ACHL DIVISION ONE
St John’s 1-17
Rossa 0-15
At Corrigan Park
THE Antrim Division One League served up a classic West Belfast derby on Sunday as St John’s hosted their arch-rivals Rossa in the perfect return to Corrigan Park.
A batch of fresh turf played host to a fiercely contested, hard-hitting encounter where absolutely no quarter was asked or given.
St John’s capitalized on a stiff breeze in the opening period to build a six point lead, and despite a valiant second-half fightback from Rossa, which saw them close the gap to the minimum at one stage, a dramatic injury-time goal from Conor Johnston ultimately sealed the win for the home side.
The hosts came out of the blocks flying as Caoimhin Hanna split the posts to open the scoring, quickly followed by a point from their ever reliable free taker Oisín MacManus.
Rossa settled into the game shortly after, with midfielder Liam McEnhill registering their first score. Moments later, after a driving break involving McEnhil, Corey Walsh scooped the ball over the bar to keep the visitors right in the mix.
However, St John’s soon took control of the half. MacManus kept the scoreboard ticking over, while McEnhill continued a strong individual performance with his second point of the day.
Diarmaid Rogan landed a superb long-range effort for the Jeremiah’s on the 12-minute mark, but the hosts responded emphatically.
After MacManus converted a 50-metre free, the home side executed the move of the half when shot-stopper Domhnall Nugent claimed a great catch and initiated a full-length of the field passing move that ended with Hanna grabbing his second point to make it a five-point game.
Rossa fought back through the stick of Deaglan Murphy, showing his deft prowess from deadballs after he landed a free on 17 minutes, and a massive 60-metre point from the left flank by Aidan Orchin before Murphy added another 40-metre free shortly after.
Despite the efforts from the Shaws Road side, the hosts finished the half incredibly strong.
Ruairi Galbraith hit two beautiful scores, including a fine effort from the right corner, before Michael Bradley extended the lead from the left side.
Deaglan Murphy and Oisín MacManus traded late frees, sending St John’s into the dressing room with a comfortable six-point cushion.
Rossa emerged for the second half with renewed intensity and a wind at their backs.
Gerard Walsh struck early with a long-range free, but the Johnnies immediately answered through a great dead ball strike of their own from McManus and a towering point from midfielder Aaron Bradley.
Diarmaid Rogan provided a massive spark for Rossa who refused to back down after he slotted a point from the right wing. Before firing over again when he cleanly won the resulting puck-out, and fired over in quick succession to narrow the deficit.
As the half wore on, the tension in Corrigan Park was palpable. A long free from deep inside St John’s territory by McManus set up another score for the home side, but Rossa’s Deaglan Murphy began to punish St John’s indiscretions as he nailed three crucial frees—two consecutively, and another on the 22-minute mark—to drag Rossa right back into the contest, reducing the gap to just two points.
Oisín McManus responded for St John’s, cutting sharply to his left into space and floating over a vital point to make it 0-17 to 0-15.
Rossa threw everything forward in the dying minutes and managed to claw the gap back to a single, precarious point. But as the clock ticked into the second minute of injury time, St John’s delivered the final, fatal blow when Conor Johnston carved through the Rossa defense and, while falling forward, managed to brilliantly bat the ball into the back of the net.
The injury-time goal proved to be the ultimate decider, quelling the Rossa comeback and ensuring the bragging rights—and the league points—remained at Corrigan Park.
