March 14, 2024March 14, 2024 by thesaffrongael

Long trip to Ennis can bring its rewards but it will be difficult

Allianz NFL Division 3

Clare v Antrim Saturday 16^th March

Cusack Park 3-30.

Antrim travel to Cusack Park in Ennis this Saturday (16^th March) to face a Clare team riding high in division 3. A point for Andy McEntee’s Saffrons would guarantee them division 3 safety for another year but this looks a difficult fixture for the Antrim men.

A season that started with great promise and a win over Limerick in Rathgael was followed by a win over Offaly at Corrigan Park and a push for a promotion place looked to be heading in the right direction.

The Saffrons suffered their first defeat against a strong Down side at Corrigan in round 3 though for three quarters of the contest Antrim were well in contention but were hit by a late scoring burst by a Down side who have been installed as favourites to win the league

**Declan McLarnon who has established himself in the Antrim mid-field this season and JohnMorgan who made a solid debut at right-back against Westmeath at Corrigan Park**

The wheels came off the wagon in round 4 when Antrim travelled to Markievicz Park to face a Sligo team who had won promotion from division 4 the previous season. Antrim, inspired by Paddy McBride, led the Yates County at half time but capitulated in the second half.

Westmeath have matched Down all the way in the race for the division 3 title and had handed out a chastening defeat to Antrim in Mullingar the previous year and were installed as firm favourites when they travelled to Belfast in Round 4.

Antrim produced a much improved performance and were right in contention until late in the game. Four points separated the sides in the end but on another day Antrim might have had three goals.

Full-back, Eunan Walsh had his shot cleared off the line early in the contest and Dominic McEnhill rattled the crossbar late in the contest after being sent clear by Marc Jordan.

So in a season of ‘might have been’ Antrim make the long trip to Ennis on Saturday hoping to get back on track but looking over their shoulder at the chasing pack and in search of the point that would ensure division 3 football for next season.

**Declan Lynch and Paddy McBride bring a wealth of experience to the Antrim side**

Clare maintain promotion ambitions themselves with their only defeat in this year’s campaign coming at the hands of Westmeath back on the 4^th February with only a point separating the sides in Mullingar on that occasion.

Unbeaten Down and Westmeath meet in Mullingar this weekend while Clare travel to Newry for the final fixture of their league campaign so a win in Ennis over Antrim would keep their promotion hopes very much alive going into the final game of the season.

Once again Antrim are likely to be without a number of their more experienced players through injury with Paddy McAleer the latest to be added to that list and the All Saints man is unlikely to feature on Saturday after making a successful return to the side this season.

Antrim are likely to feature along similar lines from the Westmeath game and Andy McEntee has been forced to give debuts to a number of youngsters this season as a result of that injury list and can feel pleased about their progress.

Declan Lynch has returned to the side for the last two games and adds a bit of experience while Dermot McAleese, Marc Jordan, Paddy McBride and Ruairi McCann (Creggan) bring a wealth of experience to the side.

Ballymena’s Kavan Keenan has thrived in the man-marker role while Eunan Walsh has performed well in a full-back role that was previously foreign to the Aghagallon man and St. Brigid’s John Morgan made a solid debut against Westmeath last day out.

Colm McLarnon of St. Paul’s and Conor Hand of St. John’s formed a new mid-field partnership while Cargin’s Pat Shivers made his first start in attack where Ronan Boyle made an impressive switch from defence to attack.

**Marc Jordan who’s driving runs can trouble Clare**

What of Clare ?

Clare are a solid outfit and were unfortunate to suffer their only loss to Westmeath in Mullingar with Westmeath manager Dessie Dolan agreeing that his side were fortunate to overcome the Banner.

Dermot Coughlan particularly impressive at wing forward and he fired over a hat-trick of quality points. Ciaran Downes also scored three points, including a ’45’ in the seventh minute. Arguably the best point of the half was a wonderful long-range shot from goalkeeper Stephen Ryan in the 19th minute and Clare deservedly led by 0-10 to 1-1 at the interval.

Couglan received a second yellow late in the game but Brian McNamara sent over a great equaliser and Mark Fitzgerald’s side had a goal ruled out before Roan O’Toole kicked a late winner for the Lake County.

So Antrim will go into Saturday’s game in Ennis as rank outsiders but certainly not without hope and if they can put their best game together for the full 70 plus minutes then a win is certainly not beyond them.

It’ll be an early start on Saturday morning for Antrim and their supporters but if they can get something from the game then it will all have been all worth and will make the long journey home less daunting.

National Football League Division 3 2024

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Down	5	5	0	0	108	62	46	10
2	Westmeath	5	5	0	0	71	53	18	10
3	Clare	5	4	0	1	78	59	19	8
4	Sligo	5	3	0	2	73	72	1	6
5	Antrim	5	2	0	3	65	77	-12	4
6	Offaly	5	1	0	4	85	75	10	2
7	Limerick	5	0	0	5	57	93	-36	0
8	Wicklow	5	0	0	5	55	101	-46	0

How they stand: A point on Sunday would gurantee Antrim division 3 football next season

March 14, 2024March 14, 2024 by thesaffrongael

St Benedict’s power ther way to Shield victory

GAELFAST YEAR 8 FOOTBALL SHIELD FINAL

St Benedicts Randalstown v St Patrick’s Lisburn

St Benedicts College Randalstown were in unstoppable form as they raced to victory over St Patricks Lisburn in the Year 8 Shield final at Dunsilly.

The goals flew in from all angles as last year’s runners up showed off their wide range of skills with Caden Mulvenna, Corey Carroll and Ricky Mensah Afram all grabbing goals.

Midfield Ciara Remond was another to catch the eye of the Randalstown school Harry Robinson also showed his skills.

Nadia Gosz and Max Megarry gave their all for St Patrick’s, but the Lisburn college were battling against the odds deserve great credit for keeping going to the end

March 11, 2024March 11, 2024 by thesaffrongael

Lámhs secure a point with second half fightback in Randalstown

ACFL Division One

Tir Na nOg 1-13-0-16 Lámh Dhearg

Report and pics by Kevin Herron

Lámh Dhearg fought back from seven points behind at the break to secure an unlikely point from their opening ACFL Division One clash with Tir Na nOg at Randalstown on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the sides matching each other stride for stride in the opening quarter, Tir Na nOg led 1-10-0-06 at the break with Darragh Fagan netting his sides opening half strike following a slip from Lámhs keeper John Finucane in the build-up.

Conor Murray carried the majority of his sides fight throughout with 10-points over the course of the hour and he was helped by substitute Mark Finnegan- who provided four-points from the bench as the Hannahstown side battled back into contention in a much improved second period.

The hosts won the toss and opted to play against the elements in the opening half and kicked the first score through Oliver McAtamney.

Ciaran Boyd replied for the Lámhs- who kicked a further two scores in the aftermath. Declan Smyth was alert to the resulting kick-out and cut the ball out and found the run of Conor Murray to put his side infront.

Murray doubled his sides advantage from a free and as the Hannahstown outfit had settled into things nicely.

Tir Na nOg would restore parity shortly after. McAtamney kicked a magnificent point to double his account and a converted Aaron McNeilly point then tied things up.

Free-takers Murray and McNeilly traded further efforts from the placed ball before the midway point in the opening half.

Aaron McNeilly dropped over a fantastic angled score to edge his side ahead for the second time and it was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish until the second period.

Points from Eamon McAllister and Darragh Fagan (free) extended Tir Na nOg’s advantage and they found the games only goal ten minutes before the break.

Joshua Higgins sent a fine pass forward with the outside of the boot to allow Eamon McAllister to chase. Lámh’s keeper John Finucane came out to try and cut the loose ball out and slipped, McAllister got there first and lofted the ball goalwards with Darragh Fagan on hand to poke into the empty net and make it 1-07-0-04.

Conor Murray replied with a close-range free to bring his tally to three from the placed ball and four overall, but the hosts tagged on three further points without reply.

Paul McCloksey swept over in response, goal scorer Fagan popped over and Aaron McNeilly added his second from play.

A further free from Murray before the break narrowed the deficit- though the Hannahstown outfit were 1-10-0-06 behind at had work to do at the interval.

The sides traded early second half scores with the inside of the large post helping Conor Murray add to his tally from play and Darragh Fagan seeing his effort curl over in the wind at the other end.

Tir na nOg were reduced to 14-men for a ten-minute period as Alex O”Donnell was black-carded by referee Ray Matthews a few minutes after replacing Ryan Crilly.

Back-to-back conversions from Conor Murray saw Lámh Dhearg make some in-roads and the introduction of substitute Mark Finnegan saw further progress.

Finnegan dropped an angled effort over and then landed two superb quick fire the efforts, both minimally squeezing inside of the posts from opposite sides of the field that made it a two-point game with a quarter of an hour remaining (1-11-0-12).

He then turned provider for Conor Murray slinging another shot inside of the posts and by the 51st minute the visitors fightback was complete with Murray adding reaching double figures from his seventh free of the afternoon.

Momentum was very much with the Hannahstown side and Finnegan edged his side in front for the third time with another impressive point from play.

Having led for 37 minutes, Tir na nOg needed a response and they had the answers. Aaron McNeilly levelled with an outstanding angled free- despite the angle being very much against him.

McNeilly then had the chance to nudge his side back in front from another set-piece, this time from a more straight forward position and he obliged with little more than a minute of normal time remaining.

In a frantic end to proceedings Lámh Dhearg would ensure they would leave Randalstown with a share of the spoils as captain Terry McCrudden steered a shot between the posts.

Tir na nOg would see out time with 14-men again with Darragh Fagan receiving his marching orders for bringing down Adam Murray, though that would be the last incident of note as the sides took a point a peice at the conclusion.

Tir na nOg: SP McAtamney, B McLarnon, C McGrellis, R Crilly, P McCloskey (0-01), B McCormick, A McNeilly (0-06, 0-04f), O McAtamney (0-02), J Higgins, E Murray, E McAllister (0-01), J McCormick, A Tolan, D Fagan (1-03, 0-01f), C Devlin. Subs: A O’Donnell for R Crilly (35), D Martin for A Tolan (48), K Sherrin for B McCormick (56).

Lámh Dhearg: J Finucane, N McGarry, M McGarry, B Rice, E McKeown, P Mervyn, D Martin, M McElgunn, C Boyd (0-01), D Smyth, C Murray (0-10, 0-07f), R Diamond, T McCrudden (0-01), J Quinn, A Murray. Subs: M Finnegan (0-04) for R Diamond (37), S McManus for C Boyd (45), D Murray for J Quinn (54), C Lappin for A Murray (60+4).

Referee: Ray Matthews (Rossa)

March 11, 2024March 11, 2024 by thesaffrongael

St. Enda’s off to the perfect start

ACFL Division 1

St. Mary’s Aghagallon 0-8 St. Enda’s 2-7

St. Enda’s got off to a perfect start when Sean McBride finished to the net following a goalmouth scramble after two minutes and the visitors would push on to collect the opening day points in a fixture that is usually tight.

Enda Mallon replied with a point for the home side in the 4^th minute but Fionn Nagle was beginning to impose his influence on proceedings on the edge of the Aghagallon square and he fired over points in the 5^th and 10^th minutes to put the Glengormley men in control.

**Pauric Maginnis, Aghagallon gets his shot away**

Sean Murray added a couple more to leave the visitors 1-4 to 0-1 ahead and when James McAuley came forward to grab a second goal in the 21^st minute Naomh Eanna were in complete control.

Jonathan Hannon was busting a gut to get St. Mary’s going and he pointed from play and followed with another from a free but the final point of the half fell to the excellent Nagle to send the visitors 2-5 to 0-3 ahead at the short whistle.

Half time 0-3 to 2-5

Jonathan Hannon continued to provide Aghagallon’s greatest threat and he struck a great point from out on the left in the 7^th minute and followed with another from a free to close the gap to six.

The wing half forward blotted his copy book however when he received a Black card and with him went the home side’s greatest threat as St. Enda’s re-established their dominance with a couple of pointed frees.

**James McAuley fires to the net for St. Enda’s second goal despite the efforts of Luke Mulholland, Aghagallon**

The last three scores of the game fell the way of the home side with the last falling to keeper, Luke Mulholland but they only served to put a better look on the final scoreline.

By this stage the damage had been done with James McAuley running the show from centre-half and Fionn Nagle proving a real handful in attack in a St. Enda’s side who could trouble a lot of sides this season.

Aghagallon: 1 Luke Mulholland, 2 Conlan MacAlonan, 3 Aidan Mulholland, 4 Kieran Hamill, 5 Paudie Gowdy, 6 Pat Brannigan, 7 Ciaran Maginnis, 32 Pauric Maginnis, 9 Enda Mallon, 10 Stephen Devlin, 11 Francis Bustard, 12 Jonathan Hannon, 13 Hugh Hannon, 14 Niall McShane, 15 Ruairi McShane, 32 Pauric Maginnis

St. Endas: 1 Senan Nagle, 2 Diarmuid McNulty, 3 Ciaran McKeown, 5 Ronan O’Neill, 6 James McAuley, 7 Conan Lyttle, 8 Cormac Morgan, 9 Sean McBride, 11 Stephen O’Connor, 12 Ronan Kalla, 13 Michael Kennedy, 14 Fionn Nagle, 15 Eoghan O’Hare, 28 Sean Murray, 18 Lorcan Murray, 19 Leo O’Loingsigh, 20 Ciaran McCabe, 22 Killian Jennings

March 11, 2024March 11, 2024 by thesaffrongael

St. Gall’s comeback strongly to claim opening day win

O’Neill’s Sportswear Antrim Football League Division One

O’Donovan Rossa 1-7 St Gall’s 1-12

St. Galls came strong in the second half to claim victory on the opening day of the Antrim ACFL Division 1 at Shaw’s Road on Sunday.

The visitors trailed by two at the break, but with the elements in their favour in the second half, they came back strongly to quickly turn the game in their favour.

A stiff breeze, which favoured Rossa in the opening half and some light rain made underfoot conditions difficult with players continuously losing their footing.

Both sides looked a bit rusty as this season’s league kicked into action

And it took a bit of time to settle into action and the first 10 minutes saw both sides looking to get off the mark but handling mistakes in possession saw neither troubling the scoreboard.

That changed after 10 minutes when Thomas Morgan sped in from the right to fist over and give the hosts the lead, while Sean Fleming used the wind advantage to thump over a free from deep.

Callum Walsh cut through to get the visitors on the board after 13 minutes and although St Gall’s threatened, the posts continued to prove an elusive target.

Rossa would hit the visitors on the break with Fleming sending a superb ball through to Morgan to score and he would add another to bring his personal tally to three as the home side enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges.

Aodhán Gallagher finally got the visitors off the mark with a point in the 12^th minute judging the wind to perfection to curl over off his left boot and then stormed through for another.

Adam Devlin would have the final say of the half with a great point to put Rossa into a 0-5 to 0-3 lead at the interval but with the breeze to face in the second half.

Micky Pollock reduced the gap to one on the restart from a free and added another from play to level the contest. The same player added another as St. Gall’s began to take charge after Marcus Donnelly had scored to ensure a two-point advantage for the Milltown side.

A pointed free at the other end on 45 minutes was Rossa’s first of the second half, but St Gall’s came storming back with a goal as Michael Hopkins broke clear and played into substitute Conn Doherty who applied a precise finish.

Niall Fallon was then penalised as he appeared to claim a mark and he finished to the net but play was rightly brought back and he had to settle for a point.

Further scores from Gallagher, Barra McCaffrey and Fallon pushed the gap out to eight and it was game over.

Rossa responded late in the game with Patrick Moyes firing brilliantly to the corner of the net with Morgan kicking his fourth point soon after, but it was Aodhán Gallagher who capped a fine individual performance with his own fourth to seal a deserved a win for St Gall’s.

Rossa: N Crossan; M McKiernan, J Morris, C Orchin; P Moyes (1-0), A Devlin (0-1), R Grant; S Fleming (0-2f), D Rogan; M McEnhill, T Morgan (0-4), C O’Neill; C McDonald, R Maguire, R Currie

Subs: D Cunningham for R Currie (43), B McAuley for A Devlin (47), L Carr for C Orchin (54)

St. Gall’s: C Kerr; M Donnelly, G Mac Adhaimh, E McCurdy; C Murray, R Irvine, C McCabe; A Gallagher (0-4), J McCullough; D Quinn, C Walsh, M Hopkins; N Fallon (0-2, 1m), M Pollock (0-3, 2f), F Donnelly (0-1).

Subs: C Doherty (1-0) for C Walsh (HT), E McCabe for M Hopkins (41), B McCaffrey (0-1) for D Quinn (51), O McIlhatton for N Fallon (60+1).

Referee: Paddy Tumelty (Lámh Dhearg)