Antrim Under 16 A Football semi-final – at Musgrave Park
St Brigid’s 1-13 St Enda’s 2-09
The Antrim Under 16A football semi-final between St Brigid’s and St Enda’s at Musgrave Park developed into a thrilling game of two halves. With the breeze at their backs, the visiting St Enda’s side dominated the opening period. Sean Cunningham and Caodhan Quinn registered early scores for the visitors, while Aodan Holmes kept the home side on the board with accurate frees. St Enda’s continued to build momentum, registering a two-pointer through Jay James after 18 minutes to go 0-8 to 0-2 ahead. Just before half-time, Jay McKenna fisted over another point, sending St Enda’s into the break with a commanding 0-9 to 0-2 lead and seemingly in total control of the tie.
The second half saw a complete reversal of fortunes as St Brigid’s capitalised on the wind advantage to wipe out the deficit. Patrick McAteer opened the second-half scoring before Aodan Holmes spearheaded a devastating comeback. Holmes buried a penalty on four minutes, tapped over a free, and then curled a beautiful left-footed point from play to close the gap. By the 10th minute, another Holmes free, brought forward for dissent, drew St Brigid’s level. McAteer then produced a moment of magic, sidestepping two opponents before curling the ball over the bar to give the hosts the lead. Holmes remained relentless, adding a free and a point from play, before the St Brigid’s Oliver Vincent cut in along the endline to fist another score. Substitute Dermot Logan quickly stamped his authority on the game, kicking a free and a point from play in consecutive minutes. When Holmes pointed again on 23 minutes, St Brigid’s had completely overrun their opponents and looked comfortable.
However, St Enda’s found a late surge to set up a grandstand finish. On 25 minutes, Lorcan Connolly fired a lifeline into the net for the visitors, and three minutes later, Sean Cunningham grabbed a second goal to reduce the deficit to a single point, putting a major shock on the cards. Deep into injury time, St Enda’s earned a pressure free on the 45-metre line, giving Cunningham the opportunity to force extra time. His shot drifted slightly left and wide, and the final whistle blew on the resulting kick-out to the immense relief of the home support. St Brigid’s held on to win a dramatic contest, booking their place in the final against Dunloy next Thursday evening.
St Brigid’s: 1 Cameron Dolan, 2 Conor Taylor, 3 Lorcan Gallagher, 4 Harry Brennan, 5 Rudy Doyle, 6 Senan McMahon, 8 Dan McAuley, 9 Matthew Forns, 10 Zak Kerr, 11 Rory Magee, 12 Patrick McAteer, 13 Alex Jackson, 14 James Morrissey, 15 Aodan Holmes,
16 Garrett Finnegan, 17 Dermot Logan, 18 Patrick Carlile, 20 Eamonn McKeever, 21 Matthew McMullan, 23 Zavier Kerr Woodrow, 25 Dara McMullan.
St Enda’s: 1 Joe Collins, 2 Aidan Sweeney, 3 Jackson Madden, 4 Michael Faulkner, 5 Jay James, 7 Padraig McBrearty, 8 Odhran Browne, 9 Oisin McKenna, 10 Sean Ryan, 11 Caodhan Quinn, 12 Lorcan Connolly, 13 Gerard McKenna, 14 Sean Cunningham, 15 Caoimhin McCaffery,
16 Aaron Hartley, 17 Jack McKinney, 18 Paul McCormick, 19 Ruadhan Rafferty, 20 Liam Reagan, 21 Finley McCloy, 22 Mason McAlea.
Referee – Patrick O’Callaghan
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