Northern Switchgear SFC Group 1
St. John’s 1-19 Tir na nOg 2-10
When Tir na nOg turned around trailing by 4 after facing a stiff breeze in the opening half at Slemish Park on Saturday evening there were many who felt that they had done the hard work and would push on to defeat opponents St. John’s and avoid the dreaded relegation play-off series.
However it was the Johnnies who displayed the greater craft and knowhow playing into the second half breeze but in the end it was a period of indiscipline late in the game that would ultimately contribute to Tir na nOg’s downfall.
With the sides tied at 0-15 to 2-9 following an excellent Ciaran O’Neill 2 pointer, Ryan McNulty edged the Corrigan Park side ahead again from a disputed point which referee Ray Matthews initially signalled wide but changed his decision after consultation with his linesman.
Paddy McBride then added another from a free for dissent and then Emmet Murray was penalised for a challenge after a free had been awarded and the ball was moved forward with McBride converting to put the ‘Johnnies’ three ahead.
Suddenly a game that had been in the balance had swung decisively in favour of the Whiterock side and it was a setback that Tir na nOg never looked like recovering from.
Instead Ronan Quinn added a point with two minutes of normal time remaining and then Conor Hand soloed 40 yards before placing the ball in the corner of Sean Paul McAtamney’s net and it was well and truly over.
The opening exchanges of this group 1 bottom of the table decider in Ballymena were fairly even with Aaron McNeilly fisting over to give the Randalstown side an early lead and Paddy McBride replying from a 2 pointer to move St. John’s ahead with 8 minutes gone.
With the wind behind them St. John’s were guilty of a number of poor wides but Conal McGlade fisted over before Ciaran O’Neill replied with a good point into the breeze to leave just one in it with 13 minutes gone.
McGlade increased that lead to two again but the Whitehill side were moving the ball intelligently into the wind and they exploited a gap in the opposition defence and Eamon Og McAllister finished to the net from close range after being set up by Dylan McLarnon.
At this stage Matthew Leydon had replaced Pearce Donnelly in the Johnnies’ goals after the net-minder had pulled up injured but the Corrigan side recovered to lead by four at the break with Ryan McNulty, Paddy McBride, Odhran Quinn 0-2, Ronan Quinn and McBride again on target.
The Tir na nOg reply came from two converted Aaron McNeilly frees but given the strength of the breeze that St. John’s 4 point lead certainly didn’t look insurmountable.
In truth the South West side never really made full use of the elements in their favour in the second half and were much too passive in their play and it was McBride who restored the St. John’s for point lead with a point on the break after McNeilly had opened from a close range free.
Indeed it was their opponents who dictated the pace of the game on their own terms and Conor hand hit a fine point after a slow build up as the opposition defence dropped deep.
One man who was pushing forward for the Whitehill side was Sean Duffin and he drove at the heart of the Johnnies defence before hanging his pass across goals where Emmet Murray was on hand to palm home and there was only two between the sides.
Eamon Og McAllister and Conor Adams exchanged points and Ciaran O’Neill responded to a Sean Wilson point with a 2 pointer to level matters with 8 minutes remaining but the big push from the South West side never materialised.
Instead it was St. John’s who punished those acts of indiscipline with three points on the bounce and when Conor Hand produced that moment of genius it was all over.
There was a sense of relief about the St. John’s celebrations after the game and with their side still involved in the Senior Hurling championship they have put their football season to bed with a place in division 1 secured for another season.
Tir na nOg will have to dust themselves down and go again as they did last year but they look to have more than enough to negotiate the dreaded play-offs but, like the other sides who will still be involved in that scenario come tomorrow evening, it is something they would much rather have avoided.
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