Late rally secures points for the Con Magees

Antrim Football League – Division 1

Glenravel 1-13 Moneyglass 2-08

Glenravel left it very late to level and eventually go ahead of their opponents in a game that was in some ways dominated by a strong breeze blowing to the scoreboard end of Fr Maginn Park on Wednesday evening. Glenravel played into that breeze in the first half and were five points adrift at half time thanks to two majors from the visitors. They started to dominate in midfield second half but their opponents refused to buckle and it wasn’t until the fifty eighth minute that the home side levelled and then pulled ahead to win by two points.

Moneyglass put a marker down early when full forward Colm Duffin raised the orange flag and that was followed up by an Aiden McErlaine point so with ten minutes gone the visitors were three to the good having made good use of the breeze whilst the home team were guilty of opportunistic shooting falling short of the target into a strong wind. Aiden O’Donnell opened for Glenravel from a free and that was followed by a brace from Harry Fyfe, one of which was a wonder score into the breeze from distance. Aiden O’Donnell then punished a breach and Glenravel were ahead by the minimum but with twenty minutes on the clock, ref Mark O’Neill awarded the visitors a penalty which Dermot McErlaine dispatched to the net to restore Moneyglass’s lead. Aiden O’Donnell pointed again from a free but in a two minute period towards the end of the half Moneyglass opened a six point gap as Aiden McErlane goaled and that was quickly followed by a 2-pointer from Seanchan Duffin. Aiden O’Donnell reduced the gap to five points from a fee as Mark O’Neill brought proceedings to a close with Moneyglass on top on a 2-05 to 0-06 scoreline.

Colm Duffin stretched the lead to six from a free on the restart but Glenravel would reduce that to two points as their dominance started to force transgressions and none better than Aiden O’Donnell to exploit that with two pointed frees sandwiched between a 2-point free from the recently introduced Ryan McQuillan. Colm Duffin popped over two further points with Glenravel’s only reply being a Harry Fyfe point. There had been several long injury stoppages for both sides in that second half but despite a lot of possession the home side still trailed by three points with as many minutes of ordinary time left.

Try as they might Glenravel struggled to close that gap but from a turnover and good move upfield the home side were finally rewarded when Niall Hynds pounced to punch to the net and level the game. That raised a massive cheer from the home supporters and it got even louder when Callum Higgins gave them the lead one minute later. Glenravel were showing a lot of composure at this stage keeping possession and when they finally burst through the Moneyglass defence they earned a penalty which Rian Lennon put over to extend the lead to two points. Several more anxious minutes followed for the home supporters before the final whistle blew on a game that either team will look back on thinking they could have lost or could have won – fine margins separated them in the end but the men in green and white will be the happier side tomorrow morning.