ACFL Division 2 Reserve

All Saints 3-17 St. Mary’s Ahoghill 4-4

A virtuoso display by All Saints full-forward, Diarmuid ‘Mitch’ McNally helped All Saints to a deserved ten point victory over St. Mary’s Ahoghill in the opening game of the ACFL Division 2 Reserve league at Quinn Park tonight.

The number 14 was unplayable over the hour and finished the game with a personal total 0f 2-6 in a game where the home side always looked like winning after a cagey opening quarter where the visitors led by 1-2 to 1-1.

It was corner-back Shea Neeson who got forward for an early goal for the visitors but when Mitch McNally redirected an Enda Kennedy shot with a flick of his wrist to the net in the 10^th minute to level matters at 1-1 apiece the Ballymena side never looked back.

Enda Kennedy, Diarmuid McNally, Niall Quinn, McNally again and Joe Rocks added unanswered points by the 23d minute to move the home side five ahead and the strong running and pace of the All Saints attack was stretching the Ahoghill men.

‘Mitch’ McNally took an astute pass from Owen Walsh to extend the home side’s lead with a good point on the restart and points from Niall Walsh and McNally again moved All Saints 8 in front and they were threatening to run away with it at this stage.

Ahoghill began to use the long ball into the danger area however and it paid dividends as Ryan Keenan and then Ryan McPeake capitalized on panic in the Ballymena defence with two quick goals that left them trailing by just two points at the end of the third quarter.

All Saints regained their composure and the initiative as McNally fired a daisy cutter to the corner of the net and when Niall Walsh got his side’s third major with ten minutes remaining it looked all over. Ciaran Campbell, McNally, Charlie Metrustry 0-2 and Aidan Scullion all added points to move their side out of site.

To their credit the Cloney men never gave up and were rewarded with a penalty after Shea Neeson was fouled in the small square and the corner back picked himself up to beat Daniel McCoy from the spot to conclude the scoring.

All Saints: 1 Daniel McCoy, 20 Jude Casey, 3 Jack Agnew, 4 Paddy O’Brien, 5 Michael Read 6 Dara Walsh, 7 Conal Killough, 8 Luke O’Rawe, 9 Joe Rocks, 10 Niall Walsh, 11 Eoin Walsh, 12 Darragh Mussen, 13 Charlie Metrustry, 14 Diarmuid McNally, 15 Enda Kennedy.

Subs Used: Reece O’Mullan, Ciaran Campbell, Aidan Scullion,

Ahoghill: 1 Joe Downey, 2 Finbar Graham, Niall Magee, 4 Shea Neeson, 5 Jerard Keenan, 6 Stephen O’Connell, 7 Ben Friel, 8 Dominic Neeson, 9 James Graham, 10 Callum Reynolds, 11 Sean McMahon, 12 Ryan Martin, 13 Ryan Keenan, 14 Aiden Graham, 15 Ryan McPeake, 16 Connor Scullion, 17 John Paul Neeson

Referee: Gerard Dougan (Creggan)

ACFL Division 2

Moneyglass 4-13 Glenavy 0-4

Moneyglass’ relentless start to the season continued last night at Marian Hill with a four goal salvo that saw them claim their latest scalp, St. Joseph’s Glenavy in an entertaining game despite the difficult conditions.

The home side got off to a perfect start when a Connlaodh McCann shot was deflected off a Glenavy defender and finished in the visitors net but the Chapel Hill side responded to this early setback and replied with points from David Nelson, Fergal Henry and Stephen Donne to draw level with 8 minutes gone.

Seanchann Duffin and Colm Duffin for St. Ergnat’s and Ciaran Looney and Fergal Henry for the visitors exchanged further points to leave the contest all square with 17 minutes gone but the game swung in favour of the home side when they were awarded a penalty in the 22^nd minute. Up stepped Seanchann Duffin to beat Gareth Collins from the spot and Dermot McErlain added a point to move Moneyglass four ahead.

The closing stages of the first half belonged to the visitors however as they came storming back with points from Niall McCann, Ciaran Loney, Malachi Doherty and Fergal Henry in reply to one from Duffin for the home side to leave it all to play for in the second half with St. Ergnat’s 2-5 to 0-9 ahead.

Dermot McErlain extended the Moneyglass lead with a point on the restart and when Aidan McErlain got through for their third goal to put a bit of daylight between the sides it looked a long way back for the visitors even at this early juncture.

Seanchann Duffin, Dermot McErlain and Colm Duffin added further points by the 41^st minute to mover St. Ergnat’s nine ahead as the visitors struggled to regain their opening half form. Fergal Duffin finally opened their account with points in the 44^th and 47^th minutes but Moneyglass replied with points from Conor O’Kane and Colm Duffin for the Marian Hill side.

To their credit Glenavy kept battling away and were rewarded when Stephen Doone and Fiontan O’Boyle added points but when Aidan McErlain replied with his second and his side’s fourth goal with four minutes remaining it was well and truly over.

The excellent Henry added a consolation point for St. Joseph’s but Moneyglass finished strongly with points from power house Colm Duffin and substitute Shane Madden for a convincing win and they now remain the only team in all three divisions on full points after five rounds of games.

Moneyglass: 1 Danny McErlain, 2 Luke O’Donnell, 3 Peter McCormick, 4 Callum McStocker, 5 Jack McCoy McCormick 6 Fearghal Duffin, 7 Sean Kelly, 8 Colum Duffin, 9 Niall Boyd, 10 Seanchann Duffin, 11 Dermot McErlain, 12 Miran Neeson, 13 Conor O’Kane, 14 Aidan McErlain, 15 Connlaodh McCann

Glenavy: 1 Gareth Collins, 2 Conor Doherty, 3 Eoin Henry, 4 Oliver Rankin, 5 Patrick Fox, 6 Patrick Gallagher, 7 Matthew Lawlor, 8 Ciaran Loney, 9 Stephen Doone, 10 Fiontan O’Boyle, 11 Malachi Doherty, 12 Ryan Phillips, 13 Niall McCann, 14 Fergal Henry, 15 David Nelson

Referee: Richard Leahy (St. Comgall’s)

ACFL Division 2

Rasharkin  0-7(7)  St Teresas 2-8(14)

Photographs: Mark Hasson

St. Teresa’s recovered from a heavy defeat in Dunloy on Sunday to gain their second brace of points against a Rasharkin team who had run the Cuchullain’s close a couple of weeks ago.

It took 12 minutes for either side to register and It was visitors St. Mary’s who were first to register when Tiernan O’Boyle pointed them ahead after a dour and uneventful opening period as both sides struggled to deal with the blustery conditions.

This score seemed to spark the Glen Road side into life as they replied with points from John Mallon 0-2 and Conor O’Rawe to move two in front by the 20^th minute.

Ryan Lynch replied with a good point for the visitors but the momentum was with the Glen Road men and Anthony Varndell and Phillip Maguire fired over to move the home side three in front with four minutes remaining to the break.

Tiernan O’Boyle closed the gap to two with half time approaching but big full-forward got in for a vital goal for St. Teres’a just before the break with the impressive O’Boyle keeping the visitors hopes alive with a pointed free in first half injury time.

H.T. St. Teresa’s 1-5 Rasharkin 0-4

Rasharkin battled hard to get themselves back into the game but it was St. Teres’s who drew first blood when John Mallon pointed in the 6^th minute with the visitors replying with a good point from Ryan Lynch to keep the gap at four.

John Mallon was influencing matters on the ‘40’ for the West Belfast side and he struck with his second point of the half in the 10^th minute with the visitors struggling to hit the target in the worsening conditions.

It was a further 10 minutes before Shane Hasson split the posts to again give his side a glimmer of hope but once again St. Teresa’s were able to find a response and Mark Small got his name on their score sheet as he pointed with eight minutes remaining.

Ryan Lynch was doing all in his power to keep the Dreen men afloat and his point in the 22^nd minute again closed the gap to four but that was as close as they got with John Erskine putting the game out of reach with his second goal of the game to conclude the scoring.

A good win for St. Teresa’s which moves them onto four points and once again they have shown that if they can get their best team out they are hard to beat on their Glen Road ground.

They were solid at the back throughout with John Mallon impressing on the ‘40’ and big John Erskine in a rick vein of form at the edge of the square getting two goals to add to a great goal he scored in Dunloy on Sunday.

Rasharkin have been turning in descent performances lately without much reward but never reached those levels in this game and will need to get back to their best if they are to get anything from Sunday’s visit to unbeaten Davitt’s while St. Teresa’s face a similar hurdle as they travel out to Crumlin to meet St. James.

St. Teresa’s: 1 Odhran O’Neill, 2 Ryan Mallon, 3 Joseph Rainey, 4 James McGorrian, 5 Conor O‘Rawe, 6 Colm McGoldrick, 7 Liam Gault, 8 Anthony Varndell, 9 Luke Cassin, 10 Phillip Maguire, 11 John Mallon, 12 Paul McGoldrick, 13 Mark Small, 14 John Erskine, 15 Stephen O’Hara

Rasharkin: 1 – Tiernan O’Boyle 2 – Seamus Ellis 3 – Daniel Doherty 4 – Pearse Kelly 5 – Colm Kennedy 6 – Emmet McFerran 7 – Conor Hasson 8 – Ruairi OBoyle 9 – Thomas McMullan 10 – Shane Hasson 11 – Ryan Lynch 12 – Andrew Hasson 13 – Thomas Doherty 14 – Conor McKeever 15 – Conor McFerran

SUBS:

Eamon McNeill for Thomas Doherty 

Cahir Henderson for Andrew Hasson 

Jack Quinn for Conor McFerran  

ACFL Division 2

St. Ergnat’s Moneyglass 0-10 St. Mary’s Rasharkin 1-6

St. Ergnat’s Moneyglass made it four wins from four starts in the ACFL Division 2 but they were given a late scare by newly promoted St. Mary’s Rasharkin at Marian Hill on Sunday. The visitors led 0-5 to 0-3 after 23 minutes and were full value for their lead but late points from Conall Prenter, Colm Duffin and Dermot McErlain edged the home side into a 0-6 to 0-5 half time lead.

St. Ergnat’s pushed on in the second half with Colm Duffin the star performer as he fired over four points (2 frees) to leave his side looking comfortable with five minutes remaining but the Dreen side struck with a late goal from Emmet McFerran to ensure a nervous finish for the hosts.

Niall Boyd and Jack McCoy fired over early in the game to give the hosts a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after a cagey 11 minutes and it was 14 minutes before Ryan Lynch split the posts for the visitors to close the gap to one.

Tiernan O’Boyle came forward from his goalkeeping berth to level the scores before Shane Hasson pointed an 18^th minute free to give the visitors the lead for the first time.

Seanachann Duffin for Moneyglass and Conor McFerran for Rasharkin exchanged further points and when Thomas McMullan fired over with seven minutes remaining to the break, the Dreen side were two in front and edging the exchanges at this stage of the contest.

It was St. Ergnat’s who wrestled back the initiative in the period leading up to the break however with Prenter, Duffin from a free and McErlain adding unanswered points to leave them leading 0-6 to 0-5 at the break.

Could Rasharkin respond again? Was the question at the start of the second half but the answer was a resounding no as the hosts tightened up at the back and slowly they began to put further daylight between the sides.

Colm Duffin pointed St. Ergnat’s further ahead from a free in the 7^th minute and the big mid-fielder was to have a massive influence on the outcome as the game progressed. Duffin added another with 12 minutes of the second half gone as both sides pulled men behind the ball.

Rasharkin were now struggling to put meaningful attacks together but making life difficult for the Moneyglass attack but it was that man Duffin who breeched the defensive wall to fire over the first point of the half from play in the 47^th minute.

The same player added his fourth point of the half and his fifth in total to move his side five in front with five minutes remaining and it looked all over at this stage but Rasharkin refused to through in the towel and finished strongly.

It seemed irrelevant when keeper Tiernan O’Boyle fired over his second free of the game in the 59^th minute to open the visitors second half account but when Emmet McFerran finished to the net in their next attack the situation had taken a dramatic turn.

With both sets of managers looking anxiously at their watches and Rasharkin attempting to complete the come-back of all come-backs Eamon McAuley’s full time whistle came as something of a relief to the home side.

Moneyglass: will be happy with the result but will surely reflect on the fact that they nearly let it slip at the death but they now sit at the top of the table, the only side in the division with full points from 4 starts and look capable of maintaining that position as the season progresses.

Moneyglass: 1 Danny McErlain, 2 Lukie O’Donnell, 3 Peter McCormick, Callum McStocker, 5 Patrick McCormick, 6 Fearghal Duffin, 7 Jack McCoy, 8 Colum Duffin, 9 Niall Boyd, 10 Seanchann Duffin, 11 Dermot McErlain, 12 Miran Neeson, 13 Connor O’Kane, 14 Conaill Prenter, 15 Tyler Cassidy

Rasharkin: 1 Tiernan O’Boyle, 2 Conor Doherty, 3 Daniel Doherty, 4 Pearce Kelly, 5 Conor Hasson, 6 Emmet McFerran, 7 Colm Kennedy, 8 Thomas McMullan, 9 Ruairi O’Boyle, 10 Thomas Doherty, 11 Shane Hasson, 12 Conor McKeever, 13 Ryan Lynch, 14 Conor McFerran, 15 Andrew Hasson,

Referee: Eamon McAuley (Cargin)

ACFL Division 2

Dunloy 3-18 St. Teresa’s 2-1

Another sparking performance from team captain, Declan Smith powered Cuchullain’s Dunloy to an easy victory over a depleted St. Teresa’s in Dunloy today. The visitors had simply no answer to a fast, mobile Cuchullain’s attack led by the lively Smith who would finish the game with 2-10 to his credit and was simply unmarkable.

The Dunloy number 11 got the ball rolling with the opening five points of the game by the 12^th minute as the visitor’s defence chased shadows and their cause wasn’t helped when they lost Niall McCann to injury after 14 minutes.

Chrissie McMahon and Shane Dooey added to the Dunloy total before the excellent Smith made it 0-8 to 0-0 with 18 minutes gone. The visitors were doing all in their power to get going with Philly Maguire driving them on from mid-field but a John Mallon free tailed wide in the wind and another dropped into Conor McGilligan’s hands as they attempted to open their account.

Caolan Gillan, Declan Smith and Barry McCloskey added points at the other end to move the home side 0-10 ahead but they had to be thankful to keeper Conor McGilligan who dived to push away a John Erskine shot at goal after the big full-forward was put through by Maguire.

Caolan Gillan and Shane Dooey added the final two points of the half for the home side to leave them 0-12 to 0-0 ahead and even at this stage it looked like a damage limitation job for a St. Teresa’s side who were battling hard but with little success against a sharp and pacey Dunloy team who were scoring for fun.

The visitors were probably hoping that Declan Smith would take his foot off the gas in the second period but it was wishful thinking as the superb centre-half-forward picked up where he had left off, as he hit 1-2 in the opening five minutes to move his side out of sight.

Caolan Gillan added a point before Conor McGilligan brought off another good save to deny Eoghan O’Neill as St. Teresa’s fought hard to open their account. They continued to press however and in a good spell things finally went their way when Philip Maguire was brought down and referee Mark O’Neill pointed to the penalty spot.

Up stepped John Mallon to finally find a way past McGilligan as he fired to the net but it brought an immediate reply from the Cuchullain’s with Oisin McErlaine and Declan Smith adding points before substitute Anthony Doran got through for their second goal.

St. Teresa’s, to their credit never gave up and gained some reward when John Erskine hammered home their second goal from close range and Anthony Varndell added a point to bring their total to 2-1 but the final score of the game fell to that man Smith who lobbed keeper Sean Maguire for his second and his side’s third goal with time almost up.

Dunloy: 1 Conor McGilligan, 2 Anton McGrath, 3 Adrian Scullion, 4 Cathair McCloskey, 5 Oran Quinn, 6 Conor Kinsella, 7 James Scally, 8 Padraig McGilligan, 9 Eoin Gillan, 10 Karl Fitzpatrick, 11 Declan Smith, 12 Chrissie McMahon, 13 Barry McCloskey, 14 Caolan Gillan, 15 Shane Dooey. Subs: Tom McFerran, Oisin McErlaine, Ryan McFarlane, Eoin McFerran, Anthony Doran

St. Teresa’s: 1 Sean Maguire, 2 Ryan Mallon, 3 Joseph Rainey, 4 James Maggorian, 5 Conor O’Rawe, 6 Colm McGoldrick, 7 Eoghan O’Neill, 8 Phillip Maguire, 9 Luke Cassin, 10 John Mallon, 11 Niall McCann, 12 Paul McGoldrick, 13 Odhran O’Neill, 14 John Erskine, 15 Michael Roache, 22 Anthony Varndell, 20 Jarlath Patterson

Referee: Mark O’Neill (Armoy)