ACHL Division 4
All Saints 2-11 Ardoyne 1-11
Naomh Uile claimed a thrilling victory over Ciceam Ard Eoin in a fiery, top-of-the-table clash at Slemish Park. The home side secured two vital league points to keep their title hopes alive, halting Ardoyne’s chance to virtually wrap up the silverware. In a competitive match that occasionally boiled over with tension, a dominant second-half surge saw All Saints overturn a half-time deficit to blow the title race wide open.
Ardoyne made use of a strong wind advantage early on. Paddy Heaney opened the scoring for the North Belfast men, but the in-form Pearse Martin quickly responded for Ballymena with a pointed free.
A brilliant solo run from Eoin McGuigan briefly put All Saints ahead, but Ardoyne answered in spectacular fashion. Dan Moore fielded a towering high ball inside his own half and launched a beautiful point over the crossbar.
Luke O’Rawe struck back with a point for the hosts before Ardoyne launched a devastating run of four consecutive scores. Matt McKillen steered a wonder point over from the sideline, followed by another Moore point under intense defensive pressure. Padraig McGreevy then split the posts twice to stretch Ardoyne’s lead to four. Right before the whistle, Martin knocked over a crucial point to narrow the gap.
Half-Time: Naomh Uile 0-04 Ciceam Ard Eoin 0-07
All Saints roared into the second half. Martin fired over three consecutive points, including two frees, to draw the sides level. Ardoyne mounted counter-attacks resulting in McGreevy registering another two points before full-forward Barnes rattled the net with a spectacular goal, threatening to dampen the home crowd’s spirits.
However, the next 20 minutes were dominated by Ballymena. All Saints unleashed an unanswered blitz, hammering home 2-04 without reply as the Ardoyne defence were in danger of collapse. Robert Crooks was first to raise the green flag for All Saints, followed closely by Michael Connolly converting a penalty to stretch All Saints’ lead. Two further pointed frees from Pearse Martin and Michael Connolly split the posts to leave All Saints 7 points ahead.
The importance of this game was emphasised in the number of skirmishes on the park as both sides battled for the vital points. In the final five minutes, Ardoyne came back with two frees converted, and that could prove vital in score aggregate if the league battle goes to the very end.
All Saints will be delighted at taking the points from the league leaders, and while both sit on equal points, Ardoyne have a game in hand and an advantage in aggregate scores over All Saints. While All Saints secured the win, both teams will have something to take from this game, and the final few matches have the makings of an exciting finish for the Div 4 title.
Ardoyne still remain league favourites, but this result guarantees a thrilling final few matches for both clubs.
Ciceam Ard Eoin: Connor O’Neill, Aran Stewart, Paul Baker, Caolan Wallace, Dean Goodall, Paschal Clarke, Fintan Lagan, Cahal Keown, Matt McKillen (0-02), Cormac Barnes(1-00), Micheál McGreevy, Paddy Heaney (0-02,1f), Padraig McGreevy(0-05, 5f)Cahal Clarke, Sean Searle, Pól Stanton, Emmet Corry, Enda Slattery, John Callinan(0-01), Michael Lee Murphy, Declan Dillon, Stephen Hill
Naomh Uile, Ballymena: Ronan McAllister, Kevin Brady, Dwayne McKee, Luke Mulholland, Daniel Grey, Gary Miskella, Niall Savage, Luke O’Rawe(0-01), Vincent Esler, Pearse Martin (1-08,1-06f) Harry Connon, Eoin McGuigan(0-01), Archie McGreevy, Cormac Magill, Jack Magill, Patrick Doherty, Michael Connolly, Damien Gillan, Robert Crooks
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