Northern Switchgear SFC | Group 3 – Round 1

St Gall’s 2-23 | St Ergnat’s, Moneyglass 1-14

St Gall’s successfully navigated a tricky opening assignment in the Senior Football Championship on Friday night, shaking off a slow start to comfortably dispatch Moneyglass on home turf at Milltown. The 19-time champions eventually found their attacking rhythm, posting a formidable 2-23 to kick off their campaign in dominant fashion.

While Bairre McCaffrey opened the scoring for the hosts, it was Moneyglass who controlled the opening ten minutes, threatening what would have been a massive early tournament upset.

The visitors capitalized on St Gall’s sluggishness, with Sean Boyd, Caolan Boyd, and Colm Duffin all finding the target. When Seanchan Duffin brilliantly split the posts for a two-pointer, Moneyglass looked genuinely capable of taking the game to the Milltown men.

St Gall’s went six minutes without a score before Callum Walsh finally halted the drought. The turning point arrived shortly after via a stroke of luck: Marty Murray’s point attempt dropped short, catching everyone off guard as it dipped perfectly into the top corner of the net to level the game.

St Gall’s Find Their Rhythm

The second quarter opened as an end-to-end shootout. Danny Quinn and McCaffrey led the charge for the hosts, while Tiernan McCormack and the Duffin-Boyd contingents kept the white flags waving for Moneyglass.

However, St Gall’s relentless pressure and tackling high up the pitch began to pay dividends. Forcing turnovers in dangerous areas, they surged ahead through a quickfire double from Quinn and veteran Mickey Pollock. Callum Walsh then took center stage, brilliantly curling over a two-point effort to put St Gall’s firmly in control.

Gerard O’Neill and Niall Burns added to the tally, while Aodhan Gallagher orchestrated a slick team move finished by McCaffrey. Moneyglass, struggling against the relentless wave of attacks, were unfortunate not to snatch a goal before the break. Sean Boyd saw a one-on-one effort spectacularly smothered by St Gall’s keeper Chris Kerr, and Colm Duffin watched a shot drag wide off the upright. A Tiernan McCormack ’45’ gave Moneyglass the final score of the half, but the momentum was firmly with the hosts.

The pace dropped after the restart, though Aidan McErlain gave the traveling support brief hope by opening the second-half scoring. That optimism was ruthlessly extinguished by back-to-back points from the clinical Danny Quinn.

McCaffrey continued to torment the Moneyglass defense, adding another point before effectively killing the tie. Capitalizing on a lightning-fast counter-attack driven by Callum Walsh, McCaffrey collected the ball and coolly slotted it past Ryan Gribbon for St Gall’s second major.

Moneyglass refused to fold and found a lifeline through Conleth McCann. The forward unleashed a powerful strike that took a cruel deflection off half-back Conor Ryan, leaving Chris Kerr stranded and the ball in the back of the net.

Any thoughts of a dramatic comeback were immediately squashed. St Gall’s simply shifted back through the gears, wiping out the goal’s impact within minutes. Quinn added another, Pollock rolled back the years with a vintage score, and Walsh kept the scoreboard ticking. With Quinn repeatedly providing the final touch to excellent team build-ups and Niall Burns driving home his third point of the evening, referee Brendan Toland’s final whistle confirmed a comprehensive victory for the Milltown side.

Team Line-ups & Scorers

St Gall’s

• Starting XV: C Kerr; E Walsh, G Adams, A McDonagh; G O’Neill (0-2), E McCabe, C Ryan; M McCrossan, A Gallagher; C Walsh (0-4, 1x 2pt), D Quinn (0-8, 2f), M Murray (1-0); B McCaffrey (1-4), N Burns (0-2), M Pollock (0-3).
• Substitutions: D Wilson for M Murray (37′), N Fallon for M Pollock (50′), P Ó Muirigh for B McCaffrey (50′), C Doherty for C Walsh (54′).

St Ergnat’s, Moneyglass

• Starting XV: R Gribbon; C Murray, Z McCaughan, J McCormack; S Boyd (0-3), F Duffin, C McCann (1-0); T McCormack (0-5), S Duffin (0-2, 1x 2pt); O Duffin, A McErlain (0-1), C Boyd (0-1); T Cassidy, C Duffin (0-2, 1f), D McErlain.
• Substitutions: E McGrath for T Cassidy (41′), C O’Kane for O Duffin (43′), R Taggart for D McErlain (55′).

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