Senior Football Championship Relegation Play Off – Round 2
Saturday 3rd October
Report by Niall Kelly from The Bear Pit – Pics by Joe Carberry
Pádraig Sáirseil CLG 0-20 Naomh Pól 6-08
St Paul’s hit their neighbours for six, in more ways than one, on a sun-drenched Stewartstown Park on Saturday afternoon, ensuring that they will dine at the top table of Antrim Football for another year. Unfortunately for Sarsfields though, defeat now consigns them to the drop as they will ply their trade in the Intermediate grade and Division Two in 2027. In what was a helter-skelter, frantic affair, Naomh Pól left it late in both halves to do the damage as in the final ten minutes of each period, they ran riot. Trailing by four points after twenty minutes, three green flags courtesy of Caoimhinn Duffy and a brace from Shea Burns helped establish a commanding six-point lead at the short whistle for the visitors.
The ‘Paddies’ will be scratching their heads though as they had enjoyed sustained periods of domination but capitulated when it mattered most. After having scaled back the deficit after the interval, there was a renewed intensity about the hosts as they held their rivals scoreless for the first twenty minutes of the second half and had actually edged into a two-point lead following one of Daniel Smyth’s sublime two pointers. However, the concession of a penalty would mark the turning point as Conall Duffy despatched with ferocity to retake the lead. From there, it rained goals yet again as substitutes Ruairi Hamill and Caolan O’Duffin rattled the onion bag as the game reached its climax, albeit in rather fortuitous fashion.
It was the hosts who started the brighter racing into a four-point lead. Niall McKenna and Caolan McKernan were marshalling the midfield nicely and proved to be the springboard for much of the early scoring. Jay Maguire fired over after thirty seconds before Tomas Skillen despatched from a free in response to a Conall Duffy effort.
Sarsfields continued to ask questions of the visitors as a floated ball in off the flank from Tomas Skillen was met by the first of Cormac Murray to punch over from close range on the tenth minute. Skillen seemed to be at the heart of everything from an offensive perspective and he doubled his tally with a fine score from an acute angle minutes later.
Naomh Pól tried to respond as they pushed their half back line forward and launched sporadic attacks, but they were not finding their target as the hosts continued to turn the screw with Maguire finding the target again, bombing into the space in his half-forward line.
This was perhaps the catalyst for the men in red and white to awaken from their slumber. Caoimhin Duffy grabbed a much-needed score with a fine effort, applying the perfect amount of curl to guide over from the left flank on the twentieth minute.
There was more industry now among the visitors as they patiently awaited the opportunity to spring on the counter-attack. It was this tactic which saw them grab their first of three goals in the closing ten minutes. Conall Duffy squared a low ball across the thirteen metre line which his brother Caoimhinn bravely slid in to meet, prodding the ball across the line to a raucous cheer from the St Paul’s sideline.
Despite Sarsfields responding with a perfectly flighted two-pointed free from keeper Cayden Smith, momentum had clearly shifted as it was the Shaws Road side who bossed proceedings until Mark O’Neill’s half-time whistle. Cormac Trainor added the gloss to a flowing counter-attack before Conal Duffy adjusted his feet perfectly to take centre stage again. Duffy would then once again turn provider as he floated a tantalising pass perfectly into the reach of Shea Burns who danced his way through the defence before drilling low and hard into the Sarsfields’ goal.
A shell-shocked ‘Paddies’ responded as Tomas Skillen angled over a free with management now calling for cool heads to regroup at halftime. However, St Paul’s had other ideas, as with the last action of the half, they capitalised on indecision within the host’s rearguard. Burns was once again the man of the moment as he slipped in to commandeer possession from two defenders going for the same ball before repeating his feat only minutes earlier to ripple the white curtain leaving the scoreline 0-08 to 3-05 in favour of the visitors.
Whatever words of wisdom were imparted at the break from the Sarsfields’ management, certainly seemed to do the trick as the hosts emerged a much more composed and revitalised side. Indeed, it seemed as though they had full ownership of the ball for much of the third quarter as they chipped away at the lead, hitting the next eight points without response.
Keeper Cayden Smyth got the scoreboard ticking over again two minutes after the restart before Daniel Smyth thundered over the first of three two-pointers from way downtown. The fleet-footed Tomas Skillen was making a nuisance of himself again as he fired over two excellent scores from range.
Midway through the half, Dan Smyth popped up again to convert a free from well beyond the arc to raise the orange flag, before Skillen curled his fifth of the afternoon over to perfection and suddenly the ‘Paddies’ led by two.
Naomh Pól were in dire need of some sort of response, and it would come from a familiar source as their trusty number fourteen, Conall Duffy, pointed from a tricky free. In mirror fashion to the first period, this provided the impetus that the men in hoops needed. With only ten minutes remaining and a single point separating the sides, St Paul’s were awarded a penalty much to the dismay of the home supporters.
Full forward Duffy stepped forward and made no mistake with his finish as his drilled effort ricocheted from post to post before kissing the back of the net. The hosts sought to respond but disaster would strike again moments later. A floated cross/pass from substitute Ruairi Hamill somehow found the top corner of Smyth’s net on the twenty second minute and Sarsfields had yet another mountain to climb.
In fairness to the men in black and green, their response was admirable as Phillip McPeake bombed forward from corner back to grab a score before Smyth, whose performance didn’t merit finishing on the losing side, would despatch yet another trademark two-pointer to cut the gap to two with the game into four minutes additional time.
The hosts continued to swarm forward in their droves but just couldn’t seem to find that all elusive goal and were consequently caught yet again by the potent St Paul’s counterattack. Substitute Caolan O’Duffin’s effort seemed destined to be secured by Smyth in goal but it somehow navigated its way under his grasp and into the net to trigger an almighty roar from the travelling faithful as the final nail was well and truly hammered now.
A Daragh Gorman point on the sixty second minute provided a little consolation, but it was St Paul’s, with their tails up, who flexed their muscles to finish off the scoring. A fisted effort from Ruairi Hamill was followed in quick succession by a superb Conall Finnegan point on the cusp of the full-time whistle.
In what was a thoroughly entertaining affair, there can be little doubt that St Paul’s potent full-forward line made the difference in the end, sharing 4-05 between them as they all found the back of Cayden Smyth’s net at some point. The men from the Shaws Road have proven that when they’re in their groove, they can be difficult to handle and will look to establish a little more consistency in Division One next year in order to catapult them up the league. For Sarsfields, they will return to Division Two despite having thought they were safe after negotiating their way through the league relegation playoff a few months prior. They boast a lot of talented players in their ranks, but it has been their concession of goals which has been their achilles heel throughout this Championship campaign. Nevertheless, they will still harbour very realistic ambitions of making a swift return to the top-level next year.
Teams:
Sarsfields:
Cayden Smyth (0-03 – 1tp & 0-01;) Phillip McPeake (0-01,) Connor Laverty, Kevin Barry McArdle; Liam Mitchell, Daniel Smyth (0-06 – 3tp,) Caolan McDonnell (0-01;) Caolan McKernan, Niall McKenna; Joe McNally, Conor Moley, Jay Maguire (0-02,) Garry Lennon, Cormac Murray (0-01,) Tomas Skillen (0-05)
Substitute Scorer:
Daragh Gorman (0-01)
St Paul’s:
Jack McAufield; Aodhan Kavanagh, Conor Hughes, Caoimhin Killyleagh; Miceal Duffy, Mark Munce, Lorcan Phillips; Cormac Trainor (0-01,) Conall Finnegan (0-01;) Niall McStravick, James Farrell, Bairre Burns; Shea Burns (2-00,) Conall Duffy (1-04,) Caoimhin Duffy (1-01)
Substitute scorers:
Ruairi Hamill (1-01)
Caolan O’Duffin (1-00)
TO SEE MORE OF JOE CARBERRY’S PICS FROM THIS GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
https://myalbum.com/album/qT9KAJbBdTD9Ab/?invite=474219f2-8c9a-44f0-ba7a-8f3081e55398