ACFL Division 1
All Saints 3-17 Tir na nOg 2-14
Despite posting a personal tally of 2-10, Darragh Fagan found himself on the losing side as All Saints produced a splendid opening half at a windswept Quinn Park to overcome the challenge of Tir na nOg.
In the proverbial game of two-halves, it was All Saints who made all the running with the strong wind at their backs and at one stage threatened to overrun the opposition when they led 2-13 to 0-1 after 23 minutes with their goals coming from Connell Lemon and Benny McDonnell.
Right from the throw in it was the home side who went on the attack and James McDonnell fired the opening shot across Sean McAtamney’s goal before Sean O’Callaghan, Patrick Ferris 0-2 and Benny McDonnell pointed the hosts into an early lead.
Darragh Fagan who scored 2-10 for Tir na nOg but still ended up on the losing side
Lemon got in for the opening goal after 12 minutes and as the flood gates opened, Benny McDonnell hit three more points and Ferris continued to use his pace as he brought his own personal tally to three.
Brendan McDonnell was leading his line to perfection as he got in for the Ballymena side’s second goal and Emmet Killough, McDonnell again and Ciaran Campbell moved their side further ahead before Ciaran Logan finally got the visitors on board with a point in the 23d minute.
Darragh Fagan got his name on the score card with Sean O’Brien and Connell Lemon replying immediately for the home side and Fagan finishing the half with a point and following with a 2 pointer to leave 16 between the sides at half time.
If Tir na nOg were to make inroads into the All Saints lead then it was imperative that they got off to a good start and Fagan kicked another 2 pointer within 20 second as play got underway again.
It was just the start that the Randalstown side needed but All Saints made a quick reply and a good counter attack saw Harry Connon cut in from the left and beat his marker before firing home his side’s third goal of the afternoon.
Oliver McAtamney replied with a point for the visitors who were now doing much better with the wind at their back and Connell Lemon was then shown Black with Fagan converting the resulting free for another 2 pointer.
A Ciaran Logan point brought the visitors total to 0-10 and at this stage All Saints were playing the possession game in an effort to take the sting out of the opposition attack with some success.
Conor Stewart pointed to move the home side 3-15 to 0-10 ahead after 11 minutes but Tir na nOg replied with a goal from Fagan as he got on the end of a route one delivery to give his side a glimmer of hope with 16 minutes still remaining.
It was Fagan who continued to chip away at the All Saints lead with a series of 2 pointers with Ciaran Campbell interrupting the sequence with a Ballymena point and with time almost up it was Fagan who concluded the scoring with his second goal of the game after being set up by Eamon Og McAllister.
It proved too little-too late however with Colly Thompson’s full time whistle sounding from the kick out and it was ‘Baker’ Bradley’s side who collected another valuable 2 points to move further away from the bottom of the table.
Emmet Killough who had a solid game at mid-field for All Saints
On the day they were the better side and looked like running away with it in the opening half but would have been happy to hear the full-time whistle in the end.
Tir na nOg find themselves stuck at the bottom of the table and are suffering from injuries and absentees at present but there will be much from their second half performance to encourage their management and in Darragh Fagan they had the outstanding player on view.
All Saints: 1 Ryan Stewart, 2 Joe Rafferty, 3 Michael Read, 4 Sean McDermott, 5 Patrick Ferris, 6 Sean O’Callaghan, 7 Harry Connon, 8 Emmet Killough, 9 Peter McReynolds, 10 Connell Lemon, 11 Conor Stewart, 12 James McDonnell, 13 Sean O’Brien, 14 Benny McDonnell, 15 Ciaran Campbell.
Subs Used: Charlie Metrustry, Sean McVeigh, Cal O’Brien, Paudie Mitchell,
Tir na nOg: 1 Sean Paul McAtamney, 2 Ryan Crilly, 3 Brandon McLarnon, 4 Daniel Martin 5 Sean McKeown, 6 Ciaran O’Neill, 7 Ciaran Logan, 8 Ryan O’Neill, 9 Cormac Devlin, 17 Oliver McAtamney, 11 Eamon Og McAllister, 12 Emmet Murray, 13 Caleb Smith, 14 Darragh Fagan, 15 Declan Mallon
Subs: Tiernan Bonnes for Declan Mallon, Christie Hefferon
Referee: Colly Thompson (St. John’s)
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