The senior footballers succumbed to Naomh Comhghall in their second league outing going down by 2 points in a keenly contested encounter at Dunsilly.
We began brightly with Aaron Slane kicking a 2 point free from outside the arc, on the left side to give us the perfect start. Caoimhe Slane increased our lead with another pointed free before a forcefully run from Deaglan Mooney culminated in a well kicked point to give us a 4 point advantage. Naomh Comhghall got their first score of the game in the 12th minute when a high ball was kicked into the square and when it bobbled about Ryan Clarke scrambled the ball over the line for a goal. A Naomh Comhghall infringement then saw the referee move the ball forward and Caoimhe Slane duly kicked the resulting free over the bar with Ruairi Griffin replying for the home side after a nice run through the middle section of the pitch. We extended our lead to a goal when a quick transfer of the ball found Caoimhe Slane who kicked his 3rd point of the day before Anthony Rowntree pointed after taking possession from the resultant kick out. The Antrim men finished the half strongly, kicking 4 unanswered points to take a 1 point lead into the break.
We were unfortunate on the restart when we had the ball in the back of the net after 34 minutes only to see the score chalked off for a square ball. However we levelled in the 35th minute when Caoimhe Slane split the posts. Naomh Comhghall then enjoyed their best spell of the game with 5 consecutive points, inclusive of a 2 pointer which resulted from a 45 being played backwards and the long range effort sailing over the bar. We were definitely on the back foot going int the final fifteen minutes. An Anthony McGrattan point reduced the deficit and when a crashing shot from Anthony Rowntree came back of the crossbar it felt that it wasn’t going to be our day.
Naomh Comhghall tagged on a further point but we rallied and with further points from CJ Sullivan with the outside of his foot, a good left footed point from James Lindsay, a nice finish from Niall McParland after a good period of possession and when Chris Rafferty converted a free we were only a point adrift. Miles Devine then pointed for Naomh Comhghall before Chris Rafferty suffered an unfortunate knee injury with a few minutes left which required the ambulance. The final minutes were played out on the adjoining pitch and with no further score Naomh Comhghall secured their first win of the campaign.
Everyone wishes Chris Rafferty all the best and a speedy recovery from his injury.
Click here for photos of the game.
Scorers: Caoimhe Slane 0-4, Aaron Slane 0-2, Deaglan Mooney 0-1, A Rowntree 0-1, Anthony McGrattan 0-1, CJ Sullivan 0-1, James Lindsay 0-1, Niall McParland 0-1 and Chris Rafferty 0-1
