Northern Switchgear Senior Football Championship Semi Final

St Brigid’s 0-17 Dunloy 0-8

Saturday 3 October

Brendan McTaggart reports from Dunsilly

A clinical, dominant second half performance from St Brigid’s was enough to dethrone Dunloy and seal their place in the senior final for the first time in their 28 year history.

With the sides tied at five apiece at half time, the game was evenly poised.  The Musgrave Park men had also dominated the opening half for long periods and the Cuchullains would have been more than happy to go in at the interval on terms.

The second half saw an increase in St Brigid’s intensity, creativity and pressure on the Dunloy midfield.  With Niall Duffy and JJ Higgins showcasing skills in attack, the pressure on the Dunloy defence was unrelenting.  The introduction of underage starlet Joe Logan giving St Brigid’s another string to an already talented bow.  Still minor, Logan played with the freedom that comes from belief and confidence and a swagger that is rarely seen at senior level.

The middle third is where St Brigid’s lay the foundations to their dismantling job of the champions.  Jack Dowling, Ronan Boyle, Patrick and Joseph Finnegan all outstanding.  If they didn’t win clean ball from kick-

outs, they were by far the hungrier when it came to the breaking ball.  To say they dominated would be an understatement.  Any Dunloy attacks and there were few in the second half, the majority came from turnover ball or on the rare occasion, a St Brigid’s wide.

It was an evening where the Cuchullains misfired to the point where they couldn’t get started.  Conal Cunning showed glimpses and moments of brilliance, knocking over a couple of points with his left and looking the more likely to kick-start a Dunloy revival.

Eoin McFerran was another in green and gold who left with pass marks, but there weren’t enough from a Dunloy perspective to follow suit.

For ten minutes at the start of the second half, St Brigid’s were camped in the Dunloy half and built a five point lead that put them one foot into the final.  The other foot and door was confirmed there by the time Higgins hit his sixth point of the night.

From the first whistle St Brigid’s dictated the game.  Cunning did open the scoring and while it was a further 10 minutes before Dunloy would add another score, St Brigid’s weren’t exactly shooting the lights out at the other end of the pitch.  Joseph Finnegan, Niall Duffy and JJ Higgins did split the posts but a number of wides looked to derail the St Brigid’s momentum.

Seaan Elliott hit the opening two pointer of the game, a shot that was a classic effort from the Dunloy man.  No back lift, no looking at the posts but straight between the uprights.  Points followed from Cunning and Keelan Molloy to give Dunloy a two point lead by the 16^th minute.

The Cuchullains wouldn’t register another score for the remainder of the half, however.  Joseph Finnegan fired over his second point of the half, running half the pitch unopposed before dissecting the posts.  Higgins first point of the evening typified the St Brigid’s play – chasing a lost cause and splitting the posts despite the presence of two Dunloy defenders to tie the sides in the 22^nd minute.

Neither side would add to their tally in an end to the first half that was a game of chess.  Neither side really taking the game by the horns and registering a number of wides.

The second half is where St Brigid’s came to life.  Where they may have been cautious or misfired in the first half, they found another gear after the restart.

Duffy and Cunning swapped scores before the Musgrave Park men went through the gears.  Higgins with a brace of points before Logan split the uprights in the 39^th minute.  A quite brilliant point that saw the young St Brigid’s player sell two dummies before firing over.

Shay Campbell added his name to the list of scorers before Higgins landed his fourth of the night to put five between the sides and St Brigid’s in pole position.

Eoin McFerran responded for Dunloy in the 46^th minute, the Cuchullains first score for almost 15 minutes reducing the St Brigid’s lead to four points but that was as good as it got for the champions.

James Smith fired over a brilliant score, lifting the voices of the St Brigid’s attack before Paul Bradley landed a crucial two pointer.  Higgins pointed in the 57^th minute to leave eight between the sides as the end of the hour loomed but St Brigid’s showed no signs of relenting.

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Dunloy looked for ways to potentially score a major, Seaan Elliott with a moment of brilliance but the St Brigid’s defence never looked like coughing up the opportunity.  Elliott did fire over but St Brigid’s had the final say with Smith and Higgins landing the final points to add further gloss to the scoreline.

A strong performance from the south Belfast side who have reached their first senior final with a statement performance.  A ghost laid to rest from 12 months ago and the wind at their sails ahead of a meeting with either Cargin or Rossa.  Dunloy will be disappointed with their showing and to lose their grasp on the McNamee Cup.  For the vast majority of the squad, they will turn their attentions to a semi-final meeting with Glenariffe in the hurling championship next Saturday.

TEAMS

St Brigid’s Starting XV: Declan Heery; Oran Downey, John Morgan, Shay Campbell; Shea Downey, Joseph Finnegan, Patrick Finnegan; Jack Dowling, Ronan Boyle; Dara Quinn, Ronan McGrady, Paul Bradley; Niall Duffy, James Smith, JJ Higgins

• Subs: Joe Logan for R McGrady (HT); Peter King for O Downey (56); Conor King for N Duffy (59)
• Scorers: JJ Higgins 0-6; N Duffy 0-3 (1f); J Smith 0-2; P Bradley 0-2 (1tp); J Finnegan 0-2; S Campbell 0-1; J Logan 0-1

Dunloy Starting XV: Chrissy McMahon; Reece Cunning, Aaron Crawford, Conor Kinsella; Aodhan McGarry, Ryan McGarry, Luke McFerran; Eoin McFerran, Conal Cunning; Eoin O’Neill, Seaan Elliott, Tom McFerran; Barry McCloskey, Keelan Molloy, Nigel Elliott

• Subs: Eoghan McGrath for T McFerran (52); Padraig McGilligan for E O’Neill (52)
• Scorers: C Cunning 0-3; S Elliott 0-3 (1tp, 1f); E McFerran 0-1; K Molloy 0-1

Referee: Kevin Parke (Naomh Éanna)

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