Senior Football League
Division One
Tír na nÓg 2-9 Dunloy 1-13
Wednesday 3 June
Brendan McTaggart reports from Whitehill, Randalstown
Dunloy recorded back to back league wins on Wednesday evening as they edged Tír na nÓg with just the minimum between the sides by the final whistle. On a dirty, wet night that you wouldn’t put your dog out in, both sides were far from fluent. The wet conditions meant handling errors were creating chaos but it was the Cuchullains who showed a little bit more composure when it mattered most.
Keelan Molloy was the star of the show. Playing in his first football game for Dunloy since their Ulster club game against Newbridge, Molloy finished with nine points beside his name. All but two of those coming from open play and somewhat fittingly it was he who hit the winning score of the game.
The visitors to Whitehill were dominant in the middle third with Eoin McFerran and Paudie McGilligan excellent. Their ability to win breaking ball meant they controlled the game but with their shooting in front of the target letting them down, especially in the first half, the home side were always in the game.
Tír na nÓg were led superbly by Ciaran O’Neill at centre half back, his two pointer in the second half a highlight of the game. He had plenty of assistance from Eamon McAllister and Darragh Fagan but the loss of Sean Duffin to injury at the start of the second half certainly hurt their challenge.
Live wire forward Caleb Smith grabbed the first of Tír na nÓg’s goals in the first half, the second coming in the last minute of the hour to tie the sides via Eamon McAllister and looked to have given Tír na nÓg a share of the league points on offer but Molloy had the final say at the other end of the pitch.
It was Molloy who got the opening score of the game before Oliver McAtamney and Emmet Murray took advantage of handling errors in the Dunloy defence to put the home side in front.
Dunloy were having the lions share of possession but weren’t converting that into points on the scoreboard in those early exchanges. It was the 12th minute before another score would come with Dunloy forward Donnach Laverty finding the back of the net. It was a tidy, left footed finish from Laverty but it owed much to the initial run by Nigel Elliott. Cutting in from the wing, Elliott lured the Tír na nÓg defence before passing to Laverty. He would side step the first challenge before beating Sean-Paul McAtamney at his near post.
It was a further 11 minutes before either side would score again but the half finished with a flurry of scores. Molloy with his second of the game came moments before Conal Cunning passed up the opportunity of scoring Dunloy’s second major of the game. His effort blazing wide when it looked for the world that he would find the back of the net.
The Randalstown Blues responded to that with a brilliant two pointer from McAllister before Caleb Smith’s first goal of the game in the 26th minute. Sean Duffin delivering the ball high to the edge of the square where Fagan made life difficult for the Cuchullains defence. The ball broke to Smith and he palmed to the back of the net.
Dunloy responded with points from Molloy and Elliott to tie the sides but Emmet Murray split the uprights for the last score of the half to give the home side a 1-5 to 1-4 lead at the interval.
Molloy and Fagan (’45) opened the scoring after the restart before Tír na nÓg and Fagan were denied by the crossbar. The home side were awarded a free from a three man breach by Dunloy and whether by luck or by design, Fagan’s effort came crashing back off the crossbar with the Dunloy defence caught on their heels.
The Cuchullains would respond with points from substitute Barry McCloskey and Molloy but a quite brilliant two pointer form O’Neill edged the home side clear again.
It was Molloy who was causing all the damage for the visitors and his second free of the evening restored parity before his two pointer put Dunloy two clear. Oisin McCamphill would add his name to the list of scorers with the Cuchullains going three clear going into the final quarter.
McAllister and Elliott would swap scores as Dunloy looked to control the game. Scoring chances and the frenetic nature of the game had reduced with three between the sides but Tír na nÓg rolled the dice one more time. O’Neill sending the ball high into the danger area once more where Fagan broke the ball for McAllister to fire home.
All eyes were on referee Darren McKeown to see how much injury time would be played but it was the Cuchullains who created that one more moment of quality as Molloy weaved his way into a scoring position to hit the winning score.
Tír na nÓg’s search for their first win of the season takes them to Ballymena on Sunday while Dunloy will host Portglenone on the same day.
TEAMS
Tír na nÓg Starting XV: Sean-Paul McAtamney; Ryan Crilly, Brandon McLarnon, Manus Smith; Daniel Martin, Ciaran O’Neill, Ciaran Logan; Oliver McAtamney, Sean Duffin; Emmet Murray, Eamon McAllister, Sean McKeown; Conor Hastings, Darragh Fagan, Caleb Smith
- Scorers: E McAllister 1-3 (1xTP), C Smith 1-00, E Murray 0-2, C O’Neill 0-2 (1xTP), O McAtamney 0-1, D Fagan 0-1 (1’45)
Dunloy Starting XV: Chrissy McMahon; Reece Cunning, Aaron Crawford, Sean Og Blaney; Aodhan McGarry, Ryan McGarry, James Scally; Eoin McFerran, Paudie McGilligan; Jack Martin, Conal Cunning, Oisin McCamphill; Donnach Laverty, Keelan Molloy, Nigel Elliott
- Scorers: K Molloy 0-9 (2fs, 1xTP), D Laverty 1-00, N Elliott 0-2, O McCamphill 0-1, B McCloskey 0-1
Referee: Darren McKeown (St Galls)
To see more of Brendan’s photos from the game, follow the link below….
https://myalbum.com/album/yQ9Nxs5qeDNGCK/?invite=269c223f-a798-4033-8049-7aa6e1b34112