Northern Switchgear Antrim Senior Football Championship, Group 3 

Lámh Dhearg 4-18-1-09 All Saints, Ballymena 

Kevin Herron reports from Hightown 

Lámh Dhearg ensured they avoided the Championship relegation Play-Offs with a comfortable 4-18-1-09 win over All Saints at Hightown on Sunday afternoon. 

Both sides experienced defeats to St Galls and Creggan in their opening two fixtures, and whilst the top two battled it out for top spot in Dunsilly, there was plenty at stake in Hightown with the losers season extending for another couple of weeks in the dreaded Play-Offs to avoid the drop to Intermediate Championship in 2026. 

It was the Lámhs who made a rapid start- hitting the net within two minutes after Calum Fegan slipped a pass into Adam Murray who won a ball out in front and immediately ran towards goal before finding the unmarked Terry McCrudden to palm home at the back post. 

A converted two-pointed free followed from Calum Fegan and it took All Saints until the 10th minute to get off the mark through a Ciaran Campbell point. 

That gave the Saints a huge lift and by the 13th minute they had restored parity. Paddy McAleer conjured up an angled two-pointer and just over 60-seconds later repeated the trick. 

By the midway point in the half McAleer made it three from three attempts to open up a 0-7-1-2 lead, which was narrowed with Ryan Murray opening his account for the afternoon. 

Lámh Dhearg regained the lead when Murray swept home his side’s second goal of the half, but Ballymena struck back at the other end after Marc Jordan’s shot was blocked down and they quickly turned defence to attack with McAleer slotting beyond John Finucane’s reach to make it 1-7-2-2. 

Their advantage was doubled when Joe Rafferty swung over a point, but Lámh Dhearg ended the half strongly and got back on terms through a Mark Finnegan score and Declan Smyth shot that snuck inside the posts and was originally waved wide before the intervention of linesman Paul Burns to advise that Smyth’s effort went inside the post. 

A two-pointed Ryan Murray score had the Hannahstown men 2-7-1-8 to the good at the midway stage with all to play for in the second period. 

Lámh Dhearg replicated their start to the opening half and struck their third goal within a minute of the restart. 

Calum Fegan popped the ball off to Adam Murray and after Marc Jordan had ghosted past Kavan Keenan, he got onto the forward pass, burst towards goal and picked his spot past Ryan Stewart. 

A two-pointer followed from Declan Smyth and goalscorer Jordan added a point from play as his side moved 3-10-1-8 clear. 

A second two-pointed Ryan Murray score extended the lead, with Brendan McDonnell claiming his side’s only score of the second period in reply. 

Substitute Owen McKeown popped over his first of the afternoon and Mark Finnegan then landed the final two-pointed score of the contest midway through the second half. 

After playing a role in two of the goals, Calum Fegan capped off a fine showing with a point and Mark Finnegan added his second score of the half before departing. 

The Lámhs were simply relentless and Owen McKeown bagged his sides fourth of the afternoon. 

Again, Calum Fegan was involved in finding McKeown and he showed a burst of pace to evade the All Saints defence before firing low past Stewart to make it 4-17-1-9. 

McKeown would land a further point before the conclusion and try as they might, All Saints were unable initiate a consolation score as they suffered a third successive defeat and must try to pick themselves up for the relegation Play-Offs that begin in two weeks time. 

LÁMH DHEARG: J Finucane, Ross Murray, D Lynch, M McGarry, D Smyth (0-3, 1×0-2pt), P Mervyn, E Matassa, C Boyd, P Fitzsimons, C Fegan (0-3, 1×0-2ptf), R Murray (1-5, 2×0-2pt), M Jordan (1-1), M Finnegan (0-4, 1×0-2pt), A Murray, T McCrudden (1-0). Subs: O McKeown (1-2) for C Boyd (40), E Stanley for E Matassa (45), D Martin for M Finnegan (48), D Murray for T McCrudden (56), R Diamond for Ryan Murray (58). 

ALL SAINTS: R Stewart, M Downey, K Keenan, H Connon, J Rafferty (0-1), S O’Callaghan, J McDonnell, C Stewart, E KIllough, P Ferris, P McAleer (1-6, 3×0-2pt), B McDonnell (0-1), P McReynolds, S McVeigh, C Campbell (0-1). Subs: C O’Brien for S O’Callaghan (22), P McNicholl for E Killough (38), R Thom for P McReynolds (44), 

REFEREE: Darren McKeown (St Galls)