Antrim Senior Reserve Football Cup semi-final
St Gall’s 5-06 Cargin 3-09
St Gall’s secured a hard-fought three-point victory over Cargin in a thrilling Antrim Senior Reserve Cup Football semi-final at De la Salle Park, overturning a five-point halftime deficit to win by three in the end. Despite a blistering start from the visitors, the Belfast side’s ability to break through a previously resolute Cargin defence in the second half ultimately sealed the 5-6 to 3-9 win.
Cargin started like a house on fire, opening the scoring in the first minute through Eunan Quinn. They doubled their momentum just two minutes later when a sweeping, field-length move was expertly finished to the net by Brandan Laverty. Jack Harney extended the lead before Ronan Devlin capped off a well-worked team play with a point on 16 minutes. Cargin’s second goal arrived moments later when Carl McCann palmed the ball into the net to punctuate another flowing attack.
St Gall’s struggled initially against a rock-solid Cargin defence that produced multiple outstanding blocks. The hosts finally found life in the 19th minute. After Cargin goalkeeper Daniel McCann produced a brilliant fingertip save, Padraig Jnr O Muirigh reacted quickest to palm the rebound home. Cargin responded immediately with a superb individual goal from Fintan Hardy. A defensive scramble then allowed Michael Hopkins to poke home a second goal for St Gall’s, and a Conn Doherty free closed the gap, leaving Cargin ahead 3-3 to 2-1 at the break.
The game remained fiercely contested after the restart. Harney and Hardy traded early points with St Gall’s Simon Dowds. Padraig McLaughlin added another for Cargin, but the momentum shifted dramatically on 12 minutes when Niall Fallon capitalised on a defensive mix-up to net St Gall’s third goal. Despite a spectacular goal-line clearance from the Cargin defence shortly after, Fallon followed up with a quick point.
The Belfast side’s resurgence peaked in the final quarter. Doherty finished a magnificent end-to-end team move with a goal on 17 minutes, and Franco McCullagh added a point. O Muirigh then delivered the decisive blow, sending a speculative shot flying into the top corner for his second goal of the match, before quickly adding another point. Cargin had a golden opportunity to reclaim the lead on 27 minutes, but Laverty’s penalty was brilliantly saved by St Gall’s keeper Niall McCurdy. Late frees from Laverty and Cian Scullion weren’t enough, as St Gall’s completed a five-star comeback to advance to final meeting with Belfast rivals Rossa
ST GALL’S – 1 Niall McCurdy, 2 Oisin O Callaghan, 3 Aidan McDonagh, 4 Christopher Hale, 5 Damien Ball, 6 Conaill Murray, 7 Jarlath Mervyn, 8 Michael Hopkins, 9 Manus McCrossan, 10 Marty Murray, 11 Conor Stinton, 12 Simon Dowds, 13 Conn Doherty, 14 Niall Fallon, 15 Padraig Jnr O Muirigh,
17 Aodh Mullan, 18 Franco McCullagh, 19 Mark Kelly, 20 Ruairi Wilson, and 21 Conall McCabe.
CARGIN – 1 Daniel McCann, 2 Patryk Machnik, 3 Gerard McCorley, 4 Sean Og Quinn, 5 Hugh O’Donnell, 6 Martin Kane, 7 Ronan Devlin, 8 Jack Harney, 9 Eunan Quinn, 10 Darragh McAuley, Brandan Laverty, 11 Fintan Hardy, 13 Carl McCann, 14 Cian Scullion, 15 Padraig McLaughlin.
17 Diarmaid Quinn, 18 PJ Quinn, 19 Thomas McCann, 21 Daragh O’Boyle, 23 Michel Laverty, 24 Thomas Gormley, and 25 Sean Og Bovill.
Referee – Sean Elliott (Lamh Dhearg)
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