SFC - Group D

St Paul's 2-6

St Mary's Aghagallon 2-19

ST Paul's were officially confirmed as the first side to crash out of this seasons Senior Football Championship after a hammer blow defeat at the hands of Craigavon side St Mary's Aghagallon on Friday evening.

The home side entered the tie hoping that the league meeting between the two would put them in good stead heading into this fixture as both sides knew it was do or die after losing their opening fixtures respectively to St Brigid's and Ahoghill.

John Hannon was on top form for the travellers as he top scored seven points for Aghagallon his first coming when he opened his sides scoring with a brace of frees in reply to Conall Duffy's short range point which got the game underway in the opening minutes.

St Paul's struggled to cope with the pressures of the Senior level and looked like rabbits in the headlights for the most part but Caoimhin Kavanagh's point for the red and white hoops looked to have stemmed the nerves in the 18th minute when it closed the gap to within three.

GOAL THREAT: Adam Loughran scored two goals for Aghagallon on Friday evening
2Gallery

GOAL THREAT: Adam Loughran scored two goals for Aghagallon on Friday evening

A few moments later Enda McCartan struck a great effort between the posts after the home side enjoyed hefty possession but little joy in terms of adding to their score tally.

Aghagallon's biggest feat of the night likely went unnoticed for most, but it was absolutely devastating to their opponents in their pursuit of victory, that of course being the switch of man-marking to contain star-man Ciarón Rogers-Duffy as the forward was left starved of the ball in the opening half.

John Hannon hit a quickfire double as the end of the first half drew near as his side led by seven points giving St Paul's a mountain to climb going into the break. 

Hope was at hand for the Shaws road side as a very late first half penalty after Niall McStravick's run for a loose ball was brought to an end after an Aghagallon defender collided with the half-forward which resulted in a penalty being awarded.

Conall Duffy slotted home from the spot kick and reduced the deficit to four points on the stroke of half-time.

The home side struggled to cope with the relentless attacks on offer from St Mary's as the gaps in their backline appeared to show and it was very apparent in the opening minute of the second half when Ruairi McCann pointed for the Greens after Aghagallon won the midfield battle upon the restart.

Rogers-Duffy finally opened his account after a few missed frees in the first half, but he made no mistake with his first effort of the second half as he dispatched his free inside the 21-yard line.

John Hannon proved a handful once again when the forward used his pace and power to break past the St Paul's half-back line as gaps continued to appear, the forward pointed his effort with ease to extend his sides lead to five.

Aghagallon really began to turn the screw when Eunan Walsh struck consecutive two-pointers for his side. 

Walsh saw his first effort bend between the uprights with the ball nestling in the catch net as the Red flag was raised signalling the two. 

Less than 20 seconds after the first score, his second effort saw the same result after the home side were caught lacking from their own kick-out which was retrieved by St Mary's and Walsh dispatched an almost carbon copy finish of his effort moments prior.

The game began looking beyond the home side at that point and was more or less dead and buried when Adam Loughran slotted Aghagallon's first goal of the evening after the forward latched onto a loose ball inside the box.

Rogers-Duffy did hit a second free for his side but hope was all but lost when the scoreboard saw a twelve point lead in favour of St Mary's with less than ten minutes left of the contest.

St Paul's held some momentum but made little use of it before Loughran scored his second goal of the evening when Aghagallon managed to retain possession and catch the St Paul's defence on the counter attack.

Loughran retrieved the ball and made no mistake as he struck his effort beyond Jack McAulfield in the St Paul's net clinching the tie and all but securing St Paul's fate.

James Farrell did strike a late goal for St Paul's but it was too little too late as they fell to a devastating defeat which sees them become the first side to exit the championship this season.

St Paul's: J McAulfield; A Kavanagh 0-1, E McGreevey, D O'Sullivan; M Duffy, M Munce; C Killyleagh, J Farrell 1-0, C Hughes; N McStravick, C Duffy 1-2, L Phillips, C Duffy 0-1, C Rogers-Duffy 0-2 (0-2f)

Subs: L Murphy, P Magee, P Crawford, C McAlea, R Morgan, A Carroll, G Cowan, R McCoy

St Mary's Aghagallon: P Maginnis, A Mulholland, K Hamill, O Rooney, J Lamont, J Lenehan, P Gowdy, A Loughran 2-1, J Hannon 0-7 (0-4F), E Walsh 0-5 (2x2P), R McCann 0-3, M McStravick 0-2, P Brannigan, M McAfee 0-1

Subs: A Doherty, R McShane, L Russell, C Magill, S Gowdy, S Brannigan, E Maginnis