ACFL Division One
Rossa 0-13
Dunloy 2-12
At Rossa Park
THE final weekend of the all-county football leagues saw a clash between Rossa and Antrim County champions Dunloy and despite a lack of jeopardy the game was a great spectacle of football on Sunday afternoon on the Shaws Road.
Goals proved to be the difference between the sides who maintained their top-flight status and settled for a mid-table finish at the top table in Antrim.
The men from North Antrim came to the city hoping to reignite their form ahead of next month's championship.
The hosts started the better with a tally of terrific scores and a superb two-pointer from Michael McEnhill which set the tone for the contest after Rossa collected the ball from the throw-in and proceeded to drive a terrific opening score.
Colm Fleming soon found another orange flag as the forward, who had transitioned into the back-line for this fixture, drove a terrific effort off the deck and floated the ball into the catch-net — extending their early lead to four points within as many minutes.
Eventually the away side broke their duck with a Conal Cunning strike jumped over the blackspot on the bar for Dunloy.
Rossa fought back and Fleming once again proved deadly from range with another terrific set-piece in the same spot as moments before and fortunately, with a kiss from the upright, the result was the same — two-points were awarded for Rossa.
The county champions hoped to get into their groove and were causing the Jeremiahs problems with some slick passing and quick movement but Dunloy's inaccuracy plagued them in the first quarter.
A first of five points from Nigel Elliot came after a terrific jinking move allowed him to bounce off his marker's physical challenge before popping a delightful score over the bar.
Elliot once again proved to be the danger man and panic set in when he looked to be gifted a sight at the net. However, his effort was just too powerful and a single score was the final result but Rossa looked to be reeling after their early dominance.
Dunloy emerged from their early deficit and would surge into a blistering final ten minutes of the first half.
Firstly after some quick-fire play which saw Nigel Elliot's initial effort fall short of the intended target, Padraig McGilligan was on hand to punch the ball into the danger zone and Donnach Laverty's sliced effort did just enough to find the back of the net.
Moments later Rossa were in danger once again when Dunloy retrieved their short kick-out and a driving run from Eoin O'Neill saw him use his blistering pace to gather momentum and evade his opposition before planting a terrific effort into the top-corner of the net.
The momentum had truly swung in favour of the North Antrim men and they looked to continue to press and use their fast-paced play to disrupt the hosts.
At the break Dunloy led by five points with the major strikes from Laverty and O'Neill proving the difference when Colly Thompson's small whistle was sounded.
The second-half was not as urgent an affair with both sides edging each other out and Rossa struggling to eat into the Dunloy lead.
Mid-way through the second period it was still four-points in favour of the away side as with every score Rossa hit, Dunloy managed to equal.
They did look to find some joy through Dominic McEnhill and his involvement was massive in closing the gap to within two points after he hit a brace of points in quick succession including two frees from short range.
But Conal Cunning restored Dunloy's advantage back to four points as they hoped to continue on course for victory.
Despite their best efforts Rossa would come undone and Eoghan McGrath's superb strike for two would virtually end any hope of a comeback.
McEnhill found another white flag for Rossa but it was cancelled out by Nigel Elliot's terrific fist-pass score and the final game of the season went in favour of the men in green.
As for Rossa they will take some positives from the performance with the knowledge that key additions in Thomas Morgan and Mick Byrne will return ahead of the championship campaign.
Rossa XV: R McDonagh; F McDonald, M McKernan, S McDonald; D Morgan, C Fleming 0-5 (2xTPf, 0-1f), D Friel; E McMenamin, L McEnhill 0-2; M McEnhill 0-2 (1xTP), D McEnhill 0-4 (0-1f), D Rogan; C Walsh, D Murphy, R Murray
Dunloy XV: C McMahon; C McCloskey, A Crawford, M Traynor; C Kinsella, R McGarry, J Scally; P McGilligan 1-0, C Cunning 0-3 (0-2f); E O'Neill 1-0, J Martin, O McCamphill; D Laverty 1-0, N Elliot 0-5, E McGrath 0-2 (1xTP)
