Antrim Senior Football Championship: O’Donovan Rossa 0-6 Erin’s Own, Cargin 0-12
IT’S probably a record of the nerdish variety – but three-in-a-row Antrim champions Erin’s Own, Cargin didn’t concede a single point for almost one-and-a-half games in the early throes of this year’s championship.
Damian Cassidy’s men humbled senior championship rookies Moneyglass 1-23 to no score in their opening group game last Wednesday night and for 24 minutes of yesterday’s comfortable win over O’Donovan Rossa they kept their goalposts out of their hosts’ eye line.
Rossa full-forward Dominic McEnhill finally broke his side’s duck with a well-executed free – but Cargin had already raced into a six-point lead.
Shorn of some key players including Michael McCann, Justin Crozier, Jamie Gribbin and first choice goalkeeper John McNabb, the defending champions didn’t have to get out of second gear at Rossa Park.
One decent half of football turned out to be more than enough to seal another group win.
The evergreen Ciaran Close nabbed three points between the 10th and 14th minutes (0-2 frees) while Rossa struggled to contain Cargin’s bustling midfielder John Carron who broke defensive lines to register two first-half points.
The west Belfast men did rally in the second half and showed glimpses of their form that saw them reach the knock-out stages of last season’s championship, but it was only glimpses.
Leading 0-8 to 0-1 at the half-time interval, Cargin perhaps invited some pressure onto themselves by removing two of their scoring threats: Close and Pat Shivers.
Rossa hit the first three points of the second half to cut Cargin’s lead to four – with Stephen Beatty, McEnhill and Eoghan McMenamin finding their range.
Centre back Richard Gowdy, Sean Pat Donnelly and Beatty tried their utmost to reel the champions in but once Cargin livewire Tomas McCann sent over a long-range free in the 40th minute to put five points of daylight between the sides, Rossa’s challenge was probably extinguished at that point.
Rossa now have some recovery job on their hands in Group One having lost their opening two games.
Cargin weren’t as impressive in the second period but they still should have registered more than four points. Tomas McCann rattled the crossbar in the 47th minute and full-forward Ryan McKernan saw his follow-up effort well saved by county goalkeeper Mick Byrne.
Back-to-back points from substitute Benen Kelly and midfielder Kevin McShane saw Cargin forge a 0-11 to 0-5 lead with two minutes of normal time remaining before McEnhill (free) and Cargin’s Ciaran Bradley exchanged points in stoppage-time.
But this tie was long over before the final whistle.
Cargin’s stand-in goalkeeper Michael Magill played with energy and intelligence throughout yesterday’s group clash, while full-back Kevin O’Boyle was well supported by corner-backs Gerard McCorley and Ronan Gribbin.
James Laverty played with typical verve and intelligence at centre back and although their attacking threat waned in the second half, Cargin still have a few gears in them.
Always a man for the small detail, three-in-a-row manager Damian Cassidy nipped away at his players throughout yesterday's tie in his perpetual bid to maintain the highest standards at Cargin.
The Antrim champions are moving along nicely. It'll take a good team to deny them four-in-a-row.
O’Donovan Rossa: M Byrne; C Orchin, J Cooley, G Walsh; N Crossan, R Gowdy, P Moyes; C McGettigan, S Beatty (0-2); SP Donnelly, C Fleming, T Morgan; E McMenamin (0-1), D McEnhill (0-3, 0-2 frees), M Mallon subs: S Shannon for S Beatty (50), D Grego for E McMenamin (53), R Murray for J Cooley (53), R Curry for R Gowdy (60)
Erin’s Own, Cargin: M Magill; G McCorley, K O’Boyle, R Gribbin; R Devlin (0-1), C Laverty, S O’Neill; K McShane (0-1), J Carron (0-2); C Bradley (0-1), P Shivers, D Johnston; C Close (0-3, 0-2 frees), R McKernan (0-1), T McCann (0-2 frees) Subs: B Kelly (0-1) for C Close (h/t), E Quinn for P Shivers (h/t), P McLaughlin for D Johnston (53), G McCann for J Carron (62), B Laverty for R Devlin (65)
Referee: D McKeown
