OB Construction Intermediate Football Championship Semi-Final
Saturday 27th September
Report by Niall Kelly from the Bear Pit
Naomh Treasa 0-16 Naomh Eargnait 4-17
Moneyglass booked their place in this year’s Intermediate showpiece thanks to an absolutely scintillating second half showing where their main men really came to the fore. Hat-trick hero, Aidan McErlain, was in sublime form amassing a tally of 3-05 over the hour. The breakneck pace at which he and his teammates exploited any gaps within the St Teresa’s rearguard, ultimately led to the demise of the Glen Road side. When the Super T’s weren’t busy trying to thwart the Moneyglass centre-forward, they had to contend with the dynamic Tiernan McCormick, whose pace on the front-foot was just as devastating.
However, despite eventually cruising to a handsome thirteen point win, the South West side did not have it all their own way. For forty minutes, the pendulum of momentum swung this way and that as the game was firmly in the melting point. With the scores deadlocked at the interval, Naomh Treasa had actually nudged into a two point lead thanks to scores from Jay Mallon and Eoghan Hamill with thirty seven minutes on the clock. Just as it was appearing that the favourites tag was wearing heavy on the men from Lough Beg, McErlain unleashed the second of his three goals with an emphatic finish, and they never looked back. The dismissal of St Teresa’s rock at the back, Paul Johnston, moments later, compounded their woes as their opponents capitalised ruthlessly on the gaps that opened up.
Proceedings started brightly as each side looked menacing going forward. With ten minutes gone, the sides were locked at two a piece with Niall McCann and Phil Maguire on target for the Belfast side which were cancelled out by efforts from Sean Boyd and Colm Duffin. Both were battling to gain the ascendancy; Moneyglass were looking most dangerous when they moved the ball with pace and fluidity through the hands as St Teresa’s were utilising runners from deep and employing a more patient and probing approach. St Ergnat’s nudged ahead thanks to Duffin again but were pegged back minutes later thanks to John Mallon who found his bearings with a two-pointed free.
The game’s first major arrived on the eighteenth minute. An outrageous diagonal ball from Tiernan McCormick split the St Teresa’s defence wide open paving McErlain through on goal. Netminder, Mark Small, had raced from his box to narrow the angle but the talismanic number eleven squeezed it under him and despite Paul Johnston’s best efforts on the line, the umpires brandished their green flag.
McErlain was then inches from repeating his feat from the resulting kickout, as he discharged another goal-bound rocket only to see it kiss the wrong side of the crossbar and over for a point.
Naomh Treasa responded well though. A prominent figure in their Championship campaign to date, Niall McCann, hit back with a perfectly flighted two pointed free off the deck and another white flag minutes after for good measure to tie things up once more. It really was tit for tat now as the game approached the short whistle, brothers Seanchan and Colm Duffin combined well on the twenty sixth minute with the former arrowing over a superb effort from the left flank. Again though, this would only incite another response from the Belfast natives with Mallon and McCann extending their respective tallies. A monster effort from Colm ‘Smiley’ Duffin from just inside the arc would see the teams retreat at the break in stalemate as the scoreboard read 0-09 to 1-06.
Whatever words of wisdom were imparted in the Moneyglass changing room at the break certainly had the desired effect as the men in blue and navy would go on to run riot. Despite Jay Mallon and Eoghan Hamill opening the second half scoring, St Ergnat’s were men on a mission. Their first score of the second period would come from an all too familiar source as that man McErlain demonstrated his prowess from distance arcing his effort over from the placed ball for an orange flag. Sean Boyd then pounced from the resulting kick-out as they started transitioning through the gears.
The next three-minute period ultimately decided the fate of the game. With the half seven minutes old, McErlain would strike again and in style. A typically direct and surging dart forward opened up adequate space to pull the trigger as he thumped the size five high into the roof of the white curtain. St Teresa’s sought to launch a reply but were shortly after reduced to fourteen as two yellows spelt the end of Paul Johnston’s day.
With Moneyglass constantly looking to stretch their legs, they licked their lips at the proposition of more open grass to target. They dealt the Glen Road side another hammer blow on the forty fifth minute as McErlain blasted home yet again in a near carbon copy to his second. The death knell was then well and truly sounded five minutes later as Tiernan McCormick grabbed a fourth goal. A trademark slaloming run forward at pace opened up the required space to fire at goal. Small in goal saved well though with an outstretched hand but was powerless to stop the Moneyglass number five jumping among the melee to fist to the net.
With ten remaining, the result was a foregone conclusion and both teams had emptied their benches. Conor Boyd, Ronan Campbell and Ryan Boyd all announced their arrivals with well-taken scores. Tiernan McCormick, not satisfied with just a goal to his name, added a further two points to his tally curling in off the right flank.
Credit to St Teresa’s though, despite their numbers being further reduced due to a black card, they kept plugging away and Niall McCann, Eoghan Hamill and Eoin Connolly epitomised their resilience as they converted scores of their own before Cathal McDermott’s final whistle.
So, just as many would’ve predicted, Moneyglass will compete in yet another Intermediate final. With a potent arsenal of attacking weaponry at their disposal, they will surely go enter as favourites yet again. They will have a keen eye on tomorrow’s meeting between Sarsfields and Glenavy. Many are anticipating yet another fascinating duel with Sarsfields, however, the Chapel Hill side have caught the eye in recent weeks and an intriguing game is in prospect.
Teams:
St Teresa’s:
M Small; R Mallon, P Johnston, C O’Rawe; C McGoldrick, E Connolly (0-01,) C Mallon; D McCann, S Maguire; E Hamill (0-02,) P McGoldrick, N McCann (0-08 – 0-04 & 2tp;) J Mallon (0-03 – 0-01 &1tp,) P Maguire (0-01,) A Taylor
Moneyglass:
J McLaughlin; M Mullan, Z McCaughan, J McCormick; T McCormick (1-02,) P Duffin, C McCann; K McCann, S Duffin (0-01;) S Boyd (0-02,) A McErlain (3-05,) F Duffin; C O’Kane, C Duffin (0-03,) T Cassidy
Substitute Scorer:
C Boyd (0-01)
R Campbell (0-01)
R Boyd (0-02 – 1tp)
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