by thesaffrongael

Frustrating start for Antrim as Fermanagh take the points

Ulster U20 Football Championship

Fermanagh v Antrim at Tempo

Antrim’s Ulster Under 20 Football Championship campaign began with a frustrating 2-11 to 2-07 defeat to Fermanagh at Tempo on Wednesday evening. Despite showing tremendous character to erase a six-point deficit and trail by just two at the break, the Saffrons endured a grueling 23-minute scoring drought in the second half that ultimately handed control back to a clinical home side.

Fermanagh opened the scoring in the fourth minute, but Antrim responded perfectly when Corey Walsh found the back of the net just two minutes later. The hosts quickly settled, however, reeling off points from Daire Treacy and Nathan Beattie. Walsh replied with another point for Antrim, but the momentum shifted sharply when Mattie McDermott struck for a Fermanagh goal in the tenth minute. As the rain began to fall, the home side took firm control of possession. Points from Oisin Swift, McDermott, a Daire Chapman ’45’, and a Conor Mulligan effort pushed Fermanagh into a commanding 1-07 to 1-01 lead by the 20th minute. Staring at a six-point deficit, Antrim dug deep. JJ Higgins sparked the revival with a pointed free, followed quickly by a superb score from play after gathering a clever kick-out from Jack O’Neill. Isaac Robinson then slotted over an unchallenged point, and Higgins fired over another to cap a brilliant spell, leaving the halftime score nicely poised at Fermanagh 1-07 Antrim 1-05.

The second half proved to be an uphill battle for the Saffrons. Fermanagh reasserted their dominance early on, extending their lead to four with points from Michael Burns and a well-struck sideline from McDermott. A long, cagey scoreless spell followed, characterized by missed opportunities for both sides. Fermanagh broke the deadlock in the 45th minute when McDermott punished an Antrim overcarry with a pointed free, and Burns quickly added another to restore their six-point cushion. It took until the 54th minute for Antrim to finally register their first score of the half through Ryan McKeever. Substitute Daire Higgins followed up with another point a minute later, reducing the gap to four.

Any hopes of a late Antrim comeback were dashed in the 57th minute. Although Antrim goalkeeper Senan Nagle pulled off a brilliant save to deny McDermott a second goal, Daire Chapman was perfectly positioned to blast the rebound to the net. Niall Hynds did manage to punch a high ball to the net deep into injury time, but it was a case of too little, too late. Fermanagh were already home and hosed, claiming the victory by four points. The defeat leaves Antrim with a mountain to climb as they look to bounce back. They face a tough trip to Ballyshannon this Saturday to take on Donegal, before wrapping up the round-robin stage with a home fixture against Derry at Dunsilly the following week.

Fear Manach (Fermanagh) 1 Patrick O’Sullivan 2 Rian Kennedy 3 Eamon Og Magee 4 Matthew Maguire 5 Conor Casey 6 Oisin Swift 21 Rian Bogue 8 Conan Donohoe 9 Conor Mulligan 10 Daire Treacy 11 Daire Chapman 12 Rory Smyth (C) 13 Nathan Beattie 14 Mattie McDermott 15 Michael Burns

Fir Ionaid: 16 Thomas Fitzpatrick, 17 Ben Caughey, 18 Caelan McGoldrick, 19 Ryan Hannigan, 20 Daniel McGovern, 22 Brandon Beattie, 23 Eamon Monaghan, 24 Kian Prior.

Aontroim (Antrim) 1 Senan Nagle (C) 2 James Og McAuley 3 Harry Connon 4 Christopher Hale 5 Ethan Walsh 6 Liam McLernon 7 Fionn Jemfrey 8 Niall Hynds 9 Se Ferris 10 Aaron Mackle 11 Conor O’Connell 12 Isaac Robinson 13 Jack O’Neill 14 JJ Higgins 15 Corey Walsh

Fir Ionaid: 16 Jack Ireland, 17 Daire Higgins, 18 Padraig Murray, 19 Segdae Mac Adhaimh, 20 Ryan McKeever, 21 Cathair McKenna, 22 Pauric Redmond, 23 Eoghan Sherry, 24 Daire Oglesby.

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by thesaffrongael

St Louis boys face Donaghmore in Dalton Cup final

It’s the perfect underdog story this Friday as St Louis Grammar, Ballymena take on St Joseph’s, Donaghmore in the Year 9 D’Alton Cup Final.

Remarkably, it marks a historic first final appearance for both schools—an even greater milestone for the Antrim side, as they prepare for their first-ever Ulster Schools ‘A’ final.

There’s a sense of familiarity between the teams dating back to their primary school days. Donaghmore Primary claimed the 2024 Ulster Cumann na mBunscol title, defeating St Mary’s, Portglenone in the semi-final. Representing St Mary’s that day were St Louis captain Conan McKeever, along with Nicholas McCrory and Oisín Martin. On the other side, Ruan Kavanagh, Dan O’Neill, Thomas Haughey, Ronan Ogle, and Lorcan Barr were part of the victorious Tyrone outfit.

The sides also met last year in the Year 8 Connor Marron Memorial tournament, hosted annually by St Louis. On that occasion, Donaghmore emerged as deserving winners after an entertaining final—something that will no doubt add an extra edge to Friday’s decider.

The two teams have taken very different routes to reach this point. St Louis’ decision to step up to ‘A’ grade was questioned early on after opening defeats. They led Omagh CBS at half-time in their first outing before eventually falling to a 13-point loss. A similar pattern followed in round two, where they were beaten by nine points by St Malachy’s, Castlewellan—a side they would later overcome in last week’s semi-final, underlining the remarkable progress made by this Ballymena group.

At that stage, even a playoff place looked unlikely. However, a spirited display against St Macartan’s, Monaghan reignited belief within the panel. That belief soon turned into momentum. A stunning 7-14 to 1-1 win over St Michael’s, Enniskillen followed, before a dominant performance in Garvaghey saw them dismantle St Patrick’s, Cavan to secure a quarter-final spot.

Next came St Colman’s, Newry. After storming into a 13-point lead inside 17 minutes, St Louis found themselves trailing by one with under ten minutes remaining. Showing resilience and composure, they rallied with a late 1-2 to book a semi-final clash with St Malachy’s—and a chance at redemption.

They took it.

Now, against all odds, St Louis Grammar, Ballymena stand on the brink of history, with the Tyrone school equally determined to carve out their own place in the record books.

St Joseph’s arrive as deserved favourites. After an impressive group campaign, they comfortably overcame Omagh CBS in the quarter-final before producing a ruthless attacking display to defeat St Mary’s, Magherafelt 5-16 to 1-15 in the semi-final.

The midfield battle could prove decisive. St Joseph’s will look to Kavanagh and Naoise Woods to establish early control against McKeever and Cayden McGuckian, providing the platform for attackers Lorcan Barr, Dan O’Neill, Conan Bonner, and Leo Sheehan to continue their scoring form.

Defensively, Lir Hamill, Charlie O’Brien, and Joseph Killough are expected to shoulder the responsibility of containing the Tyrone side’s dangerous forwards.

For St Louis, much of the scoring threat will come from Oisin Analyschi, Ronan Laverty, and Kieran Jaypashskri, who are likely to be closely tracked by Ogle, Haughey, and Matthew O’Neill.

All signs point towards an open, high-scoring contest between two in-form sides. While St Joseph’s are fancied to repeat their Year 8 Connor Marron success, St Louis have already defied the odds—and the Saffron side cannot be ruled out from producing a famous breakthrough victory.

by thesaffrongael

Antrim overcome Laois challenge

LGFA Lidl NFL Division 3

Antrim 2-8 Laois 0-12

Antrim ladies overcome the challenge of Laois on Sunday by a winning margin of two points in what was a battle from start to finish. 

It was a physical contest throughout with both sides giving it everything. 

From the very start of this game these Antrim girls showed they wouldn’t be out muscled and were absolutely relishing the type of game that they were involved in. 

Both teams traded early scores but a fantastic move from back to front from the saffrons ended with Maria Oneill scoring a screamer of a goal . 

Antrim were playing against a strong breeze in the opening half and were happy to go in at the short whistle all square.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with both teams giving their all and exchanging score for score . 

In the final 20 minutes Antrim got reduced to 13 players but such is the resilience and character of this team and their never say die attitude they worked so hard for each other and kept the ball really well. 

With the game entering additional time and the teams level up stepped Aiobheann Monaghan and Maria O Neill to slot o er a point each and give the saffrons victory. 

Antrim now play Down next week in which has become a shoot out as the winner will get promoted and also reach the national league final 

Antrim Scorers: 

Maria O Neill 1-3 

Bronagh Devlin 1-1 

Lara Dahunsi 0-1 

Theresa Mellon 0-1 

Aiobheann Monaghan 0-1 

Cliodhna Logan 0-1

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by thesaffrongael

St Brigid’s Win Again

Above – Paul Bradley who scored 1-03 in St Brigid’s win over Rossa

ACFL Division 1

St. Brigid’s 1-13 Rossa 0-11

St Brigid’s made it two wins from two on Sunday against a competitive Rossa side.

Both teams were short a number of regulars, however there was plenty of endeavour from both teams throughout the hour.  The game remained in the balance until the final seconds when man of the match Paul Bradley slotted home a penalty giving the home side a five point win.

Rossa started the game well. Mick Byrne hit two 2pointers and Colm Fleming scored from a free, while Niall  Duffy replied for the home side with two  points,  one  with his weaker foot  despite some strong Rossa defending .

Rossa goalkeeper Mick Byrne who scored 0-07 against St Brigid’s-

St Brigid’s moved up a gear after a score from Aodhan McNicholl following  an excellent turnover high up the pitch. Points by Paul Bradley and Niall Duffy left the minimum between the teams at the end of the first quarter.

From there to the end of the half it was St Brigid’s who took their chances and they led by four points at half time, despite some great work from Diarmuid Rogan who set up numerous opportunities for Rossa which they were unable to convert.

Rossa made a quick start to the second half and when Daire Rocks was fouled close to goal they were awarded a penalty.  However Colm Fleming saw his spot kick sail past the post and this proved to be a great let off for the south Belfast men.

St Brigid’s extended their lead with points from Ruben Carlton and Darragh Quinn; however they couldn’t shake off the Shaws Road men who replied with scores from Mick Byrne and Colm Fleming.

As the game opened up in the final quarter Naomh Bríd had some great opportunities to stretch their lead. They made three goal scoring opportunities but each time they found Mick Byrne in sparkling form and with the help of some last ditch defending from Gavin McGrath, Stephen Beatty and Fiachra McDonald, Rossa held out. Entering the last few minutes Rossa had numerous opportunities to gain something from the game but the St Brigid’s defence were well organized and Peter King and Ruben Carlton in particular held firm to ensure a victory for the Musgrave men.

Reuben Carlton who scored 0-03 in St Brigid’s win over Rossa

The new management trio will be delighted with their unbeaten start to the season. Gerard and Tomas McNulty are joined by Cathal Murray who is back coaching in Antrim again after many years following his recent success managing  St Mary’s Ardee where he won  three Louth championships in a row.

St Brigid’s: Declan Heery, Joseph Mellon, Conor King, Aodhan McNicholl (0-1)Daire Oglesby, Peter King, Reuben Carlton,(0-3)Michael Cummings, Cathal Conway(0-1)John Toner ,Paul Bradley((1-3) , Joseph McCarney, Niall Duffy(0-3),Brian McGurk, Dara Quinn (0-2)

Subs: Jack Dowling, Conal McNicholl

Rossa: Michael Byrne (0-7) Niall Crossan, Gavin McGrath ,Ben McCauley, Stephen Beatty ,Fiachra McDonald, Cormac McGettigan ,Eoghan McMenamin(0-1) ,Rory Grant ,Eoghan Fleming ,Diarmuid Rogan ,Chris Robb, Colm Fleming (0-3),Daire Rocks

Subs: Daire Morgan, Conall McDonald, Michael McEnhill, Jack McGurk

Referee: Paul Burns (Naomh Comhghall)