Bathshack Antrim Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Lamh Dhearg 1-10 St Mary’s Aghgallon 0-12
A SWEETLY struck goal from Lamh Dhearg’s Brendan Herron in the dying embers eventually broke Aghgallon’s gallant resistance as last season’s beaten county finalists stumbled into the Antrim SFC semi-finals at Corrigan Park yesterday.
Just when it seemed this tight and tense quarter-final clash would go right to the wire, and possibly needing extra-time to sort out a winner, the Hannahstown men rolled the dice and reaped the ultimate reward.
With the Lamh Dhearg forwards getting little change out of the Aghagallon defence, Cliftonville’s rookie goalkeeper Declan Dunne was thrown into the mix to present a different puzzle.
No sooner had the Lamh Dhearg substitute stationed himself on the edge of the square when Paddy Cunningham’s ‘up and under’ landed into the towering forward’s hands.
Under pressure from three Aghgallon players, Dunne somehow managed to pop the ball to Brendan Herron on his left side and the former county ace found the bottom corner of the net with a wonderful left-foot strike to put the west Belfast men 1-9 to 0-10 in front.
Living in Derry and playing for Ballinascreen over the last number of years, the veteran forward only returned to his roots this year and has helped his home club reach the Antrim semi-finals where they will face the winners of tomorrow night’s intriguing tie between Cargin and O’Donovan Rossa.
Herron, by his own admission, had a quiet game – but cometh the hour, cometh the man.
“Big Decky caught it, there were two or three men round him,” said Herron.
“He wouldn’t have got a penalty at that stage and it just landed to me in a nice position and I just swung my foot at it and it just happened to go in. It was brilliant. I missed an early one in the first half when it came across to me and the keeper made a good save.
“I didn’t have the best of games and didn’t get on much ball around the middle or at full-forward, but I suppose you just have to wait for one chance and hope it comes your way.”
Frustrated by many aspects of his side’s performance, Lamh Dhearg manager Martin Lynch was reluctant to take the credit for Dunne’s inspired introduction and Herron’s finish that resulted in them progressing.
“I knew we needed to do something,” said Lynch. “[But] It’s a bit of a stretch to claim that we knew what was going to happen. We needed somebody to do something different at a key stage in the game. Declan is 6ft 4in and he can play ball. He’s also clever.
“People don’t give him the credit. He’s a goalkeeper in soccer and he has a good pair of hands and he showed it there again.”
And on Herron’s cool finish, Lynch added: “Brendan’s a veteran on the team but he just turns up at the right time and it’s a great luxury to have.”
For long periods of yesterday’s absorbing quarter-final, the 2017 county champions had to call upon on their reserves and experience to stymie their youthful opponents.
Apart from one effort that went astray, Gareth Magee converted every placed ball within the scoring zone for Aghgallon.
Adam Loughran and Eunan Walsh, both on the cusp of the Antrim senior football panel, showed moments of real class in front of the posts while Cunningham’s frees and efforts from Marc Jordan and Conor Murray meant the sides were level [0-7 apiece] at the break.
Loughran found Kevin Quinn hard to shake off in the second period while Declan Lynch kept county team-mate Ruairi McCann relatively quiet on the edge of the square in what was an intriguing duel.
Two more conversions from Magee after the restart, though, really put Lamh Dhearg on the back foot before Cunningham (free) and Conor Murray tied the game again [0-9 each] after 52 minutes.
Aghgallon, managed by Lamh Dhearg clubman Kevin Murray, looked as though they might have the legs on their more experienced opponents in the closing stages before Dunne and Herron combined to effectively settle this match.
“We gave away too many needless frees in scoring areas,” said Lynch, “when we were managing the game out we carried the ball into the tackle. Those were probably the two things we could have managed better.”
Despite the rough edges, Lamh Dhearg can still have a major say in this year’s senior championship.
“This team has been in three county finals in five years," Lynch said. "They’ve won it and they’ve won the league in that period too. There’s a splattering of county players. At this stage we’ve been around the block. We’re not arrogant – we’re confident.”
Lamh Dhearg: J Finucane, M McGarry, P Larkin, D Lynch; K Quinn, M Herron, B Rice (0-1); P Fitzsimons, M Jordan (0-1), C Murray (0-2); P Cunningham (0-4 frees), R Stranney (0-1), R Murray (0-1), B Herron (1-0), T McCrudden Subs: D Dunne for T McCrudden (56), E McKeown for P Larkin (58), E McKeown for R Stranney (60), D Smyth for M McGarry (62),
Yellow cards: P Fitzsimons (30)
Black card: B Rice (32-42)
St Mary’s Aghgallon: L Mulholland; P Branagan, D Donnelly, R O’Neill; J Lamont, D McAlernon, P Mulholland; O Lenehan, J Lenehan; E Walsh (0-1), A Loughran (0-2), M McAfee; G Magee (0-8 frees), R McCann, C McAlinden Subs: C Hamill (0-1) for C McAlinden (h/t), S Russell for M McAfee (60)
Yellow card: P Branagan (30), O Lenehan (49)
Referee: Sean Laverty
