St Comgall's edge to one-point win

Antrim town side St Comgalls travelled to Boucher Rd playing fields to face Eire Og last week and emerged with a one point win.
Paddy Quinn sends over a point for St Comgall's.Paddy Quinn sends over a point for St Comgall's.
Paddy Quinn sends over a point for St Comgall's.

The Belfast men got out of the blocks quickly with a couple of attacks but shots were wayward and notched up only wides.

When Paddy Quinn was fouled on the 5min mark he made no mistake and got St Comgalls on the scoreboard but Eire Og were playing the better football and went in the lead with two points from play. A goal chance for the Antrim men went a-begging when Miles Devine cracked his shot only to see it graze the bar to raise the white flag rather than green.

Again Eire Og hit a real purple patch with a run of four unanswered points, and would have had another but for a fine block by Dylan Murdock, and a goal chance was denied through some last-ditch defending. Four points down it was to take something inspirational to shake St Comgalls into the contest and they got it when Miles Devine fed Ciaran Quinn who thumped over a speculative shot from over 40 yards. If that point was converted by experience it was the exuberance of youth at the centre of the next, when Colm Griffin was supplied by Paddy Cooke for the score.

Halftime score Eire Og 0-6 V 0–4 Naomh Comhghall

If St Comgalls were relieved to only be two down at the break it didn’t improve after it, with the margin widening to four points, then seven when Eire Og’ nabbed a goal. The Antrim men needed to drag themselves back into the contest and started the mammoth task through a pair of frees from Miles Devine and Paddy Quinn. A great team score injected some confidence and it was Devine and Griffin combining that opened up an opportunity for Quinn to point. Paddy Cooke cracked a decent point, and when Caolan McKeown sent Dylan Murdock through he saw his shot for goal fisted over the bar.

Paddy Quinn kept things ticking over with a free, and McKeown was involved again when he set up Ciaran Quinn for a point tying the game (1-8 0-11).

It was a mammoth catch by Quinn that supplied his name-sake Paddy to score on the 50min mark to edge the lead and Miles Devine stretched it out with a free. Eire Og responded with a brace of points that were intersected by a 45 dispatched by stand-in goalkeeper Joe McKernan to remain one ahead.

Eire Og tied the game 2 mins later and then went one ahead, but when Caolan McKeown turned up his pace he was upended and Paddy Quinn leveled things once more. A draw would probably have been a fair reflection but Ryan McAuley was reading that script, and drove up the left flank with 2mins to go. He linked with Caolan McKeown, who’s crossfield kick found Paddy Quinn in space and he picked out Miles Devine to kick a point.

When Eire Og pressed for the leveller their efforts were rewarded with a 45, and they hit a fine pass to their half-forward who won it cleanly in the heart of the scoring zone. However it seemed they had miscalculated the time left on the clock and the whistle blew before they had the chance to turn and score.

Eire Og were certainly aggrieved by turn of events but St Comgalls were pleased to have come back with such attrition to grind out a useful 0-16 to 1-12 win.

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