymena men but the one way traffic towards the home goal continued to flow and as the game ebbed into the closing stages a James O’Connell 2 pointer closed the gap to the minimum and the momentum was very much with the visitors.
From the resulting kick-out All Saints finally won a primary possession with Paddy McAleer breaking Brennan’s long kick out and he found Connell Lemon who sent substitute Paudin Mitchell clear for the insurance point.
GOOD START
It was Dan O’Neill who got the visitors off to a good start when he raised the game’s first orange flag into the breeze but All Saints were quick to reply as Ciaran Campbell and Paddy McAleer tied the contest by the 7th minute.
McAleer’s attempt at fisting over, came back of the upright but the impressive McKillop struck a 2 pointer and followed with a single to move his side three ahead.
Sean O’Callaghan, McKillop with a fisted score, Connell Lemon and Paddy McAleer had the home side 8 ahead by the 17th minute before Peter McReynolds was forced out of the game with what looked like a recurrence of a knee injury to be replaced by Emmet Killough.
James O’Connell replied with St. Mary’s first point for 18 minutes but Sean McVeigh, Ciaran Campbell and Connell Lemon responded with points at the other end to move the Ballymena men 10 ahead.
The visitors looked to be in for a much needed score but Michael Read pulled off an excellent diving block to deny James O’Connell before Diarmaid Graham Kicked a massive 2 pointer into the breeze to close the gap to 8 with five minutes remaining to the break.
James O’Connell followed with a pointed free but It was All Saints who finished the half on top with Connell Lemon pointing and Ronan McKillop adding his 6th of the game to leave it 0-16 to 0-6 at the halfway stage.
It was a different story after the break as St. Mary’s dominated the mid-field sector and Colla McDonnell brought them to life with an excellent finish past Conor Brennan.
Prior to that, Noel Crossey was wide off the crossbar and Dan O’Neill struck his second 2 pointer and when Neil ‘Boris’ O’Connell followed with a point from play it was down to two points and the momentum was with the men in Red & Black.
Lemon and O’Callaghan eased the pressure with points at the other end but the momentum was with the visitors as they sensed the victory that would take them further away from the relegation zone.
Connell Lemon added to the All Saints lead as lead as the Slemish Park men countered up field but Ahoghill replied through Colla McDonnell and Neil O’Connell to keep their hopes very much alive.
The visitors were wayward in their shooting however and missed a number of scoring chances as Sean McVeigh screwed the ball over to move the Ballymena side four ahead with James O’Connell replying again to leave just a goal between the sides.
O’Connell raised another orange flag to close the gap to the minimum as the clock counted down but All Saints broke up field and Paudin Mitchell fired over for only their fourth point of the half as Darren McKeown’s full time whistle sounded from the kick-out.
TO VIEW MORE PICS FROM THE GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW