Category / Division 4

by thesaffrongael

Dominant display as Loch Mór beat spirited St’Paul’s

ACHL Division 4

St’Paul’s II  1-04 Loch Mór Dal gCais 1-14

With this being Loch Mór’s last game before the split it was inevitable there we’re going to be some nerves on a hot, dry night on the Shaw’s Road away to St’Paul’s. There wasn’t a breath in the air and St’Paul’s were certainly left breathless as the ball broke to Darragh Turley straight from the throw in and he confidently and comfortably slotted over for the first score of the game with barely 30 seconds on the clock. As an impressive a start to a game all season by Loch Mor and they maintained that intensity as they continually pressed St’Paul’s in possession and moved the ball quickly and with intent. That pressure was sustained and Loch Mór made the most of it with Mathew Jones, Cormac Dwyer and Darragh Turley pointing from play. It was midway through the first half when a great ball was played into the 21 and gathered neatly by Declan Phillips. Skilfully striking on the turn the sliotar flew past the keeper and rippled the back of the net to put Loch Mór comfortably in the driving seat. 

Whether it was complacency or a few of those nerves creeping in on Loch Mór’s part but St’Pauls, who weren’t without their danger men, slowly clawed their way back into the game. Some unforced errors and intercepted passes resulted in St’Paul’s racking up a few points from play and a goal form a free on the 20 gave them a major boost. Loch Mór responded and the lads went in at the break with 5 points to spare.

This has been a tough season so far and Loch Mór are not without their war wounds. It’s testament to how far this team and this club has progressed that they were able to call on their squad of dedicated players ready and willing to fill in for injured teammates. Reece McDonnell got his first start of the season and put in a solid performance in the full forward line. 

The lads regrouped at half time and started the second half at a blistering pace. Cormac Dwyer, who was in talismanic form, on Wednesday night was simply unstoppable. Turning the ball over on our 21 and bursting forward at breakneck speed, playing a lovely one-two in the middle of the field and casually splitting the posts was most definitely the score of the match. Loch Mór weren’t content with that though and several points were to follow. Three more from Darragh Turley, two from Cormac Dwyer and one from Mathew Jones, who was on top form again, rounded off a convincing win that all but nails Loch Mór to the top half of the table. A great game of hurling and an inspiring performance that wraps up this this half of the league. 

Loch Mor Scorers

Darragh Turley 0-8

Cormac Dwyer 0-4

Declan Phillips 1-0

Mathew Jones 0-2

by thesaffrongael

Lisburn stride towards the league play-offs

Antrim Football League Division 3

St Patrick’s Lisburn 0-15 St Agnes 0-9

Photos by Gerard Dixon

St Patrick’s Lisburn all but secured their place in the semi-final of the Division 3 League when they beat one of their nearest rivals St Agnes in Wednesday night’s league game at Kirkwoods Park. A penalty save from goalkeeper Peter O’Neill helped them to a 0-7 to 0-3 lead at half time and they pushed on in the second half to stretch their advantage and win by six.

Che Smyth, Sionan O’Sullivan and Aaron Thompson had St Patrick’s 0-3 to 0-0 ahead after six minutes. The Aggies had a great chance to get back on terms in the eighth minute but St Patrick’s goalkeeper Peter O’Neill made a great save and his team took advantage by pushing on to lead by 0-7 to 0-3 at the interval, Thompson and Dixon getting two apiece while the Aggies scores came from Conor Gilligan (2) and Ronan Carroll.

David McGaharan pulled a point back early in second half for St Agnes and on three occasions they had the gap back to just three points. However three in a row from Conor Dixon (2) and Ben McMullan helped give the home team a bit of breathing space and they held on for the win.

NAOMH PADRAIG

Peter O’Neill Jack McMullan, Kevin Gallagher, Conor Ewing, Josh McMullan, Colm Burns, Tiernan O’Malley, Ben McMullan, Paul Law, Denver Taggart, Che Smyth, Aaron Thompson, Conor Dixon

ST AGNES’

Colum Carroll, James Grieve, Ryan Reilly, Fintan McBride, Conal Turley, Cormac Flannery, Mark Caldwell, Shane Moran, James Halleron, Declan McLarnon, Brian Crossan, David McGaharan, Cormac McBride, Conor Gilligan, Ronan Carroll

by thesaffrongael

Greencastle Wolfe Tones Virtual presentation evening

With club presentation evenings falling victims of the Covid-19 pandemic this year the Saffron Gael is offering clubs the opportunity to do the next best thing by selecting their various award winners at each level and sending us their selection in the various categories and a photograph of the award winners and the initiative has received a positive response.

Today Antrim’s newest club, Wolfe Tones of Greencastle get the ball rolling and we offer our sincere thanks to their PRO, Fintan Quinn fror his work in putting this presentation together.

Re-Birth of Wolfe Tones celebrated

THE re-birth of Gaelic Games in the Greencastle area began in hope more than expectation just over 12 months ago when Serpentine Road man Aodhan Moloney gathered together a small squad to play Laochra Loch Lao in a challenge game. 

It was immediately apparent through the power of social media that there was a demand for a football team based in and around Greencastle town-land and the Lough-shore Parishes on the north Belfast/Newtownabbey border. 

Fast forward a year and the club is now a fully affiliated GAA unit that has had over forty men pull on the Wolfe Tone’s green and white hoops at various different stages. 

Despite much of the hard work being done at meetings, over the telephone and Zoom, on our social media channels and through filling in various documents the playing panel more than matched the dedication and endeavour of the volunteers tasked with making the dream a reality. 

Players from all six counties in the north of Ireland, Merseyside and Tipperary have turned out for the Tones and we have amongst our numbers complete novices through to an All Ireland Senior Club Football Championship winner. 

Although we shipped some heavy defeats along the way we did manage to secure six wins from 15 games over the course of the last 12 months. The Committee of Greencastle Wolfe Tones would like to thank each and every one of our members, management team, financial donors and shirt sponsors Jim and Sandra O’Toole, of Riverside Consulting, Worcester, England formerly of north Belfast.  

Our awards were won by the following people 

Player of the year – Kieran Moloney  

Whitewell man Kieran pipped club captain Paul Carlin to the award and is a deserving recipient of the POTY gong following a solid first season with the Wolfe Tones. Strong, athletic and brave Kieran is an asset to the team and found the back of the net a number of times this season including a vital goal which helped us to a league win over St Patrick’s Lisburn. Legend has it he is eligible for New York and may yet feature in the Connaught Football Championship. 

Young player of the year – Gerard McDonnell 

This was a close run contest between Lansdowne man Gerard and Paul McAdorey. The former had a solid juvenile career at St Enda’s Glengormley and we hope he will be turning out in green and white for many years to come. McDonnell scores consistently from play and set-pieces and big things will no doubt come from the nippy forward in 2021. 

Newcomer of the year – Paul McAdorey 

Paul McAdorey was in contention for both the POTY and YPOTY awards and is a deserving winner of the Newcomer of the Year title. Despite being completely new to Gaelic Games the Bawnmore man is a massive player for Wolfe Tones and will likely be a mainstay of the squad for 10/15 years should he stay on the scene. His highlight of the season was an incredible 2-4 from play when Greencastle secured their first ever competitive win with a comprehensive win over East Belfast. 

The next big thing – Conor McMullan 

Conor came to the club as a competent soccer player who was keen to get involved in the ‘family business’. Blessed with the core attributes to be a handy footballer Conor kicked on and has now made a spot for himself in defence his own. Sandsy is competitive and will no doubt be telling Kieran Moloney he’s the 2021 player of the year elect. 

Club-person of the year – Stephen McCourt 

Chairman Stephen McCourt is the clear and resounding winning of this award. It would be fair to say that Wolfe Tones would likely not exist never mind be on the cusp of entering children’s teams into blitzes next year and participating in the All County Junior Football Championship. McCourt lives and breathes Greencastle Wolfe Tones and is an invaluable asset to the club.