Category / Football

by thesaffrongael

Late rally secures points for the Con Magees

Antrim Football League – Division 1

Glenravel 1-13  Moneyglass 2-08

Glenravel left it very late to level and eventually go ahead of their opponents in a game that was in some ways dominated by a strong breeze blowing to the scoreboard end of Fr Maginn Park on Wednesday evening. Glenravel played into that breeze in the first half and were five points adrift at half time thanks to two majors from the visitors. They started to dominate in midfield second half but their opponents refused to buckle and it wasn’t until the fifty eighth minute that the home side levelled and then pulled ahead to win by two points.

Moneyglass put a marker down early when full forward Colm Duffin raised the orange flag and that was followed up by an Aiden McErlaine point so with ten minutes gone the visitors were three to the good having made good use of the breeze whilst the home team  were guilty of opportunistic shooting falling short of the target into a strong wind. Aiden O’Donnell opened for Glenravel from a free and that was followed by a brace from Harry Fyfe, one of which was a wonder score into the breeze from distance. Aiden O’Donnell then punished a breach and Glenravel were ahead by the minimum but with twenty minutes on the clock, ref Mark O’Neill awarded the visitors a penalty which Dermot McErlaine dispatched to the net to restore Moneyglass’s lead. Aiden O’Donnell pointed again from a free but in a two minute period towards the end of the half Moneyglass opened a six point gap as Aiden McErlane goaled and that was quickly followed by a 2-pointer from Seanchan Duffin. Aiden O’Donnell reduced the gap to five points from a fee as Mark O’Neill brought proceedings to a close with Moneyglass on top on a 2-05 to 0-06 scoreline.

Colm Duffin stretched the lead to six from a free  on the restart but Glenravel would reduce that to two points as their dominance started to force transgressions and none better than Aiden O’Donnell to exploit that with two pointed frees sandwiched between a 2-point free from the recently introduced Ryan McQuillan. Colm Duffin popped over two further points with Glenravel’s only reply being a Harry Fyfe point. There had been several long injury stoppages for both sides in that second half but despite a lot of possession the home side still trailed by three points with as many minutes of ordinary time left.

Try as they might Glenravel struggled to close that gap but from a turnover and good move upfield the home side were finally rewarded when Niall Hynds pounced to punch to the net and level the game. That raised a massive cheer from the home supporters and it got even louder when Callum Higgins gave them the lead one minute later. Glenravel were showing a lot of composure at this stage keeping possession and when they finally burst through the Moneyglass defence they earned a penalty which Rian Lennon put over to extend the lead to two points. Several more anxious minutes followed for the home supporters before the final whistle blew on a game that either team will look back on thinking they could have lost or could have won – fine margins separated them in the end but the men in green and white will be the happier side tomorrow morning.

Glenravel

  1. Conleth O’Loan
  2. Conor Carey
  3. Conor McQuillan (Subbed for #19 at 49′)
  4. Niall Dickson
  5. Callum Higgins (Scored 0-0-1)
  6. Niall Swann
  7. Rian Lennon (Scored 0-0-1)
  8. Cahal Hynds
  9. Sean Higgins
  10. Daniel McQuillan (Subbed for #20 at 58′)
  11. Aiden O’Donnell (Scored 0-0-6)
  12. Eamon Ward
  13. Fergus Donaghy (Subbed for #18 at 56′)
  14. Harry Fyfe (Scored 0-0-3)
  15. Daire Higgins (Subbed for #28 at 48′)
  16. (Not listed on graphic)

Moneyglass

  1. Jamie McLaughlin (Séamus Mac Lochlainn)
  2. Bobby Kennedy (Roibeard Ó Cinnéide)
  3. Paul Duffin (Pól Ó Duifinn)
  4. James McCormick (Séamus Mac Cormaic)
  5. Eunan Mc Erlain (Eunan Mac Fhirléighinn)
  6. Conleth McCann (Connlaodh Mac Cana)
  7. Francis Duffin (Proinsias Ó Duifinn)
  8. Seanchan Duffin (Seanchan Ó Duifinn)
  9. Dermott Mc Erlain (Diarmaid Mac Fhirléighinn)
  10. Callum Murray (Colm Ó Muirí)
  11. Aidan Mc Erlain (Aodán Mac Fhirléighinn)
  12. Connor O Kane (Connor Ó Catháin)
  13. Caolan Boyd (Caolán Búiteach)
  14. Colum Duffin (Colm Ó Duifinn)
  15. Sean Boyd (Sean Búiteach)
by thesaffrongael

St Galls Maintain Winning Record

Senion Football League

Division One

St Galls 0-16 Dunloy 3-5

Wednesday 22 April 

Brendan McTaggart reports from de la Salle Park, Milltown

St Galls continued their 100% record in the league with a two point win over Dunloy.  The home side controlled the contest for the majority of the game yet the Cuchullains carried a goal threat throughout and could have left the Milltown Row with a share of the points but for a brilliant save from Chris Kerr towards the end of the hour.

The result was owed much to the accuracy of Daniel Quinn, he would finish top scorer with all but one of his six points coming from open play while Barra McCaffrey had a huge impact on the game after his introduction in the first half.  The speed and agility of Gerard O’Neill and Niall Fallon while the aerial presence of Manus McCrossan was a major factor with St Galls dominating possession for long periods.

Dunloy were slow in starting yet a brace of first half goals from Charlie Cunning allowed them to sit back and stay organised, forcing St Galls to try and play through them.  The Cuchullains would have been the happier of the sides going in at the half time break, trailing by the minimum but had a substantial breeze at their back for the restart.  St Galls played superbly in the second period however, starving Dunloy of possession and opened up a five point lead before Emmett McKendry’s late major.

The home side were on the front foot from the first whistle and were three points up inside the opening five minutes.  Niall Fallon opening the scoring before Gerard O’Neill split the uprights from outside the 40 yard arc.  Quinn’s first point of the match came in the eighth minute but it probably should have been better for St Galls when Aodhan Gallagher found himself through on goal.  He pulled his shot wide with Dunloy ‘keeper McMahon coming out to close down his angle.

Tom McFerran scored his first of two points in the half to open the scoring for the Cuchullains as they began to find some rhythm in the game.  They scored their first goal in the 12th minute with Nigel Elliott collecting a pass having spun behind his marker.  Going through on goal, he passed to Cunning and he made no mistake to beat the rushing Chris Kerr.

Dunloy’s second major came moments later and while it came in fortuitous circumstances, the finish was excellent.  Elliott’s effort for a point came back off the upright and Cunning was first to react and again, found the back of the net to give Dunloy a three point lead midway through the half.

St Galls would waken from their slumber however and began to dictate the half.  Mixing their point of attack with a series of long ball and speed, outscoring Dunloy six points to two in the second quarter.  Padraig Murray, Quinn (two), Mackel, Barra McCaffrey and Gallagher with the scores while McFerran and Eoghan McGrath with the response from the visitors to leave the half time score 0-10 to 2-3 in St Galls favour.

In a cagey opening to the second half, McCaffrey and McGrath (free) exchanged points before Jack Martin brought the sides level after 11 minutes of the second half.  The St Galls defence began to get the upperhand and force a number of turnovers that were actuated with scores at the other end of the pitch form Quinn (two) and McCaffrey to hold a three point lead going into the final five minutes.

Dunloy were searching for room in the St Galls defence and almost had their third major of the contest when Emmett McKendry managed to find a yard of space.  His effort was brilliantly saved by the St Galls netminder however when it looked for the world he would manage to find the back of the net.

St Galls made the most of the reprieve, Quinn (free) and Ethan Walsh opening a five point deficit but Dunloy continued to press and probe.  Substitute McGilligan got on the end of a long ball before breaking it into the path of McKendry.  The Dunloy forward made no mistake second time around but it came too late with St Galls seeing out the remaining time.

Both teams are out in action again next Wednesday with St Pauls making the journey to the Milltown Row while Dunloy will welcome Cargin to Pearse Park on the same evening.

TEAMS

ST GALLS: Chris Kerr; Eoghan McCurdy, Aidan McDonagh, Gaireach MacAdhaimh; John McCaffrey, Damien Ball, Gerard O’Neill; Manus McCrossan, Aodhan Gallagher; Martin Murray, Daniel Quinn, Aaron Mackel; Niall Fallon, Padraig Murray, Ethan Walsh

Subs: Barra McCaffrey for P Murray (24); Liam Lynn for J McCaffrey (HT); Conall Murray for M McCrossan (43); Niall Burns for M Murray (52); Callum Walsh for A Mackel (55)

Scorers: D Quinn 0-6 (1f); B McCaffrey 0-3; G O’Neill 0-2 (1tp); A Gallagher 0-1; A Mackel 0-1; N Fallon 0-1; P Murray 0-1; E Walsh 0-1

DUNLOY: Chrissy McMahon; Callum Scullion, Sean Og Blaney, Cathair McCloskey; Conor Kinsella, Aaron Crawford, Jack Martin; Ciaran McQuillan, Ryan McGarry; Charlie Cunning, Tom McFerran, Stephen McAlone; Eoghan McGrath, Nigel Elliott, Emmett McKendry

Subs: Padraig McGilligan for C Cunning (49); Caolan McFerran for S McAlone (60)

Scorers: C Cunning 2-00; E McKendry 1-00; T McFerran 0-2; E McGrath 0-2 (1f); J Martin 0-1

Referee: Colin Thompson (St John’s)

by thesaffrongael

Eleven Antrim players on Danske Bank Ulster Schools All Star team

Danske Bank Ulster schools’ All-star hurling team

Seán óg McLaren, St Mary’s Belfast

Conor McCann, St Killian’s Garron Tower

Conor Lappin, St Patrick’s Keady

Emmett óg Mac Íomaire, Gaelcholáiste Dhoire

Dan Donnelly, St Columba’s, Stranorlar

Odhrán Doherty, St Patrick’s Maghera

Nicholas McLaughlin, St Killian’s Garron Tower

Logan McConville, Cross & Passion Ballycastle

Caolán Wilson, St Mary’s Belfast

Rian Collins, St Patrick’s Maghera

Oisín McCallin, Cross & Passion Ballycastle

Jay McAlonan, St Louis Ballymena

Cadhan Crawford, Cross & Passion Ballycastle

Fiontán Bradley, St Louis Ballymena

Oisín Gillan, St Killian’s Garron Tower

NO fewer than 11 Antrim players are included in the 38th Danske Bank Ulster schools’ All-star hurling team announced yesterday (MONDAY) afternoon at the Dub in conjunction with sponsors Danske Bank.

Only one player however is collecting his second successive award. Fiontán Bradley from St Louis Ballymena plays his club hurling with Ruairí Óg Cushendall with whom he won an Ulster minor club title last year. Fiontán went on to win his second Ulster club under 20 title with Antrim earlier in the spring.

He is joined in attack by his St Louis Ballymena school colleague Jay McAlonan, two Cushendall team-mates, Conor McCann and Nicholas McLaughlin, and several Antrim under 20 players.

For the 4th year in succession a member of the McLaughlin family will collect an award. Nicholas will follow his older siblings Joseph (2023 and 2024) and Thomas (2024 and 2025) into the list of winners, all of them students in St Killian’s Garron Tower. Two years ago, Joseph and Thomas made history as the first siblings to be included in the same All-star team

Rian Collins also adds to a remarkable family achievement. Earlier this year he equalled the exploits of his father Michael by captaining St Patrick’s Maghera to the Mageean Cup and winning Player of the Match in the final. Michael was a three-times All-star winner (1990-2) and Rian now adds a fourth All-star to the family trophy cabinet.

Maghera of course went on to win the All-Ireland Paddy Buggy Cup, the third year in succession it has come to Ulster. Therefore in the past two years Rian Collins and fellow All-star Odhrán Doherty along with six other Maghera dual players have won MacRory, Hogan, Mageean and Paddy Buggy Cup medals while Rian was also a member of the Derry minor team that won the All-Ireland football title in 2024.

Doherty plays his club hurling with Sleacht Néill but won an Antrim minor football championship with Portglenone in 2025 and therefore is numbered among the 11 Saffron All-stars.

As well as Collins, Conor McCann and Oisín McCallin are second generation All-stars. Conor’s father, Kevin, picked up an All-star in the second year of the scheme 1989 after helping St Louis Ballymena win their first ever Mageean Cup. Meanwhile Oisin’s father Paul Close was an All-star recipient in 1997 while a student in La Salle before going on to collect Antrim and Ulster championship titles with Rossa.

McCallin is one of three All-stars from Cross and Passion Ballycastle all of whom won Mageean and Paddy Buggy Cup medals last season. The others are Logan McConville and Cadhan Crawford.

Winning a first ever hurling award for his school is Dan Donnelly who led Sean Mac Cumhaill’s when they became the first Donegal club to feature in an Ulster minor club final last December. He was also a leading player for the St Columba’s Stranorlar team that reached the Danske Bank Casement Shield final in the same month.

St Columba’s only other All-stars came in 2018 when Patrick Dolan and current Donegal star Oisín Gallan won football awards.

Gaelcholáiste Dhoire collect their fifth successive All-star with Emmett óg Mac Íomaire following double awards for the Ó Mianáin brothers (Ruairí and Cathal). Emmett óg’s father (Emmett McKeever) was on the Derry team that won back to back Ulster senior hurling titles at the turn of the Millennium as well as captaining Dungiven to an Ulster club football title a few years earlier.

The players selected will collect their All-star awards at a Gala Dinner in the Crowne Plaza Hotel Belfast this Friday evening (24th April).

Oonagh Murtagh, Head of South Business Centre at Danske Bank, announced the teams commenting:

“At Danske Bank, we’ve been passionate about helping our society thrive since our beginnings 200 years ago. One way we do that is through our youth sports sponsorships with Ulster Schools GAA, Ulster Schools’ Cup Rugby and the Northern Ireland Football Association.

“The Ulster Schools All Stars is a fantastic, long-standing initiative that recognises outstanding sportsmanship across Gaelic football and hurling each year – and something we’re really proud to be a part of. This year’s GAA competitions have show-cased the very best of our young players. It’s a real testament to how our young footballers and hurlers have been nurtured and developed throughout their school sporting career.

“The commitment and dedication to even be nominated for an All Star is immense, and we’d like to congratulate all of the players selected to participate in the trials as well as the remarkable 30 individuals who made the two All Star teams this year.”

by thesaffrongael

Creggan secure the points in Staffordstown

ACHL Division 2

Kickham’s Creggan 0-17 Ballycastle 2nd’s 0-13

Report: JoeRice

 The Loughshore lads welcomed MacUilin’s on a bright Sunday afternoon.  Many of the home side supporters would have seldom seen black & amber jerseys lined out on their field.  Nevertheless, Ballycastle’s Second Team were here looking for their first win of the League Competition. 

First to score was Conall McGee pointing from play in the 2nd minute and from the initial stages Ballycastle dominated by winning most of the turnovers, but they failed to convert these into scores.

Slowly the home side steadied themselves and their first score came from Morgan Nelson on the 7th minute, adding a further 2 converted frees on the 8th and the 11th minute.  The visitors responded with 3 on target frees, one from James Blackwell and 2 from Feargal McKiernan on the 12th, 14th and 16th minute respectively.  With 16 minutes on the clock, MacUilin’s were in front. 

Creggan drew level with a fine point from play from Sean Duffin, but this was cancelled out as Gavin McToal edged the visitors’ ahead on the 23rd minute.  It was level again on the 26th minute when Rory McCann scored his 1st of 4 points of the contest before  Cormac Dallas put the visitors 2 in front with 2 superb frees from distance.   

The sides were level once again as Morgan Nelson and Teddy McKeown added to the home side’s tally.  The final 2 scores from the 1st half were from Rory McCann, Creggan, and one from Feargal McKiernan, MacUilin’s, to leave it all square at half time on 8 points apiece. Referee, Chris Brown, got proceedings underway in the 2nd half in a good natured encounter where he had little use for his notebook.  Creggan started the 2nd half better while MacUilin’s struggled for scores being guilty of several wides. 

Creggan’s marksman, Morgan Nelson, converted 3 frees and when his teammate, Sean Duffin, added a point from play it gave the home side a 4 point cushion.  It was 11 minutes into the 2nd half before Feargal McKiernan got MacUilin’s 1st point, however, at this stage they were struggling to close the gap. 

The home side’s confidence grew when Morgan Nelson and Rory McCann added 2 further points to lead by 4 with 15 minutes remaining on the clock.  Ballycastle’s Feargal McKiernan got his 4th point of the game to leave just one score between them, but Creggan surged ahead with Mick Maguire, Rory McCann & Keelan McCann securing 3 unanswered points without reply. 

As we headed towards the last 5 minutes plus extra time, Ballycastle threw everything at the Lough shore lads looking for the goals that never came, but they did add 3 further points from Callum Campbell, Luke Connolly and James Bakewell to narrow the gap, however, they had just run out of time. 

The last score of the game was from Morgan Nelson’s ‘65’ to give the home side a 4 point cushion and their 1st win of the campaign.

Creggan: No.1 Conor McCann, No.2 Paedar McGuckian, No.3 Dillan Hamfey, No.4 Sennan O’Boyle, No.5 Aidan McIlwee, No.6 Keelan McCann(0.01), No.7 Aidan McKeown(0.01), No.8 Sam Maguire, No.9 Daniel Dornan, No.10 Lee Johnston, No.11 Mick Maguire, No.12 Sean Duffin (0.02), No.13 Ronan McGuckian, No.14 Morgan Nelson (0.07), No.15 Sean McAuley(0.01), No.21 Thomas McCann, No.30 Rory McCann(0.04).

Ballycastle: No.1 Anthony Mullan, No.2 Conor Mooney, No.3 James Bakewell(0.04),No.4 Oisin McAuley, No.5 Oisin Donnelly, No.6 Cormac Donnelly, No.7 Jack McGowan, No.8 Conal Magee, No.9 Luke Connolly(0.01), No.10 Tadhg Donnelly, No.11 Callum Campbell(0.01), No.12 Feargal McKiernan(0.03), No.13 Cormac Dallas(0.02), No.14 Dermot Donnelly, No.15 Gavin McToal(0.01), No.17 Eoin Boylan, No.18. Niall McGarry, No.19 Rory McShane, No.20 Thomas McIlroy.

Referee: Chris Brown

TO SEE MORE OF CLAIRE FAWLS PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME (PLUS THE HALF TIME GAMES) CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

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