Graham Tarmac Antrim Junior Football Championship, Group One
St Agnes' 1-10 Laochra Loch Lao 0-7
St Agnes' moved top of Group One of the Junior Football Championship following a good win over Laochra Loch Lao at St Teresa's on Friday night.
With the strong breeze at their backs, St Agnes' took a two point lead through Conall Turley and David Garahan and when Ronan Carroll fired home from the penalty spot with 13 minutes gone, they were in control.
It would be 15 minutes before Connla O’Coinn would raise the Gaeilgeoirí's first white flag from a free but it only served to bring another response from the men in black as Ronan Carroll hit three excellent points at the other end.
The Aggies continued to call the shots as they moved the ball around with purpose and David Quigley punished a bad kick-out before Conall Turley fisted over the half’s final point to leave it 1-7 to 0-1 at the break.
Conall Turley extended that lead to 10 with a point after 30 seconds of the second half but slowly, Laochra Loch Lao began to get a foothold in the game as O’Coinn pointed his second free before Kevin Devine brought their total of the evening to three with an excellent point from play with three minutes gone.
Devine added another superb effort as Laochra began to enjoy some success and then Diarmaid McPhillips struck a great free from 70 meters to close the gap to six in the ninth minute and suddenly we appeared to have a game on our hands.
St Agnes' rang the changes at this stage as they introduced Brendan Grieve and Paul McClenaghan and it seemed to settle them with Laochra receiving a setback when they lost a player to a straight Red after 14 minutes.
Conall Turley replied from a pointed free, St Agnes first score for 17 minutes with the excellent Devine and Conor McGuckin responding for Laochra to leave five in it with 10 minutes remaining.
Another substitution from the Aggies bench had an almost immediate effect as Shay Madden raced through on goal but had his shot blocked on the line with the Laochra goal surviving a hectic scramble on the follow up.
Madden made amends with his side’s final point with two minutes remaining with Laochra pushing hard for the goal that might ignite their challenge but they had to settle for a late consolation point from Oisin Crawford.
Pearse's 2-11 O’Donnell’s 0-9
A totally dominant second half saw Pearse's come from behind to beat O’Donnell’s in Friday evening’s game at Woodlands.
At the end of the opening quarter, O’Dees appeared to be in a strong position when they led by three points, but two goals in as many minutes for Pearse's turned the game on its head as they pushed on to lead by 2-5 to 0-8 at half-time.
After the change of ends, the 2022 winners took full control conceding just one more point while adding six of their own to win by eight in the end, and move above O’Donnell’s in score difference in the group.
With a stiff breeze behind them in the first half, O’Donnell’s went three ahead inside eight minutes with points from Pearse Rice, John Rafferty and Johnny O’Donnell, who fisted over from close range.
Two points from Pearse's centre-forward Stephen Fitzsimons cut the gap back to a single point, but O’Dee’s responded well and points from Joe Rafferty and Pearse Rice stretched the gap out to three again at the end of the opening quarter.
The gap was still at three with eighteen minutes gone, but Pearse's hit back with two goals and a point in quick succession, man of the match Fitzsimons getting the first goal and adding a point immediately afterwards, while corner forward Sean Moreland got the second goal a minute later.
Padraig McKissock and Johnny O’Donnell came back with two for O’Donnell’s but Fitzsimons and Moreland ended the half strongly for Pearses to give them a 2-5 to 0-8 lead at the interval.
Liam Deegan stretched the Pearses lead to four in the first minute of the second half, and though O’Donnell’s came back with one at the other end soon afterwards it was to be their last score of the game. With the wind behind them there was no stopping Pearses and with the excellent Fitzsimons adding four more points and Moreland and Pater Johnston also getting in on the score act, they pushed on to win with a bit to spare.
Graham Tarmac Antrim Junior Football Championship, Group Two
Éire Óg 3-9 Wolfe Tones 1-4
Éire Óg put themselves back in the hunt for a playoff place in the Antrim Junior Football Championship with a good win over a battling Wolfe Tones at MacRory Park on Saturday evening.
The opening exchanges were close enough as James McClory pointed Éire Óg ahead before Martin Connor replied from a sixth minute free for the Greencastle side to level the contest.
With Niall Ward orchestrating matters from around midfield, Éire Óg slowly got on top as Mark Graham and Peter James Toal moved them two in front by the 16th minute and then Tones goalkeeper, Danny McIvor pulled off a splendid save to deny Kevin Clarke from close range.
Toal added a point for the Ogs before Martin Connor replied from a second free for he Greencastle side and the goal that had been threatening duly arrived when Niall Ward fired home in the 22nd minute.
Éire Óg would push on to lead 1-6 to 0-2 at half-time with further points from Kevin Clarke and Peter James Toal and Wolfe Tones looked to have plenty to do to get back into contention as the sides headed to the MacRory Park dressing rooms.
The Greencastle side’s best player got them off the mark for the second half with his third pointed free of the afternoon but Éire Óg responded through Mark Graham and Daniel Campbell to move eight ahead by the 10th minute.
With Kevin Clarke moving outfield and Mark Graham on the edge of the square, the space was beginning to open up for the Derriaghy side and Daniel Campbell struck an excellent goal in the 13th minute following a defence splitting build-up.
Éire Óg then lost Gavin Donnelly to a black card and Wolfe Tones were handed a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty which Martin Connor confidently fired past Mark Hamill to give his side a glimmer of hope.
That hope was soon dashed however as a great move from deep in defence saw Éire Óg move the ball with precision as Stephen Erskine struck a superb goal to put the contest beyond reach and Gavin Donnelly fired over the final point of the game to see his side safely home.
St Comgall's 2-15 St Malachy’s 0-7
ST COMGALL'S maintained their impressive run this year with a comfortable victory over St Malachy's on Saturday at Hannahstown.
Miles Devine cracked home two first-half goals for the Antrim town outfit and they never looked back as they sealed top spot in the group and a straight passage into the last four.
Devine's first came in the 11th minute as he took a pass from James McCabe to finish and put his side 1-2 to 0-0 up.
Anthony Dobbin got the South Belfast men off the mark, but St Comgall's were in no mood to ease off with Tom Patchett, an Anthony Watson 45 and Ryan Clarke’s first of the day opened up a seven-point lead.
Then came Devine's second goal with 19 played as Jack Moore collected when Joshua Webb's shot for a point came down off the post and he fed the talisman to finish.
Josh Henry and Clarke added points as they moved their side into a commanding position and although
Stephen Carson had the final say of the half for St Malachy's, it was St Comgall's in a 2-8 to 0-3 lead.
The city side tried to work their way back with Gavin McManus and Jack McGivern finding their range, but there was no way back with Clarke continuing to be a constant thorn in the side and although Devine was denied his hat-trick by Fintan McBride, the issue had long been decided with Liam Phinn adding his name to the scoresheet with the final kick of the game.
ST COMGALL'S: A Watson (0-1 45), C McKeown, E Lynott, D O’Hara, S Hinfey, J McCabe (0-1), M McCabe, J Henry (0-1), A McGaw, J Moore (0-1), R Clarke (0-7 2f), J Webb, C Griffen, M Devine (2-0), T Patchett (0-3, 1m).
Subs: S Sloan for Griffen (45), L Phinn (0-1) for Moore (45), P McAuley for Hinfey (51), N Taggart for McGaw (53).
ST MALACHY'S: T Rice, C Connolly, C Corr, D Quinn, A Dobbin (0-1), M Connolly, C Jordan, C Vernon, J McGivern (0-2), A McGreevy (0-2), G McManus (0-1), S Lynch, S Carson (0-1), P Millar.
Subs: P Lynch for Quinn (HT), F McBride for Rice (44), Quinn for Millar (50), R Varsani for McManus (50).
REFEREE: Martin Quinn.