U21 A Football semi-final

St. Gall’s 3-14 St. John’s 0-5

St. John’s made the short trip to Milltown on Sunday, confident that they could build on last weekend’s excellent win over St. Paul’s at Corrigan in the quarter-final and when Conor Hand kicked them into a two point lead after 8 minutes that confidence looked justified.

The young Johnnies flattered to deceive however as St. Gall’s responded through Manus McCrossan in the 9^th minute and Daniel Quinn had it all square with 11 minutes on the clock.

The Milltown Row side were starting to get on top and they struck with a well worked goal at the end of the opening quarter with several involved in the build-up before Niall Fallon finished emphatically to the net.

Daire King replied with a point for the Whiterock side but with McCrossan dictating matters around mid-field it was St. Gall’s who finished strongly and Callum Walsh kicked a great point from out on the left.

The St. Gall’s pressure was beginning to pay dividends and Daniel Quinn punished a bad kick out to return the leather between the posts and the same player concluded the first half scoring with another from play to leave it 1-5 to 0-3 at the half way point.

St. John’s needed a good start to the second half if they were to make inroads into their opponents lead but things went from bad to worse for the Corrigan Park side when substitute Padraig Murray fired to the net with only ten seconds gone.

Daniel Quinn fisted a point as the visitors looked rocked by the early onslaught before their best on view, Conor hand replied with his third and his side’s fourth of the afternoon.

It failed to inspire his side however and with Manus McCrossan covering every blade of grass for the home side they responded with three on the bounce from Liam Lynn 0-2 and Barra McCaffery.

St. Gall’s were now playing with great confidence and another good move saw the impressive Daniel Quinn fire to the net for their third goal in the 10^th minute with Padraig Murray following with a point.

Conor Hand continued to carry what little threat the visitors were providing and the Johnnies number 8 pointed an 18^th minute free for his fourth of the evening but it would be the Johnnies final score of the contest.

They did look in for a goal soon after but Ciaran Og Mullan produced an excellent save and it was St. Gall’s who finished on the front foot to run out convincing winners.

Joe Diamond added points in the 20^th and 25^th minutes with the excellent Daniel Quinn wrapping matters up with a pointed free in the 27^th minute and another from play as the game edged into time added on.

A good win for the Milltown side and it should make them slight favourites against Con Magee’s Gaels in next weekend’s final. They are sure to face a stiffer test however against a side who recorded a good semi-final win over St. Mary’s Aghagallon at Fr. Maginn Park.

St. Gall’s: 1 Ciaran Og Mullan, 2 Dubhaltach MacLiam, 3 Gairech MacAdhaim, 5 Ethan Walsh, 6 Conall McGirr, 7 Liam Lynn, 8 Che Smyth, 9 Manus McCrossan, 10 Aodh Mullan, 11 Daniel Quinn, 12 Aaron Mackel, 13 Barra McCaffery, 14 Niall Fallon, 15 Callum Walsh

St. John’s: 1 Padraig Graham, 2 Michael Darragh, 3 Enda McGurk, 4 Matthew Mallon, 5 Joshua Robb, 6 Ronan Quinn, 7 Daire King, 8 Conor Hand, 9 Ronan Donnelly, 10 James Wilson, 11 Odhran McAuley, 12 Conan McKinney, 13 Fintan McKinney, 14 Odhran Quinn, 15 Fionnbar McKernan

Referee: Brendan Toland (Lamh Dhearg)

TO VIEW MORE OF BERTS PICS CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

https://myalbum.com/album/c9NgzUTia2BS8P

U21 B Football Championship semi-final

Creggan 1-13 Lamh Dhearg 1-7

Kickham’s Creggan finished strongly to earn their place in the U21 B Football Championship final when they overcame the challenge of Lamh Dhearg at their Staffordstown Road ground on Sunday.

The Kickham’s led 1-5 to 0-4 at the short whistle thanks to a goal from Shea McCann in the 12^th minute but the introduction of Patrick Tumelty to the visitor’s ranks for the second half threatened to turn the game on its head.

The bustling Tumelty pointed with his first touch of the ball in the 2^nd minute to bring the Hannastown side to life with Creggan keeper Joel Dudley then pulling off a good save to deny Evan Stanley.

Tumelty brought the travelling support to their feet as he pointed the resulting ‘45’ and a pointed free from Adam Murray closed the gap to one with only 8 minutes of the half gone and Creggan looked in a spot of bother.

The visitor wouldn’t score again until late in the game as a Fintan Close pointed free in the 13^th minute finally opened the home side’s second half account and seemed to settle them and they would push on to win convincingly in the end.

Shea McCann, Fintal Close, Sean Duffin 0-2 and Conor Johnston were the Creggan first half point scorers with Cian Graffin kicking three for the visitors and Fegan Lappin getting the other Lamh Dhearg first half point.

Fintan Close’s second half opener saw the home side take advantage of some wayward tackling from the visitors which resulted in a stream of pointed frees from Shea McCann 0-3, Conor Johnston 0-3 and fine effort from play by substitute Ronan McGuckian.

Lamh Dhearg were struggling to get back in touch following that early second half burst but they kept going right to the end and were finally rewarded for their efforts when Fionn Mervyn climbed above the pack in a crowded goalmouth to fist a Patrick Tumelty free to the net.

A good win in the end for the South West side who had sharp forwards in Shea McCann, Conor Johnston and Fintan Close while Sean Duffin drove them forward with some strong running and Odhran Hampsey, Liam McLarnon and Sean McAuley were solid in defence.

The Kickham’s now meet Cuchullian’s Dunloy, who defeated Tir na nOg in the other semi-final and on the evidence of today’s encounters it should prove to be an interesting final with both sides looking impressive.

Kickham’s Creggan: 1 Joel Dudley, 2 Paedar McGuckian, 3 Odhran Hampsey, 4 Caolan Hughes, 5 Liam McLarnon, 6 Sean McAuley, 7 Anton Martin, 8 Aidan McIlwee, 9 Tristan McCann, 10 Fintan Close, 11 Sean Duffin, 12 Oisin McAteer, 13 Shea McCann, 14 Cian Graffin, 15 Conor Johnston, Subs: 19 |Ronan McGuckian

Lamh Dhearg: 1 Oisin Devlin, 2 Corey Camin, 3 Declan Young, 4 Odhran Lee, 5 Sean McCarthy, 6 Niall McGarry, 7 Rudi Smith, 8 Ciaran Boyd, 9 Fionn Mervyn, 10 Evan Stanley, 11 Fegan Lappin, 12 Eoghan Breen, 13 Eoin Campbell, 14 Adam Murray, 15 Donal Martin,

Subs: 20 Aidan Morrow, 22 Patrick Tumelty, 23 Fiachra Clenaghan, 29 Conal McGarry, 30 Aidan McCague

Referee: Paul Burns (Naomh Comhghall)

TO VIEW MORE PICS CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

https://myalbum.com/album/BZTP3tNNbAwE6T

Under-21 B Football Championship (Semi Final)

Tir na nOg 1-03 Cuchullian’s Dunloy 2-10

Daire McMullan found the net in both halves as Cuchullian’s Dunloy advanced to the final of the under-21 B football championship when they travelled to Randalstown on Sunday and gained access to the decider with a good victory over Tir na nOg on a damp Whitehill sod.

The home side took their place in Sunday’s semi-finals with victory over the visiting Casement’s last week but although they did start this game well their visitors adapted to the underfoot conditions better and a Daire Mc Mullan goal in the 26^th minute gave them a 1-04 to 0-02 half time lead.

Tir na nOg had started with a spring in the proverbial step with an early point from corner forward Rory Mullan and gave as good as they got throughout the opening quarter.

Indeed they might have had a goal after ten minutes but Rory Mullan and Caleb Smyth’s efforts from close range was charged down and the ball was cleared to safety following a goalmouth scramble.

Sean Grant for the home side and the visitors Daire Mullan swapped points but despite being denied by the home side’s net minder on a couple of occasions the Cuchullians, with the towering Daire Mc Mullan a permanent threat on the edge of the square took control in the period leading up to half time.

The towering Mc Mullan found the back of the net in the latter stages as Sean Mc Shane provided the cross and Aodhan Mc Garry converted a ‘45’ after Levi Thuman pulled off a superb save to deny Barry McCloskey.

The visitors finished strongly and Eoin McFerran added another to put the visitors 1-04 to 0-03 ahead at the break and they were good value for that lead.

Having finished the opening period on top the Cuchullians began the second in a similar fashion but Tir na nOg keeper, Levi Thuman brought off another super save to deny Aodhan Mc Garry with Barry McCloskey getting a consolation point from the ‘45’.

As the second period progressed the visitors tightened their grip on proceedings despite the considerable efforts of the home sides Caleb Smith and middle man Dylan McLarnon.

 Dunloy, with height advantage pressed ahead and a cross field delivery from McGarry placed Daire Mc Mullan to finish to the net for his second of the evening to move the visitors 2-07 to 0-03 ahead and in sight of victory.

The home side fought hard but found scores hard to come by as the Dunloy defence gave little away.

Joshua Higgins and Dylan Mc Larnon worked hard for the Whitehill men but with Padraig Martin and Aodhan Mc Garry leading by example the home side were halted in their efforts.

The visitors were in command as Thomas McFerran and Sean McShane came forward to add points but Tir na nOg were still battling hard and Dylan Mc Larnon came forward with purpose to grab a 53^rd minute goal.

In the event it proved too little too late and a late point from Daire McMullan enabled the Cuchullian’s to cross the winning line with advantage of 2-10 to 1-03 and into the under-21 B final where they will meet Kickham’s Creggan.

Tir na nOg: Levi Thuman, Daniel Mc Larnon, Brendan Devlin, Sean Mc Keown, Sean Grant, Paul Mc Closkey, Daire Martin, Joshua Higgins (0-01), Dylan Mc Larnon (1-00), Ciaran Mc Camphill (0-02), Alex O’ Donnell (0-01), Shane Maguire, Sean Martin, Caleb Smith, Rory Mullan

Cuchullian’s: Eoin Mc Keown, Cahir Mc Mullan, Michael Traynor, Reece Cunning, Thomas Mc Ferran (0-02), Padraig Martin, Sean Mc Shane(0-01), Lucas Mc Ferran (0-01), Eoin Mc Ferran (0-01), Sean Mc Aleese, Aodhan Mc Garry (0-02), Ben O’ Kane, B Mc Closkey (0-01), Daire Mc Mullan (2-02), Oisin Mc Camphill (0-01)

Referee: K Parke (St Enda’s)

TO VIEW MORE PHOTOGRAPHS CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

https://myalbum.com/album/HhRoWgG6CY8pGy

The penultimate stage of the under-21 football championship in both A and B are scheduled for Sunday, September 3^rd  as Con Magee Gaels meet St Mary’s Aghagallon, and St Galls line out against St John’s in the semi-finals of the A competition.

The B section scheduled for the same day sees Kickham’s Creggan welcome Lamh Dhearg to their abode in the semi-final of the B section with Cuchullian’s Dunloy travelling to Randalstown to meet Tir na nOg in the second semi-final.

Under-21A Football Championship semi-final

 Con Magee Gaels v St Mary’s Aghagallon at Glenravel (12.00)

Both these semi finalists defied most of the pundits in their expectations in the quarter final stages when Con Magee’s gained victory over the visiting Erin’s Own while St Mary’s gained victory over a fancied St Brigid’s side.

A couple of late points ensured a 2-07 to 0-11 victory over the visiting Cargin last time for the Glensmen and such form if replicated  will make them favourites in this assignment against St Mary’s.

Aghagallon also caught the eye with a 1-13 to 1-09 win over the visiting St Brigid’s in their quarter final and they will travel down to meet the ‘Gael’s’ in a positive mode.

St Gall’s v St John’s Semi Final at Milltown (12.00)

St Gall’s were gifted a place in the semi finals when All Saint’s gave their forthcoming Ulster IFC game priority and decided to withdraw from the under 21 championship.

St Galls had a good win in the quarter-final with victory at Hightown over St. Enda’s and they enjoy home advantage here as the Johnnies travel to Milltown.

The Johnnies began their campaign with an impressive 3-11 to 2-09 victory over a fancied St Paul’s at Corrigan Park and they will be favoured by more than a few to continue with another win on Sunday.

Under-21 B Championship Semi Final at Creggan 12.00

Kickham’s Creggan v Lamh Dhearg

Creggan started well in this competition with an away victory at the expense of Rossa.

They recorded a 2-08 to 1-6 win at Rossa Park and they will enjoy home advantage as Lamh Dhearg visit the Staffordstown road.

The Hannahstown men impressed in their opening assignment when they recorded a 3-13 to 2-02 win over the visiting St Joseph’s Glenavy and they will make the trip to the South West in a positive mode.

A close game in prospect but ground  advantage may well prove crucial with a win for Creggan anticipated.

Under-21 B Championship Semi Final at Whitehill 12.00

Tir na nOg v Cuchullian’s Dunloy

Randalstown based Tir nanOg defied the challenge posed by the visiting Casements last time finishing with a 3-06 to 2-07 win over the Bannister’s.

The Ports travelled short in numbers however and were defied a late comeback by some resolute defensive work by the Whitehill men.

Tir na nOg are back on home sod for this semi-final as Cuchullian’s visit Whitehill following their 2-14 to O-07 win over Sarsfield at the Bear Pit.

The home side will hope that ground advantage will help their cause but the Cuchullian’s impressed in their away win last time and they may well follow suit again on Sunday.