Antrim LGFA Senior Football Championship – Opening Round
Moneyglass 1-19 St Brigid’s 3-06
Antrim and Ulster champions Moneyglass recovered from a difficult opening half to defeat St Brigid’s by seven points in their opening game of the Antrim LGFA Senior Football Championship.
A major shock appeared to be on the cards at half-time, when the Belfast visitors held a 2-04 to 0-08 advantage. However, Moneyglass produced a much-improved second-half performance, with Orlaith Prenter’s goal helping them take control before they pulled clear to win by 1-19 to 3-06.
St Brigid’s made a sensational start when Aileen McDonnell found the net after only two minutes. Maria O’Neill responded with points in the third and sixth minutes, before Prenter added another to bring Moneyglass back into contention.
Aoife Montague registered St Brigid’s first point in the ninth minute, but Moneyglass continued to chip away at the deficit through Bronagh Devlin.
The visitors struck for their second goal in the 12th minute through Julie Curran, leaving the champions with plenty of work to do. Ruby McErlain replied with a point, but Theresa Mellon and Hanna Donaghy kept St Brigid’s scoreboard moving.
Mellon added her second point in the 23rd minute as St Brigid’s continued to frustrate their highly rated opponents. Moneyglass finished the half strongly, however, with O’Neill, Prenter and McErlain all finding the target to reduce the deficit to two points at the interval.
Half-time: Moneyglass 0-08 St Brigid’s 2-04
Any expectation that Moneyglass would immediately take command after the restart was checked when Abigail Carleton struck St Brigid’s third goal inside the opening minute of the second half.
That score left the visitors five points ahead, but it also sparked the champions into life. Laura McCann began the recovery with a point before Prenter and O’Neill reduced the gap further.
The decisive moment arrived in the tenth minute when Prenter broke through for the Moneyglass goal. It completed a rapid turnaround and gave the home side the lead for the first time.
Moneyglass were now playing with far greater authority. Devlin landed two points, while Prenter and O’Neill continued to punish the St Brigid’s defence as the champions steadily stretched their advantage.
Ellie Murphy replied with two late points for the visitors, but St Brigid’s were unable to recreate their excellent first-half display. Further scores from Prenter and Cathy Carey completed a dominant second-half showing as Moneyglass safely negotiated what had looked like a potentially major opening-round upset.
Moneyglass scorers: Orlaith Prenter 1-05; Maria O’Neill 0-07; Bronagh Devlin 0-03; Ruby McErlain 0-02; Laura McCann 0-01; Cathy Carey 0-01.
St Brigid’s scorers: Aileen McDonnell 1-00; Julie Curran 1-00; Abigail Carleton 1-00; Theresa Mellon 0-02; Ellie Murphy 0-02; Aoife Montague 0-01; Hanna Donaghy 0-01.
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