OB Construction Antrim Intermediate Football Championship final
All Saints, Ballymena 3-15 St Teresa’s 0-7

THE trend in Antrim Intermediate football continued in Toome on Saturday as All Saints made up for disappointment in the previous year's final to take the ultimate step.

St Teresa's were game, but ultimately outgunned by the Ballymena men who had established a lead at the break and then rocked the city men with three goals in the second period to put their stamp on this decider.

Aided by the wind in the first half, they built a healthy lead and those second half majors emphasised their dominance on the day with Conor Stewart in superb form. 

He kicked five points in the opening period and another in the second period to underline his man-of-the-match credentials, but he was no alone as Paddy McAleer also had a great day when Liam Bradley's key men stood up. 

In the second half, their pace then came to the fore as Patrick Ferris drove at the city side to create havoc.

Ronan McKillop, Ciaran Campbell and Connell Lemon also heavily prominent as the Ballymena men dealt with the elements much better than their opponents.

St Teresa’s will look at the first half and know they gave All Saints too much room. They looked to pack their defence and they did hold onto possession well but they couldn’t curtail an All Saint’s attack that was proving to be uncontainable.

Their midfielders, Darren McCann and Pierce O’Rawe went through a mountain of work and played the shirt off their back while Ryan and Conor Mallon caught the eye.  
They just couldn’t match All Saint’s in attack, however. The Ballymena men were defensively astute with Peter McNicholl staying deep in the second half and his side played with a purpose that ensured they weren’t going to be denied.

St Teresa’s opened the scoring on a cold afternoon in Toome with a free from John Mallon. He would finish with three points beside his name before coming off midway through the second half and while the Glen Road side had the lion’s share of possession, they couldn’t make inroads in the All Saints defence. The South West men looked for turnovers and to hit St Teresa’s with precise attacks.  

Three points in as many minutes from Conor Stewart had the All Saints men two ahead inside the opening 10 minutes and while John Mallon would half that deficit in the 12th minute, it would be their last score for 15 minutes as All Saints began to find their range and gain more possession.

A Connell Lemon point preceded a brace from McAleer (one free) as All Saints mixed their point of attack but it was the simply sublime shooting from Stewart that really was a confidence booster for his side. He would add another two simply brilliant scores to take the Ballymena lead to seven with six minutes of the half remaining.

The St Teresa’s challenge wasn’t helped with the black card dismissal of Niall McCann with three minutes of the first half remaining. They did have a goal scoring chance just before half time when Anton Taylor went close. He was first to a dropping ball played in from a Francis Dugan 45 and as the ball came Taylor’s way, he went for power off the deck but his effort went to the wrong side of the post.

That was a pivotal moment in the game and could have given the West Belfast men a huge boost going into the second half and while seven points certainly was insurmountable given the weather conditions that would be in their favour, they needed a bright start to the second half.

It didn’t come. If anything, All Saints won the game in the opening exchanges of the second half with McAleer, Conor Stewart and Lemon all firing over to extend their lead to 10 points. It could have been more but for the crossbar coming to Ciaran Murtagh’s rescue after Shaun O’Callaghan’s effort came back off the woodwork.

A Darren McCann score from distance gave the St Teresa’s support something to hang onto, a sublime score from distance and wide on the right but moments like those were fleeting for his side. 

With Ferris exerting his influence on the game, it was his direct running that brought a massive goal chance for All Saints. His speed and agility left the St Teresa’s defence in his wake but his drilled effort was superbly saved by Murtagh between the sticks.

All Saints didn’t have long to wait before celebrating their first goal of the match, however. Sean McVeigh it was who got on the end of a sweeping move that saw him left with the goal at his mercy. He palmed into the net to leave 12 between the sides after 12 second half minutes.

Points from Taylor and John Mallon followed as St Teresa’s continued to look for ways to penetrate a tight All Saints defence. Lemon’s second of the match preceded points from Niall McCann and Taylor. They came either side of a massive goal chance for McVeigh. With the goal at his mercy, McVeigh went for glory off the deck but he found the side netting at the near post.

The second and third All Saint’s goals came in the 55th minute and added further gloss to the score line for the Ballymena men. Ferris was at the heart of the build up with a mazey run that saw the ball falling to substitute Ryan Thom and he made no mistake.

From the resulting kick out, All Saint’s found themselves through on goal and it was Lemon who finished to cap off a super individual performance and extend his sides lead.

Scores came at the end of the game from Michael McCarry, a brace of frees for the All Saints substitute to put 17 points between the sides and his side saw out the time that remained with minimal fuss.

It was an accomplished performance from the All Saints who were excellent throughout. Having reached this stage for the third time in four years, they have been knocking on the door. That door was burst off the hinges in Toome. All Saints will now have an eye on a run in Ulster.

ALL SAINTS: R Stewart; M Read, C O’Brien, K Keenan; J McDonnell, S O’Callaghan, P Ferris (0-1); S McVeigh (1-0), P McNicholl; C Lemon (1-2), C Campbell, R McKillop; E Killough, C Stewart (0-6), P McAleer (0-4, 1f)
Subs: R Thom (1-0) for K Keenan (42); M McCarry (0-2f) for C Campbell (50); M Downey for P McAleer (50); J Rafferty for M Read (55); B McDonnell for R McKillop (55)

ST TERESA'S: C Murtagh; A Dugan, P Johnston, R Mallon; E Connolly, C McGoldrick, C Mallon; D McCann (0-1), P O’Rawe; J Mallon (0-3, 2f), N McCann (0-1), S Maguire; F Dugan, A Taylor (0-2), P McGoldrick
Subs: P Maguire for S Maguire (42); E Hamill for F Dugan (49); M Small for J Mallon (54); A Varndell for E Connolly (55); P Glennon for A Dugan (57)

REFEREE: Cathal McDermott (Tír na nÓg)