Northern Switchgear Antrim SFC Group 4
Portglenone 1-17-1-13 Lámh Dhearg
Kevin Herron reports from Kelly Park
FIVE two-pointed scores in the opening half were crucial as Portglenone got their Northern Switchgear Antrim SFC campaign off to a winning start with a 1-17-1-13 win over Lámh Dhearg at Kelly Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Ports played with a strong breeze in the opening half and as displayed in the sides league meeting at Hannahstown they showed their ruthless efficiency from outside the arc and kicked five two-pointers, three of which came from play and two from frees to help themselves to a seven-point advantage that they maintained for most of the second period.
It was Lámh Dhearg who made a perfect start and hit the front inside of 15-seconds as Pearse Fitzsimons broke the ball into the path of Ben Rice to carry the ball forward and lay off to Marc Jordan who swung the ball over from the angle.
The hosts played with a strong breeze in the opening half and landed the first two pointed score. Dermot McAleese quickly laid the ball off to Odhran Doherty at the edge of the arc and he confidently landed the two-pointed effort.
The games opening goal came in the 13th minute, referee Colly Thompson awarded the Lámhs a penalty after Owen McKeown had his jersey pulled as he bore down on goal.
Responsibility for the spot kick fell to Terry McCrudden who was denied by Kevin Mullan, McCrudden got to the loose ball first but in their attempts to clear a Portglenone defender only appeared to hook the ball goalwards and Adam Murray appeared to have got the telling touch and bundle the ball over the line to give his side a 1-1-0-2 lead.
That advantage was extended through a Niall McGarry point, though Odhran Doherty landed his second two-pointed score from play after Tom Duffin’s was in space to receive a pop off from a sideline ball and in turn found the corner-forward.
Duffin spurned the chance to restore his side’s lead, midfielders Aidan McAleese and Niall McKeever combined with the latter slipping the ball into Duffin’s path, the youngster worked an angle but blasted off target.
However, Ciaran McAleese kicked a third two-pointed score with 10-minutes to the break. Stephen Kelly collected a crossfield pass into his path of a laid the ball out McAleese who turned away from danger before clipping a shot between the posts.
After a few minutes after passing up the goal opportunity, Duffin atoned and found the net with a powerful low shot to have his side 1-6-1-2 ahead.
Things got better for the Bannsiders when a Lámh Dhearg breach afforded a fourth two-point opportunity that Aidan McAleese kicked.
The hosts would play out the remainder of the half a man light when Niall McKeever was black carded for catching Marc Jordan off the ball.
Blood sub Mark Finnegan swung over his side’s first score in 12-minutes as they tried to make the most of their numerical advantage and a further Donal Martin point had the Lámhs on the front foot.
The player count would be levelled up and Lámh Dhearg facing an uphill task for the first few minutes after the break as Mark Finnegan tangled with Connor McGhee and was black carded.
Portglenone wrestled back momentum before the half concluded and tagged on two further scores.
Ciaran McAleese shot over the first single point of the half and with the last kick of the opening period, Aidan McAleese converted a two-pointed free to ensure the hosts held a healthy 1-11-1-4 lead at midway.
The hosts carried off where they concluded with Odhran Doherty adding a further score within seconds of the restart.
Lámh Dhearg needed to try and control things until they returned to full complement and they successfully took the sting out with things with substitute Ryan Murray eventually swinging over their opening score of the second period.
Both sides had glorious goal chances within less than 60-seconds of each other. The first fell to Portglenone when Ruairi Hagan laid the ball into Tom Duffin’s path, he twisted away from danger and with John Finucane out of his goal to try and close down the danger Duffin had an empty goal, but his effort was off target.
At the other end Paddy Mervyn slipped Owen McKeown in the clear, though McKeown could only flash a shot over the top.
Duffin clipped over a point and then saw another goal opportunity fall by the wayside, this time John Finucane made an outstanding save to deny Duffin for a potential fourth goal.
Owen McKeown shot over a second point in quick succession after a nice link up from the Murray brothers in the lead up and a close range Adam Murray free a few minutes later had cut the gap to five (1-13-1-8).
In reply, Conor McGhee fisted over and a converted free from Aidan McAleese restored the seven-point lead with little over ten left to play.
Points were traded between Ben Rice and Ciaran McAleese and it looked as though the sides would cancel each other out in the half as time ticked on.
Several two-pointed efforts drifted wide in the closing stages for the Lámhs and Ben Rice had a goal opening blocked, before Ryan Murray dropped over a two-pointer to ensure there was a glimmer of hope.
Murray departed before the game’s conclusion on a black card prior to Paddy Kelly converting a straight forward free that brought their scoring to a close for the evening.
A two-pointed Mark Finnegan closed the gap but time was against Lámh Dhearg and in their final attack Marc Jordan’s dangerous run eventually came to nothing as he was crowded out and the whistle blew almost instantly as Portglenone ran out 1-17-1-13 winners.
The Bannsiders join Aghagallon at the summit of the table ahead of a trip to Stewartstown Avenue to take on Sarsfields in a fortnight, with Lámh Dhearg hosting Aghagallon in a do or die clash in Hannahstown.
PORTGLENONE: A Mullan, D McNicholl, S Delargy, J Convery, D McAleese, C McGhee (0-1), R Hagan, A McAleese (0-5f, 2×0-2ptf, 1×0-1f), N McKeever, P Graffin, Oisin Doherty, S Kelly, T Duffin (1-1), C McAleese (0-4, 1×0-2pt), Odhran Doherty (0-5, 2×0-2pt). SUBS: P Kelly (0-1f) for S Kelly,, (HT), M Donnelly for P Graffin (57), M Hagan for A McAleese (59).
LÁMH DHEARG:J Finucane, M McGarry, D Lynch, D Smith, B Rice (0-1), P Mervyn, D Martin, P Fitzsimons, M Jordan (0-1), O McKeown (0-2), A Murray (1-0), T McCrudden, N McGarry (0-1), J Davitt, Ross Murray. SUBS: M Finnegan (0-3, 1×0-2ptf) for N McGarry (bs 23), Ryan Murray for T McCrudden (30), C Murray for J Davitt (39), C Fegan-Lappin for a Murray (46), N McGarry for D Martin (50), A Murray for O McKeown (60+2).
REFEREE: Colly Thompson (ST JOHNS)