Northern Switchgear SFC Group 1

St. John’s 3-15 St. Gall’s 1-9

A strong and aggressive St John’s proved too strong for neighbours St. Gall’s in this opening game in group 1 of the Northern Switchgear Senior Football Championship at Corrigan Park today. The Corrigan Park side pushed up on the St. Gall’s kick-out and played with an intensity the visitors just could not match.

Goals from Mark Fitzsimmons in the first half and Padraig Nugent and Loughlin McCurdy in the second helped the ‘Johnnies’ to a 12 point victory in the end and served notice to Lamh Dhearg and Kickham’s Creggan, the other two teams in the group, that they will be serious challengers.

Ross Hannigan got the Johnnies on their way with a point after 30 seconds before St. Gall’s replied through Niall Burns and Eoghan McCabe to briefly take the lead with 6 minutes gone. Conall Bohill level matter and Mark Fitzsimmons and Paddy McBride from a long range free had St. John’s 0-4 to 0-2 ahead after 16 minutes.

The opening goal arrived two minutes later when Mark Fitzsimmons punished a mistake by the visitor’s defence to finish to the net and further points from Paddy McBride, Fitzsimmons and Ross Hannigan had the Corrigan Park side eight ahead after 20 minutes.

Substitute Niall Fallon took advantage of a slip by St. John’s keeper, Brian Neeson to fire to the net in the 23d minute and further points from Ruairi Wilson and Niall Burns in response to a Ryan McNulty 50 yard free for the home side left St. John’s 1-8 to 1-4 ahead at the break.

It still looked anyone’s game as the sides took the field for the second half but it was St. John’s who stepped up the intensity on the restart with Paddy McBride from a free and Ross Hannigan moving them six ahead after three minutes play.

Back came St. Gall’s with Niall Burns and Eoghan McCabe on target and Micky Pollock involved in everything good the visitors could muster but the Milltown side were having to work harder for their scores.

Conall McGlade moved St. John’s four ahead with a great point in the 16^th minute and the home side were then awarded a penalty which Padraig Nugent tucked away before Paddy McBride followed with a point to put his side in a strong position with ten minutes remaining.

St. Gall’s were still fighting hard to get back into contention and Micky Pollock replied with a point in the 22^nd minute but when Locky McCurdy chipped the keeper at the other end, a minute later it was as good as over.

Pearse Donnelly, Conall Bohill and substitute Conor Adams added points for St. John’s in the closing stages with Niall Burns kicking a consolation score for the Milltown Row side and it is the men from the Whiterock who top the group on day one following holders Kickham’s Creggan’s draw with Lamh Dhearg in the other game in group 1

St. John’s: 1 Brian Neeson, 2 Padraig Nugent, 3 Adrian Oliver, 4 Ciaran Garland, 5 Ross Hannigan, 6 Ciaran Kerr, 7 Andy McGowan, 8 Simon McDonagh, 9 Ryan McNulty, 10 Conall McGlade, 11 Paddy McBride, 12 Conor Hand, 13 Conall Bohill, 14 Loughlin McCurdy, 15 Mark Fitzsimmons. Subs: Donal Nugent for Conor Hand, Pearse Donnelly for Andy McGowan, Luke Peden for Conor McGlade, Joseph Garland for Adrian Oliver

St. Gall’s: 1 Niall McCurdy, 2 Cormac Bradley, 3 Cormac Flannery, 4 Eoghan McCurdy, 5 Marcus Donnelly, 6 Eoghan McCabe, 7 Dultach McLiam, 8 Ryan Irvine, 9 Thomas Bunting, 10 Niall O’Neill, 11 Niall Burns, 12 Ruairi Wilson, 13 Brendan Bradley, 14 Michael Pollock, 15 Callum Walsh. 20 Niall Fallon for Brendan Bradley, John McCaffrey for Thomas Bunting

Referee: Fionntan McCotter (Sarsfield’s)

By Kevin Herron

Creggan’s Sam Maguire admits that an Ulster Club Championship clash in December was never mentioned between the players this year. 

After clinching the Padraig McNamee Cup on November 14th with a win over Aghagallon- that changed and the Staffordstown Road outfit were able to extend their campaign for another few weeks at least. 

On Sunday the Antrim Champions take on Armagh’s Clann Eirann in the Ulster Championship (1.30 throw-in) at Corrigan. 

Maguire believes the game is a free hit for him and his team-mates and is adamant they will give their all for the club and for Antrim itself. 

“To be honest, Ulster has never ever been mentioned in our squad”, Maguire revealed. 

“The people around the club have maybe talked about it – but we never looked beyond winning Antrim. We’ll go and we’ve got a free hit and we’ll go and give our all for Creggan and for Antrim and hopefully it will be enough”. 

Maguire has one of the most famous names in GAA history and wrote his name in Creggan folklore with a late goal to see off Aghagallon in the County final. 

Speaking in the immediate aftermath, Maguire felt the victory was credit to the squad for continuing to push year on year. 

“It was something else, you train so hard and only dream of days like this”, he said. 

“We’ve been through the ringer in the last couple of years- we pushed and pushed and pushed and kept coming back. I think it’s credit to us and the boys that we finally got there”. 

Maguire was keen to pay tribute to Aghagallon and believes they will be back challenging again next year. 

“We knew they were never going to go away”,Maguire believed. 

“They’re young, they’re fit, they’re on the crest of a wave with U-15, minor and everything was good around their club. We knew they weren’t going to lie down until the final whistle. They’d a couple of goal chances at the end and two-blocks in a row- they’re the small moments. 

“They went our way, they’ve went against us in the past and it went our way today. No doubt, Aghagallon will be back without a doubt they’ll be back and challenging next year”. 

Having been beaten in the 2018 and 2020 deciders by near neighbours Cargin, Maguire acknowledged the hurt of those two defeats and felt that experience stood by them. 

“I think the experience absolutely stood by us”, reflected Maguire. 

“There were times that we could have panicked, we hit a couple short and in the past we might have hit the panic button and it wouldn’t have went our way. 

“But we kept composed, we kept the ball moving and kept the scoreboard ticking over. The goal came from Aghagallon pushing up and trying to get the equalising score themselves and it opened up for us. Definitely, the last two finals and the hurt alone has drove us on and the composure has stuck by us”. 

The old saying that “you can dream of these occasions” was true for Maguire the night before the final as he revealed that he feel asleep carrying out his paternal duties and his dream most certainly came true. 

“I fell asleep the night before feeding the wein and the wife took a photo of me”, revealed Maguire. 

“It made its way into the WhatsApp group and I joked that was me kicking the winner and here we are- maybe it wasn’t the winner but it certainly felt like and the feeling was unreal”. 

Ulster SFC Club championship

Corrigan Park Sunday 1-30pm

Kickham’s Creggan (Antrim) v Clann Eireann (Armagh)

Antrim champions Kickham’s Creggan make a first step into the unknown when they take on Clann Eireann of Armagh in the Ulster club SFC quarter-final at Corrigan Park on Sunday.

Creggan bridged a 67-year gap, lifting the Padraig McNamee Cup for the first time since 1954 with a 1-12 to 0-07 win over Aghagallon in the Antrim final at the same venue back on the 14^th November and put the disappointment of recent final defeats behind them to climb the winner’s rostrum.

 The Staffordstown Road side were in control at the break with Matthews Rodgers, Kevin Small, Ruairi and Jamie McCann all chipping in to see them 0-07-0-02 ahead. 

Aghagallon were always chasing, however, they did keep the game alive until second half injury-time when substitute, Sam Maguire, capped his introduction with a goal to end Creggan’s long wait for Championship glory.

Creggan’s two previous final defeats came at the hands of neighbours, Erin’s Own Cargin but Gerard McNulty’s side got that monkey off their back when they came from behind to defeat the reigning champions in the semi-final at St. Enda’s.

• 

• 

McNulty, who was assistant to Kevin Madden at Creggan for two years before taking over the managers role, has brought his own style of management to the side and they have developed into a more expansive outfit.

He has introduced a number of new faces to the side with Ethan Carey-Small and Jamie McCann cementing starting places in defence and McCann in particular has been phenomenal, weighing in with vital scores from half-back.

Indeed their half back line of Aidan Maguire, Marty Johnston and McCann have rightly received rave notices and have been instrumental in the side’s success this year.

Oisin Kerr, in goals and Ricki Johnston at full back bring vast experience to what has been a solid defence with Odhran McLarnon dropping deep at times in a sweeper role and they held Aghagallon scoreless from play until 10 minutes from time.

Kevin Small and Conor McCann have formed a strong and mobile mid-field partnership while Tiernan McAteer, Matthew Rodgers and Ruairi McCann are always a threat in attack.

What of Clann Éireann ?

In one of the most remarkable Armagh senior football championship finals for many years, Lurgan side Clann Éireann staged a stunning comeback from a seemingly hopeless position to squeeze out their more illustrious opponents Crossmaglen at the Athletic Grounds.

With the sides having been deadlocked at 0-5 each at half-time, it was Crossmaglen, inspired by the O’Neill brothers and Cian McConville, who seized the initiative after the break to glide into a seemingly unassailable 0-11 to 0-5 lead.

But with ace marksman Conor Turbitt leading a spectacular Clann Éireann revival – he landed eight points in all – Rangers were rocked back on their heels when substitute Ruairí McDonald thundered a great drive to their net in the 49th minute.

At 0-12 to 1-9 the match was back in the melting pot but the sporting gods were to smile on Clann Éireann when another substitute Jack Conlon saw his harmless-looking speculative effort in the 59th minute graze the post and trickle over the line for the most unlikely of goals.

• 

• 

At 2-10 to 0-15 Clann Éireann were back in business and a further brace of Turbitt points saw them snatch the title to set up Saturday’s clash with the Kickham’s. There are a couple of Antrim connections with the Armagh side. Barry McCambridge, who wore no 3 in the final win over Crossmaglen is a son of John McCambridge from Cushendall and a nephew of Monty, Gaza and Michael McCambrdge, all of whom played county hurling for Antrim, and a first cousin of Cushendall and Antrim senior hurler Ryan McCambridge. Another local connection is that Gerry Fagan, who captained Clann Eireann to their 1963 county title before going on to become a legendry Ulster GAA official, started his teaching career in Cargan Primary School in Glenravel in 1948.

Gerard McNulty will not be shouting it from the rooftops but I’m sure he would have been surprised but happy with the result at the Athletic Grounds but at the same time well aware of the serious challenge Clann Eireann will pose on Sunday.

The astute McNulty will have done his homework on the Lurgan side with Turbitt marked down for special attention but most of his focus will have been on preparing his own side. The Kickham’s will have a big and noisy support behind them at Corrigan and if they can settle quickly into the game and produce anything near their best then there is no reason why they cannot win this one.

By Paddy McIlwaine

When Colm McDomhnaill’s full time whistle sounded at Corrigan Park amidst scenes of wild celebrations today, those tuning into the result from the Athletics ground would surely have expected the name of Crossmaglen Rangers to come up as their first round opponents in Ulster in two weeks-time.

The Rangers had won more Armagh championships than most of us have had hot dinners while their opponents at the Athletics Ground, Clann Éireann hadn’t won an Armagh Senior title for 53 years but, like Kickham’s Creggan they did the business today.

Clan Eireann came from 0-11 to 0-5 down to the former All Ireland club champions to produce the come-backs of all come-backs and run out 2-12 to 0-16 winners and earn themselves a place against Creggan in the first round of Ulster on the 5^th December.

Conor Turbitt was superb for the new Armagh champions, kicking 0-8 over the hour and will already have been noted as someone who will need special attention by Gerard McNulty and his backroom team.

Substitute Jack Conlon scored a goal in the 49^th minute and then fellow substitute Conlon saw his speculative long range shot strike the inside of a post before trickling over the line and Turbitt’s eighth point of the game secured victory for the underdogs.

• 

Today’s win for Kickham’s over Aghagallon ended an even longer wait for the new Antrim champions. It’s been 67 years since Creggan last lifted the McNamee Cup so those celebrations were fully justified and like Clann Éireann, are likely to go on into the coming week.

Gerard McNulty and his team though will already be reflecting on a first bid at Ulster, and while he is unlikely to admit it, he will surely be happy with the result in Armagh.

Like Creggan, Ulster will mark new ground for the newly crowned Orchard champions and Corrigan Park will provide them with a hostile atmosphere and the Kickham’s, on this year’s form will be in with a fighting chance of advancing to the semi-final.

I spent most of today’s game wrestling with an umbrella and umbrella stand as I struggled to get the shots I wanted but, as usual the brother, Bert and the rest of the team came up with the winning shots.

Conditions for photography, like football were not great today but I’m going to indulge myself with some of the shots I did get and publish them for your enjoyment.

In the meantime well done to Creggan and particularly to my good friend Tony McCollum and his interview with Jerome Quinn after the game was great to watch and captured the emotions of many long serving Kickham’s supporters.

Commiserations to St. Mary’s Aghagallon. I’ve watched this group of players for many years and their progression and the progression of the club has been remarkable. As I suggested during the week, ‘you might have to lose one to win one’ and I’m sure they will be back stronger than ever next year and hopefully for them, their first Senior Championship success will not be too far away.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Brendan McTaggart reports from Corrigan Park as Creggan claim the senior football championship putting an end to a 67 year wait…

There’s a saying we’ve all heard in our time, you’re not entitled to a championship medal.  You earn them.  Creggan have earned their right to finally be called Antrim senior football champions.

They’ve made the journey to the decider on three of the last four years.  On Sunday, it was third time lucky for the Kickhams men as they put an end to their bridesmaid tag ending a wait of 67 years for another senior championship.  

With a packed Corrigan Park, both clubs brought the noise.  There can’t have been many left in the place they call home as the communities of Creggan and Aghagallon congregated at the Whiterock Road bringing a mix of smoke bombs and partisan support, everything a county final deserves.

To call it a defensive masterclass would do their attacking play a disservice but they restricted Aghagallon to just one point from play, Adam Loughran splitting the uprights in the 50^th minute.  The Johnston brothers superb at the heart of their defence but it was how they cut out the attacking threats more by positional sense than out and out defending.  The St Mary’s men couldn’t deliver quick ball into their forwards and Creggan turned the screw to force turnovers and increase pressure on an overworked Aghagallon defence.  A testament to the coaching of Gerard McNulty and his team, the game was played exactly how he would have planned with his analysis and meticulous planning beforehand being emanated onto the Corrigan Park turf.

Odhran McLarnon covered every square inch of turf at Corrigan Park, providing an attacking outlet as they probed the St Mary’s defence with a mix of strong running off the shoulder, patience and precision.  Matthew Rodgers with three first half points while a brace of frees from Ruairi McCann, one from Jamie McCann and a white flag from Kevin Small was only answered to by scores from Luke Mulholland (’45) and Gareth Magee (free).  Creggan were full value for their five point half time lead and but for the weather conditions leading to some handling errors when in the final third, it could have been more.  Aghagallon struggled to get any attacking impetus with their first score coming in the 14^th minute such was the dominance of the Kickhams in midfield and half back.

But as Aghagallon have shown in 2021, they are a second half team.  If they could get the right delivery into Gareth Magee or Ruairi McCann anything was possible.  They certainly upped their intensity levels in the second half and brought greater physicality to the final than they showed in the opening 30 minutes.  With Magee’s accuracy from frees keeping them in touch, Adam Loughran was always a threat.  He became more prominent as Aghagallon went in search for a championship lifeline.  

They managed to create half chances but Ruairi McCann and Jack Lenehan were both denied by a brilliant Creggan defence.  Four points separated the sides going into injury time when Creggan finally breathed a collective sigh of relief.  With St Mary’s chasing the game and throwing caution to the wind, Luke Mulholland left his goal keeping position to create an extra body in midfield.  The ball went loose and Creggan worked the ball to Sam Maguire who stood free behind the Aghagallon defence and with the simplest of tasks to hammer the game defining, if not championship confirming goal.  The man with the most famous name in all of gaelic football cemented his name into Creggan folklore by scoring the only goal of the game with his first touch having just come off the bench moments earlier.

The outpouring of emotion when referee Colm McDonald called for an end to the decider was euphoric. Generation defining.  Young faces painted and draped in green and gold running onto the pitch to meet their heroes.  Those a little older with tears in their eyes.  Selfies, family photographs, flashes from camera’s sparking into the darkened late Autumn sky of west Belfast.  The Kickhams family made the most of the occasion with the cold air and mizzling rain meaning little to anyone looking to make their own memory of this monumental day for Creggan.  It was easy to see what this meant to Creggan club.  Any championship wins are special, when they’ve come as hard as they have for Creggan, it adds a little more.  It’s fair to say they are treasuring this day of all days.

There is no more talk of 67 years or droughts allowed in the Staffordstown Road, they look to the future and an Ulster Club championship date with Clan Eireann of Armagh. The McNamee Cup remains in the parish of Duneane, but he wears a band of gold along with green in 2021.