SFC - Group C

St Gall's 4-16

All Saint's 1-19

IT has been five years since St Gall's got past the group stages of the Senior Football Championship but that streak finally came to an end on Saturday evening after they defeating Ballymena All Saints in a frantic affair.

An all-star star performance from Niall Burns helped secure the victory. St Gall's managed to swing a four-point half time deficit as the Milltown men went onto clinch their second victory in this seasons championship and earn themselves a quarter-final spot in the Championship this season.

Niall O'Neill opened the scoring as the corner forward struck a neat point inside the first minute of play to get the game up and running but Sean O'Callaghan and Conor Stewart replied soon after to put the Ballymena natives ahead and that is where they stayed for the remainder of the first period.

All-Star: Niall Burns showed his intercounty prowess as he gave St Gall's the edge
3Gallery

All-Star: Niall Burns showed his intercounty prowess as he gave St Gall's the edge

Liam Lynn and Joe Rafferty exchanged points before Paddy McAleer struck to extend his sides lead by two inside the opening eight minutes of play.

The game looked to be pulling away for the West Belfast club when Conor Stewart hit a maximum as he broke past the St Gall's defence and blasted an effort beyond Kevin Niblock and registered the first goal of the evening.

Ronan McKillop and James McDonnell pointed either side of Niall O'Neill's goal shout which thundered the bar, leaving the Milltown Park faithful with the mind swirling as it looked like yet another year of bad luck in the championship.

St Gall's did manage to maintain composure and not lose their discipline early on as Daniel Quinn fisted a score over the bar and kept the pressure on Ballymena who were more than happy to comply as McAleer was on top form for his side and struck another brace of points on the 20-minute mark.

MAN-ON: Daniel Quinn evades his marker
3Gallery

MAN-ON: Daniel Quinn evades his marker

Ronan McKillop's fantastic two-pointer looked to put All Saints in hot contention for a repeat of their league victory at Milltown but St Gall's still has life left in them yet.

With just the four minutes to play in the half, Callum Walsh managed to get the ball into the Ballymena net after a mad scramble which saw Niall Burns effort crush the underside of the bar before an all-out brawl inside the box - luckily for the home side Walsh did just enough.

Burns then struck another point instantly as St Gall's looked to reduce the huge deficit with their opponents but Conor Stewart proved a handful for St Gall's in the opening period as he managed to strike another deuce of points as the half-time score saw Ballymena lead 1-13 to St Galls' 1-9.

From the restart St Gall's had the eye of the tiger as Niall Burns got going for his side when he pointed two points within quick succession for his side to eat into the gap that Ballymena held over the home side.

Stewart once again could not be silenced in the Ballymena front line but the key moment of the game came moments later when St Gall's saw momentum shift in their favour.

Callum Walsh, who was having a tremendous game despite lack of scoring opportunities, used his pace and burned past his marker before lifting a pass into the danger area and the oncoming Conn Doherty launched himself to punch the ball home and put St Gall's in front for the first time in the tie.

Doherty landed in an awkward spot with his neck in the aftermath but sacrificed his wellbeing for what proved to be a pivotal point in the affair.

The sides went tit-for-tat as McAleer hit a two pointer with ten remaining to see Ballymena in the lead by the minimum, but that was only temporary as up-stepped Niall Burns.

The St Gall's star managed to breach the half back line of All Saints and slotted his effort beyond the goalkeeper to the thunderous roars of the home bench.

St Gall's managed another goal straight away after they retained possession from the kick-out and Niall O'Neill rounded the Ballymena netminder Ryan Stewart and blasted into the empty net as the home side took a five point advantage with as many minutes to play.

McAleer struck again for Ballymena from a close range free but Niall Burns replied soon after to keep the distance between the sides.

Ballymena huffed and puffed as Sean McVeigh entered the frame but to no avail as St Gall's held defensively strong and confirmed their first Championship knockout game in almost half a decade and can relax going into the final test with Creggan knowing the job is done.

As for Ballymena, they will face Lámh Dhearg and it remains to be seen who will fall into the dreaded relegation play-offs this season.

St Gall's: K Niblock; C McGirr, G Adams, C McCabe; G O'Neill, E McCabe, L Lynn 0-3; C Burke, C Ryan; N Burns 1-6 (0-4f), B Bradley 0-1, C Walsh 1-0, N O'Neill 1-1, C Doherty 1-1, D Quinn 0-4

SUBS: D Wilson, N Fallon, N McCurdy, C Murray, E Walsh, E McCurdy, C Kerr, M Murray, P Óg Murray

All Saints Ballymena: R Stewart; M Downey, K Keenan, C O'Brien; J Rafferty 0-1, S O'Callaghan 0-1, J McDonnell 0-1; C Stewart 1-6, E Killough; C Lemon 0-1, P McReynolds, P McAleer 0-6 (0-3f) R McKillop 0-3 (1x2P); S McVeigh, C Campbell

SUBS: C Brennan, O O'Rawe, H Connon R Thom, P Mitchell, M Watt, S McDermott, P Ferris, R McVeigh, D Bradley