Football

St John's seeking redemption after last year's heartache as they size up Creggan

St John's suffered final heartache to west Belfast rivals Lamh Dhearg
St John's suffered final heartache to west Belfast rivals Lamh Dhearg St John's suffered final heartache to west Belfast rivals Lamh Dhearg

St John's v Creggan Kickham's (Tomorrow, Glenavy, 4.30pm)

HAVING lost out in last year's final, St John's will be determined to get back to the decider when they take on Creggan in the second semi-final of this year’s Antrim Senior Football Championship at Glenavy tomorrow.

The Johnnies began their campaign in impressive fashion, scoring a comfortable win over west Belfast rivals, St Teresa's in the quarter-final with their 3-14 tally spread fairly evenly.

Matthew Fitzpatrick and Paddy McBride are their leading lights, but are well supported with Brian 'Bam' Neeson, Conor Johnston and Peter McCallin making up the rest of their attack, while they are solid at the back, forming a screen across the 45 that is hard to penetrate with Ciaran Johnston at the centre, while wing-backs, Jack Hannigan and Conor McEvoy have the pace and attacking fortitude to burst forward when the opportunity arises.

Perhaps the most eye-catching thing about their win last time out was the strength of their bench.

Michael Bradley, Aaron Douglas, Ryan McNulty, Ronan McCafferty and Luke Peden all came on and each would have justifiable claims for a starting jersey.

This strength-in-depth bodes well for the Corrigan Park men who are fighting on two front with their hurlers in a semi-final replay next week.

Creggan are also a team who have been balancing the demands of two codes as their hurlers were in action last weekend in the Intermediate final against St Gall's with many of the players including Kevin and Conor Small, Conor McCann and Sam Maguire all lining out again this week.

Kevin Madden will have had all week to work with those players on how to counteract what St John's bring to the table and they too got their Championship challenge off to a fine start a fortnight back when romping to a handsome win over Ahoghill.

Both teams will know they won't have anywhere like the same space to operate tomorrow and at the back, Creggan look solid with Ricky Johnson at full-back and county player, Ruairi McCann a vital cog at wing-back.

Marty Johnson returned to get some minutes against Ahoghill last time out and will be expected to start this time to add some steel around the middle of the field, potentially matching up against Fitzpatrick in what would be a fascinating duel.

Creggan have had a fine league campaign so the signs are certainly promising for the Loughshore outfit, but in recent years, that promise hasn't translated into Championship victory over a fellow contender.

They will know this has to be the time they make that leap into the final having lost out in last season’s semi-final against eventual winners, Lamh Dhearg.

Many of the players from both teams are no strangers to each other having met over the years at senior and underage when St John's always seemed to have the upper hand.

This game is highly unlikely to be a free-flowing shootout, with both teams expected to drop men behind the ball and attempt to counter.

St John's just seem to have that bit more in attack and it’s this that should decide the winner in what could be a very tight encounter.