Antrim Football League Division 3

Rasharkin 0-13 Ardoyne 1-11

A highly anticipated Division 3 top of the table clash took place at Dreen on Wednesday evening as league leaders Rasharkin hosted second-placed Ardoyne. In a game defined by shifting momentum and dramatic late twists, it was the North Belfast men who ultimately travelled home happy. Despite Rasharkin seemingly doing enough to secure the win after a late second-half surge, poor shooting let the home team down at crucial moments. Ultimately, an outstanding man of the match performance from Ardoyne’s Odhran McKee proved to be the difference. His brilliant score-taking swung the game back in Ardoyne’s favour, culminating in a spectacular two-pointer against the breeze with practically the last kick of the game.

The match began with Rasharkin striking first, as Cormac McMullan opened the scoring with a point from close range. Ardoyne quickly responded when Odhran McKee landed a two-pointer from the sideline, followed shortly by another strong kick from McKee that sailed over the bar into the pavilion end. By the fourteenth minute, McKee found the target again with another two-pointer from outside the D. Rasharkin’s Cormac McMullan answered with a two-pointer of his own, but Ardoyne immediately countered. A high ball driven into the square was fumbled by the Rasharkin goalkeeper, allowing Caolan Hardy to bundle the ball over the line for a crucial goal. Ardoyne continued to press, with McKee making a massive play around the 45-meter line to score with his left foot, before adding another two-pointer from a free kick on twenty-six minutes with his right. Rasharkin managed to pull one back just before the break when Colm Kennedy fisted over a point from the left wing, leaving Ardoyne with a 1-06 to 0-05 lead at half time.

With the breeze at their backs for the second half, Rasharkin created numerous scoring opportunities but were again plagued by inaccuracy. The home side repeatedly opted for long-range two-pointers rather than working the ball closer to the target area, resulting in several wides in the opening ten minutes. However, the home side eventually found their rhythm. Substitute Brian Og O’Neill spun and scored a good point to spark a revival, and James Higgins broke through on the right to fire over and level the game. O’Neill then swung over a great point to put Rasharkin in front, and they could have extended their lead, but a misplaced pass squandered a great scoring chance.

As the game entered its final stages, the tension mounted. Odhran McKee missed a chance to level from a free, but Ardoyne kept the pressure on. Caolan Hardy made a surging run toward goal, only for a Rasharkin defender to get a vital hand in, forcing a 45. McKee expertly curled the 45 over the bar into the wind to cut the deficit to a single point. Rasharkin responded well, executing a nicely worked play that allowed Tiernan O’Boyle to point on twenty-two minutes, and Eamonn McNeill added another from thirty meters out to build their momentum. McKee kept Ardoyne in touch with another converted free to bring the gap back to one. Rasharkin had a chance to seal the game when Oran McMullan broke through on goal, but he was penalized for overcarrying. This set the stage for a dramatic climax. With time expiring, Odhran McKee stepped up to deliver a fantastic two-pointer from a free near the 45 metre line, snatching the victory for Ardoyne and securing the two valuable league points. Rasharkin did have one last chance to salvage the game but a lobbed ball in on the goalmouth was brilliantly flicked away to Ardoyne net minder Oisin Copeland.

The dramatic win brings Ardoyne to within a single point of Rasharkin in the race for the Division 3 league title. The battle for promotion intensifies this coming Sunday, as the league leaders travel to Belfast to face fourth-placed Eire Og, while Ardoyne will look to capitalize on their momentum with a home fixture against Cloughmills at the Cricky.

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ACFL Division 3

Ardoyne 3-15 Eire Og 3-13

Report & Pics: Brian McKee

A master-class from talisman Cormac Mullan ensured Ciceam Ard Eoin narrowly secured the league points at Fennell Park, weathering a ferocious second-half comeback from a resilient Éire Óg side in a thrilling encounter.

Ardoyne were dominant in the first half and found their rhythm from the throw-in.

Early driving runs from McKernan consistently sliced open the Éire Óg rearguard.

The breakthrough arrived courtesy of both the elements and individual skill. Mullan unleashed a high, searching ’45’ that caught the strong wind, bypassing visiting goalkeeper King to drop directly into the back of the net.

Éire Óg responded with their own touch of good fortune, as a speculative bouncing ball eluded the Ardoyne defence, allowing Dixon to pounce and fire past Hughes.

Ardoyne quickly reasserted dominance, with Cahal Keown blasting home a magnificent second goal. Finnen Wall O’Brien produced possibly his best display in an Ardoyne jersey in a standout performance, culminating in curling over an exquisite point from distance. Further scores from Hardy and Lagan left Éire Óg reeling at the break.

Half-Time: Ciceam Ard Eoin 2-09  Éire Óg 1-03

Éire Óg emerged transformed after the interval and the fightback began immediately from the throw in. McIlroy ignited the resurgence with a pointed free. Dixon then galvanized his team, scoring an inspirational two-pointer before Donnelly expertly turned provider to set up Smyth for a clinical goal.

Ardoyne found themselves firmly under pressure. Despite Mullan steadying the ship with two pointed frees, Éire Óg kept coming, with McKenna clipping over two successive points. The momentum swung towards Eire Óg when Dixon collected his second goal of the afternoon.

A grandstand finish was enjoyed by the spectators. Hardy looked to have sealed it for Ardoyne with a crucial goal against the run of play, but Éire Óg refused to yield. Two spectacular consecutive two-pointers suddenly reduced the deficit to a solitary point. With the game on a knife-edge, Ardoyne turned to Mullan. The forward showed nerves of steel to slot over the final point of the match from play, sealing a breathless two-point victory.

Ciceam Ard Eoin: 1. Tiernan Hughes, 2. Cormac Curran, 3. Micheál McGreevy, 4. Conor Magee, 5. Joe Gibson, 6. Pearse Marley, 7. Finnen Wall O’Brien (0-02), 8. Daniel Keenan, 9. Oisin Maskey, 10. Odhran McKee, 11. Gary McKernan, 12. Cormac Mullan (1-09, 4f), 13. Fiontan Lagan (0-01), 14. Cahal Keown (1-0), 15. Kealan Hardy (1-03), 16. Oisin Copeland, Emmet Corry,  Eoghan Craig, Brendan Hmilton, Eoin Fennell, Aidan McConnell, Odhran Mullan, Daniel Moore, James Og McAuley, Ethan Magill, Ciaran Lopes, Padraig McGreevy, Cormac Barnes, Aodhán Quigg, Diarmuid Martin

Eire Og: 1. Jamie King, 2. Ryan Clarke, 3. Brian O’Malley, 4. Matt Hanna, 5. Luca Mulholland, 6. Stephen Erskine, 7. Malachy McIvor, 8. Barry McDaid, 9. Patrick Maxwell, 10. Adam McKenna, 11. Conor McKenna (0-02), 12. Ronan McKeown, 13. Conall Smyth (1-01),  14. Eoin Dixon (1-05,4f), 15. Gavin Donnelly, Ciarán Rice, Stephen McDonagh, Conor Dixon(1-04,4f), Karl McKenna, Lorcan McIlroy(0-01,1f), Mark Graham,

Referee: Sean Toal

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Report and Photographs: Brian McKee

ACFL Division 3

Ardoyne 1-10 O’Donnell’s 2-13

On a glorious sunny evening, the men from the Whiterock travelled across to North Belfast and brought home two well-deserved points.

The opening 15 minutes of the game did not augur well for O’Donnells. Ardoyne’s Oisin Maskey caught a ball on the edge of the O’Donnells square, passed it to Cahal Keown, who rifled it into the back of the O’D’s net. Cormac Mullan followed up with a lovely score off a free for his first of 9 points on the evening. O’D’s lacked cohesion and were running up against a strong Ardoyne defence.

The tide turned in the middle of the opening half and O’D’s eventually found their rhythm and the home side struggled to keep a fast moving O’D’s attack at bay. Fionnbar McKernan opened the scoring for the visitors with a pointed free. This was followed by seven different players getting their names on the scoreboard for the Whiterock side, including a Rory Beggan impersonation for goalkeeper, Conor Murphy, as he sent over the first of two 60s for scores.

Ardoyne struggled to respond with their only further point in the first half coming from a beautiful two pointer from Cormac Mullan.

Half-Time: Ardoyne 1-03 Cardinal O’Donnells 1-08

As in the opening half, Ardoyne opened the second half scoring with a point from Oisin Maskey. While the scoring was more evenly matched in the second half, O’Ds were very much in control of the pace of the game. Cormac Mullan produced a great display of free taking but Ardoyne were increasingly frustrated at the inability to thwart the O’Donnell’s game plan and claw back their lead.

The visitors kept their composure and slowed the game down, but with 10 minutes remaining, they raced through the Ardoyne defence. Hughes produced a save taken from his top drawer, only to see Paul Moore put the ball in the back of the net from the rebound. At this stage of the game, Ardoyne were finding it difficult to break out of their own half and the O’Ds left with the spoils. O’Donnerll’s will be particularly happy with 9 different players getting scores, while Ardoyne will be frustrated at not being able to adapt to the visitor’s game plan.

Ciceam Ard Eoin: 1. Tiernan Hughes 2. Cormac Curran 3. Micheál McGreevy 4. Conor Magee 5. Joe Gibson, 6. Pearse Marley 7. James Og McAuley 8. Gary McKernan 9. Oisin Maskey (0-01) 10. Odhran McKee 11. Daniel Moore 12. Cormac Mullan(0-09, 3f) 13. Oisin Copeland 14. Cahal Keown (1-0) 15. Eoghan Craig, Padraig McGreevy, Odhran Mullan, Aidan McConnell, Eoin Fennell, Fiontain Lagan, Ciarán Lopes, Ruairi Teague, Caolan Hardy

CLG Uí Dhonaill: 1. Conor Murphy (0-02) 2. Sean Lavery(0-01) 3. Sean Smylie 4. Jonathan McKenna (0-02) 5. Kevin Kennedy 7. Scott Thompson 8. John Rafferty 9. Paddy Matthews (0-01)10. Joseph Wilson (0-01) 12. Paul Moore (2-01) 13. Ciaran McKissock(0-01) 15. Fionnbar McKernan0-03, 3f) 34. Cailean Walsh (0-01) 35. Fergal McNerney 36. Connor Walsh

Referee: Eamonn Hamill

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ACFL Division 3

St. Brigid’s Cloughmills 0-5 St. Marys Rasharkin 3-13

St Brigid’s Cloughmills welcomed St Mary’s Rasharkin to Fr Leonard Park on Wednesday evening for the first time for a Senior Football League game with the Dreen men taking the two points and following up on their win against league leaders Eire Og last time out.

The away side started fast with Fearghal Kennedy pointing after winning the break ball from the throw in and missed a couple of opportunities before two quick goals from Colm Kennedy and Andrew Hasson put them in control.

Points from Killian O’Boyle and Caolan McGarrell kept up the great start for Rasharkin before Aidan McNeill pointed a free and then a 2-point free for the home side.

The away team wasted several good opportunities against some fine defensive effort by Cloughmills before Andrew Hasson pointed from play to leave the score 2-05 to 0-03 at half time.

The second half started with a Killian O’Boyle point followed by an Oran McMullan goal to keep the pressure on for Rasharkin before Eoin Dobbin fired over the bar in reply.

Points from Conor Higgins, Andrew Hasson (Free) and Cormac McMullan put the Dreen men further in front and they really should have had more but some great shot stopping kept them at bay.

Points from substitute James Higgins, Cormac McMullan, Ruairi O’Boyle and an excellent 2-pointer from Killian O’Boyle rounded up the scoring for St Mary’s with Reece Watt replying for the Biddies to end the game 3-14 to 0-5 in favour of the visitors.

 A strong performance from Rasharkin but they will know there is plenty to improve on and St Brigid’s have a lot to build on for the rest of the league.

Featured Image: Andrew Hasson who top scored for St. Mary’s in their win over Eire Og

ACFL Division 3

Rasharkin 0-17 Eire Og 1-7

Unbeaten Eire Og travelled to Rasharkin on Wednesday night to take on a Rasharkin team who have had an indifferent start to the season but who came ‘good’ on the night to defeat their visitors fairly convincingly in the end.

The early exchanges showed us just why the Derriaghy side had played themselves into this lofty position and a flowing move in the 6^th minute saw Conall Smith fire an unstoppable shot to Ryan Doherty’s net to move them two ahead.

Andrew Hasson had opened the scoring for the Dreen side with a pointed free and the Rasharkin number 14 would have an increasing influence as the game progressed with his accuracy from the placed ball.

It was Eire Og who continued to enjoy the better of the wind assisted opening quarter as Conor Dixon punched over and Lorcan McIlroy converted a free to move them four ahead by the 12^th minute.

Andrew Hasson’s second conversion of the evening closed the gap to three but the visitors were winning a lot of breaking ball from the kick-outs but were guilty of a series of bad wides as they tried to add to their early lead.

They were made to pay for their wastefulness as Andrew Hasson struck an excellent point at the other end from play and Thomas Hasson followed with another to leave just one between the sides approaching half time.

The visitors replied as Conor Dixon fisted over with Andrew Hasson kicking the final point of the half from a free and a one point lead for the Derriaghy side looked precarious as the sides headed for the dressing rooms, given the strength of the breeze.

And so it proved to be as Andrew Hasson struck from distance to raise an Orange flag on the restart and Eamonn McNeill followed with a point from play to move St. Mary’s two ahead.

Lorcan McIlroy replied with a point for Eire Og, who were still enjoying plenty of possession but were finding it hard to turn that possession into scores with Fergus Quigg superb at full-back for the hosts.

A 2 pointer from Eamon McNeill moved the home side further ahead and the visitor’s troubles grew when Eoin Dixon was shown Black and Rasharkin began to take control.

A Tiernan O’Boyle point moved the home side four ahead after 17 minutes but Eire Og did respond and a point from Conor McKenna, and two from Conor Dixon by the 23d minute reduced the gap to the minimum and we looked set for a grandstand finish.

It failed to materialise with Thomas Hasson replying at the other end as Eoin Dixon returned from the sin bin and Andrew Hasson, Substitute, Brian Og O’Neill and a great 2 pointer from Eamonn McNeill put it out of reach of the opposition.

Team captain, Cormac McMullan concluded the scoring with a late point for the Dreen side who were worthy winners in the end and this win should give them confidence for the campaign ahead.

Andrew Hasson gave an exhibition of point taking and would finish with 0-7 for the evening but this was an excellent team performance and team mangers, Cathal McMullan and Paddy Kelly will be happy with what they saw on the evening.

Eire Og showed in spells just why they had started the season so well and some of their approach play and movement was top drawer but too often their shooting let them down.

I would expect them to return from this setback and they look like a side who could be challenging for honours come season’s end.

St. Mary’s Rasharkin: 1 Ryan Doherty, 3 Fergus Quigg, 4 Pearce Kelly, 5 Connor Higgins, 6 Pearse McTeague, 7 Colm Kennedy, 8 Tiernan O’Boyle, 9 Ruairi O’Boyle, 22 Thomas Hasson, 11, Cormac McMullan, 13 Eamonn McNeill, 14 Andrew Hasson, 15 Killian O’Boyle, 16 Oran McMullan

Eire Og: 1 Jamie King, 2 Barry McDaid, 3 Brian O’Malley, 4 Kayvan Vesali, 5 Luca Mulholland, 6 Stephen Erskine, 7 Mark O’Hanlon, 8 Patrick Maxwell, 9 Eoin Dixon, 10 Gavin Donnelly, 11 Conor McKenna, 12 Ciaran Rice, 13 Conall Smith, 20 Conor Dixon, 15 Lorcan McIlroy

Referee: Gerard Dougan (Creggan)

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