Junior Football Championship Semi-Final

Saturday 28^th September

Report by Niall Kelly 

Naomh Úna 1-13                 St Malachy’s 0-08   

St Agnes’ produced an accomplished and polished performance to canter into this year’s Junior Football showpiece with a comfortable eight points to spare at the expense of St Malachy’s. The hosts exerted a measure of control throughout proceedings and were good value for the win.  Their opponents, to their credit, manufactured chances of their own but lacked the same composure and guile in front of the uprights that the Casement Park side had in abundance. An exhibition of point-taking from Cormac McBride in the early stages of the first half and a James Campbell major in the opening minute of the second helped to successfully pave the path to victory. In doing so, the men in black and white have bridged a fourteen-year gap to cement their name in this year’s final.

It was the men from the Markets though who got the scoring underway as talisman Ciaran Vernon’s chipped pass opened the door for Stephen Carson to convert in the opening minute.  The Aggies bounced back immediately though with Cormac McBride in fine fettle. The Naomh Úna number 13 struck three beautiful scores in as many minutes to settle any nerves and establish his side a lead which they would refuse to relinquish for the remainder.

St Agnes’ high press on the opposing kickout was causing all sorts of headaches for St Malachy’s. This tactic paid dividends when Dan Turley intercepted and found his brother Conall who fired over from range to open his account for the afternoon on the 8^th minute.

The Cherryvale side were in danger of being overrun and in need of a score to keep the pace with their opponents. Carson was to be the man they looked to once more, as he finished off a patient and calculated move to narrow the gap back to two. 

Points were then exchanged between the sides as Ronan Carroll’s superb long-range effort was cancelled out by a perfectly executed free from Jack McGivern as the half approached its final ten.

Naomh Una sought to further extend the gap before the short whistle and appeared successful in doing so. That man McBride found his bearings once more before turning provider for corner back Patrick Carroll who had bombed forward to finish off another flowing Aggie’s attack. There was a verve and purpose to the hosts as they controlled possession of the size five. However, St Malachy’s were resilient and bided their time as they replied with two of their own in time added on. Cathal Jordan threaded David Casey through to split the posts before Jack McGivern, who was a constant headache for the hosts, converted another close range free to leave the score 0-07 to 0-05.

Despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession and looking the brighter of the two in the opening period, a two-point lead was still a slender one and perhaps not the reward St Agnes’ had hoped for. Martin Shortt’s charges immediately set about rectifying this as they started the second period with a bang.

The half was barely forty seconds old when James Campbell fired in the game’s only goal as the Aggies emerged from the changing room in scintillating style. A slick move involving Dan Turley and substitute Shay Madden had negotiated some space for Campbell who made no mistake with his finish as he blasted low to the net to trigger an almighty roar from the home faithful.

Campbell’s major had a galvanising effect on his side as they continued to attack with purpose. Ronan Carroll doubled his tally with a well-taken mark before the imperious Conall Turley angled his effort to perfection as the gap grew wider and wider.

Shellshocked, St Malachy’s were camped in their own half and desperately needed to find an avenue back into the game. Ciaran Vernon’s effort off the deck gave them hope as he cut the gap to six, but they were immediately greeted with a swarm of black jerseys baring down on them once more as Carroll converted from range.

Everyone in a black jersey looked to contribute to the attack. This was perfectly illustrated when the host’s netminder, Bob Carroll, demonstrated his wide range of distribution to find Briondan McLarnon who assisted Conall Turley to fire over another fine effort with Naomh Úna in cruise control.

Credit must be given to St Malachy’s though.  Despite the gap, they refused to surrender and put up a resistance as the game entered its climax. Anthony Dobbin fired over a monster effort from range before the domineering Stephen Carson added his third of proceedings after playing a lovely one, two with Vernon. However, this would be their final battle cry as scores from Shay Madden and another long-range beauty from Turley put the seal on a memorable win for the Pairc Naomh Una natives.

Early in the league campaign, few would’ve given either of these sides much of a hope of reaching the final four of the Championship. St Malachy’s can certainly look back with pride on their campaign as they claimed a few scalps on their way. Despite the loss, they can certainly keep their heads held high.

For St Agnes’ this has been fourteen years in the making as they book their place in the decider against St Comgalls. Spearheaded by both Turleys, Ronan Carroll and Cormac McBride, they will have every faith that they can go one better than they did back in 2010 against O’Donnells. There can be little doubt that Antrim will be a formidable force to topple and will enter as firm favourites. Winning every game earns you that right. However, Naomh Úna have frequently adorned the underdogs tag throughout the year and have always uncovered a way to spring a surprise. Perhaps in two weeks, it’ll be no different. One thing is for sure though. A cracking game is in store.

Teams:

St Agnes’:

C Carroll; K McCormick, R Reilly, P Carroll (0-01;) D Quigley, C Flannery, B McLarnon; D Turley, C Turley (0-04;) J Campbell (1-00,), R Caroll (0-03,) C Clarke; C McBride (0-04,)  D McGarahan, R Gilligan

Substitute scorer:

S Madden (0-01)

St Malachy’s:

T Rice; D Dobbin, E McIntosh, C Connolly; C Jordan, P Carlisle, P Hanna; A Dobbin (0-01,) C Vernon (0-01;) S Lynch, C Sanha, J McGivern (0-02;) P Millar, S Carson (0-03,) G McManus

Substitute scorer:

D Casey (0-01)

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Junior Football Championship semi-final – Pairc Naomh Úna

Throw-in 3pm

It would be fair to say that St Agnes’ have endured a tough few years in recent times. A formidable match for anyone on their day, but perhaps lacked the consistency required to make a sustained push for honours. However, their performances to date in the 2024 Junior Championship has saw them finish proudly atthe top a very tricky group involving a budding Laochra outfit as well as county finalists of the previous two years, O’Donnells, and 2022 winners, Pearses.

The man at the helm of this Aggies renaissance is Clogher native Martin Shortt. A passionate football man who by all accounts has helped instil a greater sense of belief and pride back into the Aggies side. The Saffron Gael’s Niall Kelly caught up with Martin at the conclusion of their four point victory over O’Donnells.

When asked about how he had masterminded their Championship fortunes to date, the Tyrone native pointed to blooding players in the league and using it as a platform to learn from and push on for July.

“The league is obviously your bread and butter first of all. Preseason started around Christmas or just shortly after. Looking at the lads then, they were enthusiastic and mad to get going. We just wanted to get a bit of pride put back into the jersey and be competitive really that’s the way we looked at it.”

“When the Championship draw was made, we never looked much at it. We wanted to fulfil the fixtures in the league and see where we could finish first.”

Shortt remarked on how the early part of the league wasn’t ideal but that his troops started to find their way as Championship season approached.

“The early part of the league was obviously disappointing but I think the second half though was really good. We started to build up a bit of momentum. We knew we could bring that into Championship at some stage.”

The Aggies’  bainisteoir was under no illusions however at how tricky a prospect the other teams in the group would pose. Shortt then detailed how they got through it and how their victory over Pearses in the curtain raiser provided his players with the impetus they needed.

“You look at the Laochras, the Pearses, the Cardinal O’Donnells of the world, as you say this group was never going to be easy, but we had absolutely nothing to lose. We looked after ourselves and were ready for the first game away to Pearses. We knew that would be a tricky and difficult test which is exactly what it was. But to come out of there with the win gave us that bit of confidence and belief which went on into the Laochra game.”

With safe passage through to the knockouts confirmed even before a ball was kicked against O’Donnells, it wouldn’t have been a total disaster had the Aggies failed to gain the verdict. However, the man from the O’Neill county insisted how important guaranteeing pole position and a day off for his men would be and was fully aware of how testing a task the Whiterock men would pose.

“We had a to take on O’Donnells on our home patch and to keep that momentum going and look for the three wins which is massive and would give us that bit of time to get bodies recovered and a few days rest and then have a semi-final to look forward to..”

“We knew O’Donnells would be very tricky, and we weren’t taking them lightly as at the end of the day they’ve been in county final after county final and probably should’ve won it last year against Rasharkin. They’re well-schooled, they’re well drilled and they’re a big strong, physical outfit but that’s exactly the type of game you want to keep it going. It’ll stand us in good measure for the knockouts”

Naomh Úna welcome St Malachy’s to their home patch tomorrow in what is a massive occasion for the club. Having the day off a few weeks ago will surely help rejuvenate the squad further and if they can build upon their momentum, they will be quietly confident of reaching their first final since 2010.

Never ‘short’ of something to say. Aggies manager Martin Shortt bubbling with enthusiasm as he chats with Saffron Gael reporter Niall Kelly after the quarter-final win O’Donnell’s

Junior Football Championship – Knock-Out

St Malachy’s held off a determined second half fightback by Laochra Loch Lao at Cherryvale on Saturday evening to seal their place in the semi-final of the Junior Football Championship. In a no quarter ask or given game both teams gave it their all in perfect weather conditions. St Malachy’s appeared to be cruising when they opened a five point gap midway through the second half, but Laochra Loch Lao fought their way back in the final quarter to close to within three points, but despite creating several good scoring chances that was as close as they would get and the Mal’s excellent free taker Criostoir Devlin sealed the win with an injury time point.

Devlin had struck three of the first four points of the game, two of them from 45s, to put his team 0-03 to 0-01 ahead midway through the opening half, but Oisin Crawford and Kevin Devine brought Laochra Loch Lao back into contention, but Ciaran Vernon struck a telling blow for the Mal’s when he drove a low shot to the Laochra net following a goalmouth scramble.

1-05 to 0-4 ahead at the break Laochra Loch Lao closed the gap to three with an Oisin Crawford point two minutes after the restart, but points from Shea Lynch and Stephen Carson strengthened St Malachy’s position midway through the half. Laochra’s Kevin Devine and St Malachy’s Ciaran Vernon exchanged points to keep the gap at five, but St Malachy’s scoring dried up and despite losing a player to a black card Laochra Loch Lao started to close the gap.

Left half back Dubaltach Mac Crabhagain sent over a very good point for Laochra and on 52 minutes they grabbed another to leave just three between the sides. The kept up the pressure but missed a few good chances to close further, including two twenty metre frees, and St Malachy’s Ciara Devlin finished the contest when he sent over another free in injury time to secure a semi-final spot.

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JFC quarter-final

Pearses1-13 Eire Og 2-9

Stephen Fitzsimmons finished with a personal contribution of 0-7 to inspire Pearses to a one point victory over Eire Og in this Junior Football Championship encounter at Fennell Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Derriaghy side looked to have matters sewn up when they led by three with three minutes of normal time remaining when they lost Gavin Donnelly to a Black card.

It was the Antrim Road side who took advantage however with Fitzsimmons converting two late frees and another from play and his last point, four minutes into time added on would prove the winner.

It was Eire Og who made the early running with points from Caomhan Daykin and Conal Smyth with Aidan Bannon replying for Pearses before Kevin Clarke moved Eire Og 0-3 to 0-1 ahead by the 10^th minute.

Fitzsimmons responded with his first of the evening but Eire Og were enjoying the better of the exchanges in a typically competitive Junior Football clash with little quarter asked or given.

By half time the Doire Achaidh side had moved 0-6 to 0-4 ahead with Peter James Toal 0-2 and Conor McKenna on target and Fionn Grew and Stephen Fitzsimmons replying for the Antrim Road men.

Fitzsimmons and Grew had Na Piarsaigh back on terms inside four minutes of the second half resuming as Eire Og lost Ryan Clarke to a Black card and the men in Green took advantage as Aidan Bannon pointed them ahead for the first time.

Two more from Stephen Fitzsimmons moved Pearses three ahead by the 12^th minute and they seemed to be taking control but Eire Og came storming back with a goal from the returning Kevin Clarke to draw level at the end of the third quarter.

Clarke’s goal seemed to lift the team in White and red as they added points through Mark Graham and Ronan Donnelly to move two in front with 8 minutes remaining but they were rocked back on their heels when Phil Murray replied with a Pearses goal.

Still the Doire Achaidh side looked to have pulled it out of the fire when substitute Dermot Burns replied with a point before a flowing movement from deep in their own half saw Daykin finish to the net

Daykin’s goal moved Eire Og three in front with three minutes remaining and they looked on their way to the semi-final but Pearses staged a late rally, inspired by Fitzsimmons, to wrestle victory from the jaws of defeat.

Pearses: 1 Eamon McKenna, 2 Darren O’Neill, 3 Cormac O’Neill, 24 Marcus Kelly, 5 Phillip Gillespie, 6 Aidan Bannon, 7 Aidan McCavana, 8 Thomas McFarlane, 9 Peter Johnston, 10 Nathan Gorman, 11 Stephen Fitzsimmons, 22 Piaras Donaghy, 13 Phil Murray, 14 Fionn Grew, 15 Sean Moreland, 16 Ryan Nugent.

Eire Og: 1 Mark Hamill, 2 Ryan Clarke, 3 Jarlath Devlin, 4 James McClory, 5 Ronan Donnelly, 6 Mark Graham, 7 Conor Erskine, 8 Peter James Toal, 9 Conal Smyth, 10 Stephen Erskine, 11 Kevin Clarke, 12 Gavin Donnelly, 13 Conor McKenna, 14 Caomhan Daykin, 15 Daniel Campbell, 17 Adam McKenna, 18 Christopher Carberry, 19 Dermot Burns, 21 Eanna McNulty,   

Referee: Cathal McDermott (Tir na nOg)

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JFC Group 2

Naomh Comhghall 3-24 Wolfe Tones 0-1

Championship favourites, Naomh Comhghall cruised into the semi-final of the Junior Football Championship with a facile victory over Wolfe Tones at Dunsilly on Friday evening.

The Division 3 league winners were superior in every department against a Wolfe Tones side, who to their credit fought to the end but were never able to match the fluency of their Antrim Town hosts.

The game was led from the start by St Comgall’s who scored a point in the first few minutes however Wolfe Tone never gave in throughout the match and the end score does not recognise the efforts made by both teams. Ryan Clarke top scored for the league champions with a personal contribution of 2-5 while Joe Webb weighed in with six points and James McCabe and Tom Patchett contribute 0-4 apiece.
Naomh Comhghall scorers :
Louis Higgins 0-2
Ryan Clarke. 2-5
Joseph Webb 0-6
Josh Henry 0-1
Aaron McGaw 1-0
James McCabe 0-4
Patrick O’Connor 0-2
Tom Patchett 0-4

Naomh Comhghall now carry the unwanted favourites tag to do the double and on Friday night’s performance it will take a good side to beat them though sides like St. Agnes, Pearses, St. Malachy’s, Laochra Loch Lao and Eire Og might have something to say about that.

Naomh Comhghall: 1 Anthony Watson, 2 Shane Og Gribbon, 3 Eoin Lynott, 4 Caolan McKeown, 5 Danaan O’Hara, 6 Michael McCabe, 7 Jack Moore, 8 Josh Henry, 9 Louis Higgins, 10 Joe Webb, 11 Patrick O’Connor, 12 Aaron McGaw, 13 Ryan Clarke, 14 James McCabe, 15 Colm Griffin, 18 Tom Patchett, 18 Liam Phinn,

Wolfe Tones: 1 Danny McIvor, 2 Dylan McAlorum, 3 Phil Walsh, 4 Caolan McKeown, 5 Declan Moloney, 6 Kieran Moloney, 7 Jamie Carberry, 8 Aaron McAlister, 9 Martin Connor, 10 Gerard McDonnell, 11 Declan Madden, 12 Jack Parke, 13 Aodhan Moloney, 14 Joe McKeating, 15 Ciaran Higgins, 19 Declan O’Neill

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