In their latest league game the senior footballers played out an entertaining draw when hosting Naomh Pádraig at Páirc Mhic Dháibhéid.
The opening point came from Gerard Slane, after Anthony Rowntree won possession of the ball from the throw-in, fed the ball off to CJ Sullivan who hand passed off to Gerard to slot over the bar. Naomh Pádraig then kicked the next two points with the highlight a well worked passage of play down the left side, culminating with a fine finish from a tight angle. We responded with two consecutive points, one from Brady Maguire and the second from a Sean Smith free just inside the arc out on the right hand side. Both teams then traded 2 point scores with Padraig McParland on target and we then pushed on and stretched the lead to five. Sean Smyth was first on the mark as he took the ball out on the right, cut in and slotted over the bar. This was followed with another two point score from CJ Sullivan with an excellent kick from way outside the arc and when Anthony Rowntree picked up the ball from a break, laid off for Gerard Slane to finish we led 0-9 to 0-4 after 18 minutes.
Naomh Pádraig reduced the deficit with a nice point from a free before Anthony Rowntree got in on the scoring after Sean Smyth fired a shot goal bound, the keeper saved the shot and Anthony picked up the rebound and put it over the bar. Naomh Pádraig closed the gap when they worked the ball through the lines and finished with a fierce shot over the bar, They followed with another point after working the ball again at pace through the lines. CJ Sullivan then curled the ball over the bar from a tight angle to give us an 11-7 lead with the final two points of the half going to Naomh Pádraig to leave us two points to the good at the break.
The Lisburn side kicked the opening score of the 2nd half before a brace of points from Sean Smith, a free in front of the goals and Sean O’Neill put us a goal in front. However Naomh Pádraig responded with a massive push as they reeled off four consecutive points to edge into the lead. A Sean Smith point from a free levelled the game but Naomh Pádraig hit back again with two points from frees. Again it was Sean Smyth who kept us on their coat tails with a series of side steps and a nice finish to leave a point between the sides. Naomh Pádraig restored their 2 point advantage into injury time before Gerard Slane reduced it to one again with a nice point. It was all to play for as the time ebbed away, and as we won the kick out we raced forward in search of a score the referee awarded us a free and an opportunity to level the game. Sean Smyth stepped up and coolly slotted the ball over the bar. Following the resultant kick out the referee called an end to proceedings with the score 0-17 to 0-17.
Scorers: Gerard Slane 0-3, Brady Maguire 0-1, Sean Smyth 0-6, Padraig McParland 0-2, CJ Sullivan 0-3, Anthony Rowntree 0-1 and Sean O’Neill 0-1
Click on the album below for additional photos of the game.
