South West Development U23 Football Shield final

Aghagallon 1-12 Moneyglass 2-4

The final game in the South West Antrim’s development competition, the U23 football shield saw St. Mary’s Aghagallon and St. Ergnat’s Moneyglass meet in the final at Dunsilly on Sunday with the Lough Shore side running out winners in an entertaining game despite the heavy underfoot conditions.

Aghagallon made the brighter start and raced into a two point lead after 10 minutes with Tyler Cassidy replying with a point for St. Ergnat’s to get them on their way. Jonathan Hannon then converted two frees to move St. Mary’s further ahead before Jamie McLaughlin replied with a point for the Marian Hill side.

At this stage Aghagallon began to take control as they moved 0-5 to 0-2 and things would get better for the men in green when Kieran Hamill raced through the opposition defence to finish to the net.

Moneyglass responded and came back with a goal of their own through full-forward Tyler Cassidy but at half time it was St. Mary’s who were in the stronger position as they led 1-6 to 1-2.

Moneyglass needed a good start to 2nd half but unfortunately for them that didn’t happen and Aghagallon continued on the front foot as they extended their lead to six with a couple of early scores.

Moneyglass replied with a couple of their own and with their confidence growing they had an opportunity to put the bare minimum between sides butunfortunately the ball slipped agonisingly wide of the post.

A missed opportunity and Aghagallon stepped it up again scoring the next 3 to push their lead out to 7 and with St. Ergnat’s now down to 14 men it seemed like the game was over. To their credit they kept battling to the end and were rewarded with a goal from Aidan McErlain.

 This was to be the game’s last score with Aghagallon running out 1-12 to 2-4 winners to collect the first South Wes U23 Shield. The win came at a cost however with an injury to one of their star performers, Jamie Lamont and we wish this fine young player a speedy recovery.

The competition itself has been a success for the South West and while not every club took part, those who did will have benefited from it.

For the record Tir na nOg defeated All Saints in the U23 Cup final and Sunday’s win for Aghagallon brings the competition to a close for 2023.

Aghagallon: 1 Gabhan Baine, 23 Steven Brannigan, 3 Kieran Hamill, 4 James McCormick, 5 Padraig Gowdy, 6 Stephen Devlin, 7 Liam Russell, 8 Jamie Lamont, 9 Pauric Maginnis, 10 Enda McCartan, 11 Jonathan Hannon, 12 Ruairi McShane, 13 Callum Mulholland, 14 Joseph Lavelle, 15 Michael McStravick.

Moneyglass: 1 Rory Gribbon, 2 Matthew Mullen, 3 Nate Dixon, 4 James McCormick, 5 Frank Duffin, 6 Paul Duffin, 7 Jamie McLaughlin, 8 Kevin McCann, 9 Connlaodh McCann, 10 Connor O’Kane, 11 Aidan McErlain, 12 Ben Hamill, 13 Charlie McCloskey, 14 Tyler Cassidy, 15 Ronan Campbell, 17 Seanchan Duffin, 18 Zach Hamill, 19 Diarmuid Scullion, 20 Enda Duffin

Referee: Martin Quinn (St. Enda’s)

South West Primary Schools

Allianz Cumann namBunscoil indoor 5-a-side football

Holders St Mary’s have retained their Allianz Ireland South West Antrim Cumann na bunscoil indoor 5 a side crown. After a day of packed full of action, fun and skill the Portglenone lads emerged as the victors for the second year in a row. 

As usual a large number of local school’s took part in the event and the quality of football on show was of a very high standard throughout the day.  

In Group A Creggan emerged as group winners having defeated the eventual winners along the way, joining those schools in the cup competition were St Brigid’s Ballymena, who recorded an impressive three wins in the group stage. This left Millquarter, St Paul’s Ahoghill and Mary Queen of Peace Glenravel in the shield competition. 

Group B was a tight affair with goals scored being counted and a play-off required. St Joseph’s Crumlin topped the group with Mount St Michael’s Randalstown and St Patrick’s Rasharkin qualifying for the cup competition. St Oliver Plunkett’s Toome, St Colmcille’s Ballymena and St Comgall’s Antrim were the remaining teams to enter the shield. 

The play-offs saw not only the standard of football remain brilliantly high but also the intensity increase. Battling through to the final were St Mary’s Portglenone and St Joseph’s Crumlin, with St Colmcille’s and St Comgall’s making the shield final. 

The shield final was a keenly contested match with both sides showing great grit and determination, St Comgall’s Antrim emerged victorious. 

The cup final saw Portglenone overcome a St Joseph’s side who kept fighting back and took the match right up to the final whistle. 

Congratulations not only to the winners of silverware but to every participating school who contributed to a memorable day’s football. 

South West U23 Development League final

Tir na nOg 3-7 All Saints 0-8

A strong second half saw Tir na nOg defeat All Saints in the inaugural Under 23 South West Winter Development Cup Final at Dunsilly on Sunday afternoon.

In a competitive fixture, Tir na nOg ran out 7-point winners though the final scoreline doesn’t reflect the balance of play.  Tir na nOg, backboned by 9 of their senior Championship side were considered slight favourites coming into the game despite All Saints winning the earlier group stage fixture at Whitehill.  Nevertheless, a competitive game was expected and it didn’t disappoint.

All Saints started off brightly and played some good football in the 1^st half taking an early lead with a good point from Ciaran Campbell before Tir Na Og responded with a free from the reliable Aaron McNeilly. 

The Ballymena side dominated the early exchanges and went into a 0.3 to 0.1 lead with points from play by Shaun O’ Callaghan and Ronan McKillop.  Tir na nOg struggled to get their game going and relied on frees from McNeilly (0.2) to keep in touch but Cal O Brien then scored an excellent point to leave All Saints leading 0.4 to 0.3 mid-way through the opening half. 

In the 2^nd quarter, All Saints registered 3 more scores, with a McKillop free followed by 2 from play by O Callaghan before the Randalstown side responded in the 28^th minute with their 1^st from play through Ciaran O’Neill to leave  All Saints lead at break, 0.7 to 0.3 and at this stage they looked the better side.

Playing with the breeze in 2^nd half, Tir na nOg began to dominate the All Saints kick out and registered the first 3 scores with good points coming from play by Joe McCormack followed by frees from Aaron McNeilly and Conor Hastings to level the game at 0.7 apiece. 

The game was nip and tuck throughout the  half though All Saints were struggling to register on the scoreboard with momentum shifting in favour of the Whitehill men.  In the 18^th minute, with the sides still level, All Saints lost possession in the opposition half and a long ball found Eamon Og McAllister and showing great pace, he raced forward and finished an excellent goal to the corner of the net. 

This opened up a 3-point gap and gave Tir Na Og the lead for 1^st time.  Despite quite a stop start 2^nd half, All Saints continued to probe and closed the gap to two in the 20^th minute with a well taken free by McKillop again, which proved to be their final score of the game. 

The Slemish Park side then lost McKillop to a black card for the final 10 minutes of normal time.  As the game approached the end of normal time and Tir Na Og leading by 2 points, Conor Hastings took advantage of a mistake in the All Saints defence and calmly slotted the ball to the net to open up a 5 point gap. 

As the game approached the end of 5 minutes of injury time, things got a bit heated and All Saints lost 2 men to straight red cards and conceded a another late goal, finished to the net by Emmet Murray.

This proved to be the last action of the game, Tir na nOg winning on a final scoreline of 3-7 to 0-8.  A deserved victory based on their 2^nd half performance and they just had a little bit more senior experience on show which told in the end. 

A competitive and at times feisty encounter but both clubs will be happy with their U23 campaigns as a developmental competition.

Teams and Scorers:

Tir Na Og: Sean Og McAtamney, Ryan Crilly, Brandon McLarnon, Peter Cullen, Paul McCloskey, Ciaran O Neill (0.1), Ethan Higgins, Cormac Devlin, Oliver McAtamney, Aaron McNeilly (0.4 4F), Eamon Og McAllister (1.0), Joe McCormack (0.1), Emmett Murray (1.0), Conor Hastings (1.1), Sean McKeown

All Saints

Ryan Stewart, Ryan Thom, Conall Killough, Michael Read, Matthew Downey, Patrick Ferris, Ronan Laverty, Cal O Brien (0.1), Cormac Lemon, Shaun O Callaghan (0.3), Darach Bradley, Jake White, Ciaran Campbell (0.1), Ronan McKillop (0.3 2F), Charlie Metrustry

Subs used: Brendan McDonnell, Oliver O Rawe, Conlin Neill, Kevin Brady

Referee: John Moran (Aldergrove)