All Saints GAC make history at All-Ireland Feile

“Feile 2014” brought together the County Champions from every county in Ireland and beyond in a festival of football.

Hosted by Connaught GAA the All Saints boys were hosted by the Mayo Gaels club in central Mayo. Each team involved participated in one of eight divisions with the Ballymena club placed in the highly competitive Division 2.

The action began on Friday evening in Galway where victory over Monivea (Galway) and Clann Eireaan (Armagh) followed by a win over the host club, Mayo Gaels on Saturday morning put the team into a Cup quarter final against Galbally (Limerick).

A sublime performance in this game saw the All Saints boys cruise to the semi-finals on a 5-12 to 0-1 scoreline and set up a meeting with Donegal champions, Sean MacCumhaills of Ballybofey on Sunday. This was going to be a stiffer test and the boys from Donegal raced into an early lead with 3 unanswered points.

The Ballymena lads were struggling to get into their rhythm and their midfield, an area of the pitch which they had dominated previously, couldn’t get going. A 35 metre pointed free kick from Saints midfielder, Eoghan Daly settled the nerves however and was followed by an excellent point from play from full forward Shea O’Brien. The action continued end to end before the All Saints forwards scored a goal on the stroke of half time to give them a slender 1-2 to 0-3 lead. If the first few minutes saw the Ballymena lads struggle at midfield the 2nd half was a different story.

Team captain Ryan McGarry and his midfield partner, Daly began the second half as they ended the first and gained the upper hand. A point for All Saints from half forward Ruairi Campbell saw the Ballymena boys pull away but not for long as Donegal came back with a pointed free to leave the lead still 2 points in favour of All Saints.

A final point from O’Brien stretched the lead again before a last minute Donegal free kick, 15 metres from the goal line was cleared from the box in a goal mouth scramble. At that the final whistle sounded the Saints were into the final on a 1-4 to 0-4 scoreline were they would face previous All Ireland winners, Portlaoise GAC .

Another tense game ensued in the final with the Saints starting brightly going 2 points up after 5 minutes before they were rocked on their heels by a Portlaoise goal, a thunderbolt of a shot which crashed off the underside of the crossbar before bouncing back out into play.

Discussion between referee and umpire led to the referee deeming the ball had crossed the goal line. Portlaoise led by 1-0 to 0-2. Both sides exchanged points with O’Brien the man again for the Ballymena team before disaster struck in the final seconds of the half with Portlaoise winning a goal mouth scramble to fire home a second goal. Half time score, Portlaoise 2-1, All Saints 0-3.

The Ballymena boys had made running repairs to their team and midfield maestro, Ryan McGarry who had occupied the full back slot due to a leg injury moved back out to midfield, a decision that was to have a major effect on the outcome of this game. Midfield dominance began and supported by a watertight defensive system led at full back by Rian McCann and at centre half back by Ronnie Marshall the game began to turn. Full forward, Shea O’Brien, popped up again with a pointed free followed by a point from midfielder Eoghan Daly. The Saints pressure was beginning to tell and the loss of possession which worked against them in the 1st half was reversed leading directly to a high speculative ball into the opposition’s box. O’Brien rose with the fist up to knock the ball to the net and the Saints were one point up. Portlaoise were not finished yet and immediately responded with a pointed free of their own to draw level. Another Ballymena point and an O’Brien free put the Antrim men two points to the good with 3 minutes on the clock. Despite several pushes forward and sustained pressure the boys from South West Antrim held on for a nail biting but deserved win to be crowned All Ireland Champions for the 1st time in the club’s proud history. Word soon spread and a crowd of some 300 people gathered at the club’s Woodside Road Slemish Park premises to welcome the conquering team home with the clock showing 10.45pm.

Panel: B. Reid; A. Montgomery; M. Downey; R. McCann; J. O’Donnell; C. Lemon; C. Little; R. Marshall; E. Daly; R. McGarry (Capt); C. Stuart; R. Campbell; K. Brady; Ruairi McAllister; R. Laverty; A. Magill; M. Corr; R. Corr; A. Steele; A. O’Boyle; E. Agnew; D. Leetch; E. McNally; C. O’Rawe; C. O’Neill; S. O’Brien; Rory McAllister.