Antrim Minor C Football final
Ardoyne 6-12 St Comgall’s 1-07
The Antrim Minor Football C Championship final finally got under way at the Cricky on Wednesday evening, having been postponed from its original Saturday fixture due to the severe storms that swept across the country. In the end, it was North Belfast side Ardoyne Kickhams who claimed the silverware, running out emphatic 6-12 to 1-07 winners over St Comgall’s following a devastating second-half display.
The first half was a highly competitive affair. Ardoyne opened the scoring seven minutes in when Martin Keenan fired over an excellent 2pointer to put his team two up
The action was relentless early on. Michael Sloan won a great ball in the middle for St Comgall’s and sent it forward to Matthew McLornan, who got in behind the Ardoyne defence and buried the ball into the net. Ardoyne kept their composure, however, with Barry McKervey landing a well-taken free from the right, and John Lindsay hitting a fine score from the edge of the D. Eoghan Maguire then went on a great run, slipping the ball to Ryan O’Neill to curl over.
Torin Hodkinson kept the Antrim town side in touch with a well-taken point, and as the half drew to a close, it looked like there would be little between them. However, a late goal from Ardoyne put them six clear at the interval. A ball sent in by Keenan was fumbled by the St Comgall’s defence, and Ryan O’Neill was on hand to send the rebound to the net. Matters worsened for St Comgall’s one of their players received a black card on 29 minutes and McKervey pointed the resulting free, leaving the half-time score 1-10 to 1-04.
After the change of ends, there was no stopping the North Belfast side who took control, scoring five more goals to run out emphatic winners.
McKervey stretched the lead to seven with an early free. Michael Sloan offered brief resistance for St Comgall’s with a super point struck from out on the left, cutting the gap to five, but that was as close as they would get. A minute later, Keenan gained possession 40 yards out, soloed in, and hit a dipping shot that found its way under the crossbar and into the net.
From there, the floodgates opened. On 44 minutes, Tiarnan McKenna won the ball and sent a neat pass across the face of the goal for James O’Neill to palm into the far corner. Four minutes later, Oisin Copeland added to the spectacular with a beautiful dipping strike from outside the D that flew into the back of the net.
McKenna added a well-taken point of his own before James O’Neill grabbed his second goal of the game, once again finishing from close range after the ball was played across the square. Ardoyne added their sixth and final goal with just two minutes remaining on the clock before Hodkinson pulled a late consolation point back for St Comgall’s, but the damage was well and truly done as Ardoyne ran out convincing 6-12 to 1-07 victors to seal the title.
ARDOYNE KICKHAMS
- Breandan Lagan
- Sean Og Curran
- Eoghan Craig
- Aidan McConnell
- Aidan Mailey
- Ruairi Teague
- Antoin Mallon
- Oisin Copeland
- Martin Keenan
- John Lindsay
- Eoghan Maguire
- Daniel Reid
- Ryan O’Neill
- Barry McKervey (Started)
- Tiarnan McKenna (Started)
Substitutes: 16. Eoghan Gorman, 17. James O’Neill, 19. Kailum Murphy, 21. Ryan Donnelly, 22. Cormac Corrigan, 23. Eamann Fennell, 26. Gerard James Mailey, 27. Kaiden McLaughlin.Panel: Braedan Finnegan, Conor Larkin, Ciaran Lopes, Lorcan Loughens, Leon Maguire, John Paul McColgan, James Saul McDermott, Dylan Murphy.
ST COMGALL’S ANTRIM
- Owen Emery
- Jake Hughes
- Darragh Brennan
- Eoin Gillen
- Rory McConnell
- Conal Williamson
- Conal Harrison
- Michael Sloan
- Shay Wilkinson
- Charlie Ewart
- Torin Hodkinson
- Ben McAleer
- Roman Porter
- Pearse Harrison
- Matthew McLornan
Substitutes: 16. Corey Carol, 17. Marcus Sloss, 18. Darragh McNamee.Panel: Thomas Doherty, Charlie Hughes, Josh McQueen, Riley O’Hagan.
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