Fixtures & Results 2012 - ACFL Div 1

Rasharkin lose out at Shaws Road

St Mary’s Rasharkin made their second trip this season to the Shaw’s Road venue to take on St Paul’s in round ten of the Kennedy Centre Football League Division One on Wednesday past. Unfortunately for the South West side they suffered the same outcome as their first outing of the season at the same venue back in April. This was the first game in the second half of the league programme; St.Paul’s are starting to move nicely up the table, this win sees them nestle neatly into fourth position on ten points with a game in hand winning five from seven outings. St.Mary’s side on the other hand have collected a mere three points from their last seven outings, at this stage they look definite contenders for the trapdoor, that said, the Dreen men are no strangers to relegation dogfights and have saved themselves in past seasons this will stand to them in the weeks ahead.

The home side got off to the best start this time round but were pegged back by Rasharkin midway through the first half. Sean McGreevy’s charges, however, scored six unanswered points in the second quarter of the game and ultimately it was this period of dominance which bagged both points on offer when Davey McGrath blew for full time. Both teams had amassed the same points in the second period of this fixture, Rasharkin scoring five points from play and the Shaw’s Road side scoring 1-2. 

St Gall’s clubman Davy McGrath was the man in the middle for this fixture as he was three months previous. St.Paul’s skipper Don Burns having won the toss elected to play downhill in the first half hoping to avail of St Paul’s sixteenth man - their balcony supporters in the social club for the second half. Barry Burns started the scoring for the home side when he fired over a thirty yard free on the third minute. Rasharkin’s Johnny McAleese levelled matters two minutes later from the set piece when Philip Quinn was hauled to the ground.

Aaron Brady for the hosts showed a wide range of footballing skills throughout the hour, no more so when he split the posts from a very acute angle after six minutes. Back came the visitors a minute later when Eamon McNeill finished a superb solo run by landing the ball over the head of Sean McGreevy’s crossbar to raise the white flag. McAleese punished the St Paul’s indiscipline once more from the set piece to nudge the visitors in front after ten minutes when Eamon McNeill was upended making his way goalward. However, the pendulum then swung in favour of the home side when Brady levelled matters midway through the first half. 

The Shaw’s Road outfit then took complete control of the remainder of the half as they went on to score a further five without reply. Wing half forward Conor McCartan completed a hatrick of points, the first of which a brilliant individual effort which saw the big man drive through the Rasharkin rearguard to fire over from close range, the second a clever hand pass and the third a long range effort from forty yards out on the right. Damien Duffy cracked over a fifth consecutive point from wing half back following a supporting run before Barry Burns tacked on the final score of the first half in the second minute of added time to send his side in at the half time interval five points to the good. Rasharkin were forced to reshuffle when pacey centre forward Joey Quinn retired towards the end of the half due to a nasty arm injury, he was replaced by Declan McKay. Half time score 0-5 to 0-3. 

St.Mary’s management team of Dominic Kelly and Frank Hasson rallied their troops during the break knowing full well the importance of something from this fixture. Cathal Mooney and Cahir O’Kane were introduced and Benny Hasson was moved to the edge of the square as Rasharkin elected to go route one playing downhill into "the Bear Pit” end. This strategy reaped dividends almost immediately when Hasson drilled the ball over the bar inside the opening minute following the restart to reduce the host’s grip to four points. St.Paul’s responded quickly and scored two back to back points both from the set piece as the Rasharkin defence struggled to curtail the quick interchanging movement of the of St.Paul’s inside forward line. The first of these pointed frees was from Barry Burns and the second from the boot of Conor McCartan who notched up his fourth point of the evening. Benny Hasson tried to haul his side back into the fixture when he landed another point on the tenth minute to again reduce arrears to five points. 

The visitors did enjoy much of the possession in the middle period of the second half but failed to convert this dominance into scores. St Paul’s deserve credit for their organisation and work rate throughout this period as their defence worked tirelessly to hold out the St Mary’s attack. The game which looked to be slipping away from the South West side was put beyond reach after twenty three minutes when Padraig Lowe dispatched the ball low and hard into the back of the Rasharkin net to much raptures of the home support assembled on the balcony. Don Burns picked up possession deep in his own half, played the ball through Paul Barr and Mickey Joe Cooper as Lowe who had lost his marker bombed up the left hand side to collect possession eighteen yards out. The talented wing half back made no mistake when left one on one with the Rasharkin keeper Ryan Doherty. 

St Mary’s now eight points down looked to be buried with seven minutes remaining, they finished the fixture on a high with a brace of points from Thomas Doherty, Eamon McNeill and Benny Hasson. The much needed goal that Rasharkin desperately seeked in the closing stages to spark a revival never came as Sean McGreevy kept a clean sheet in St Paul’s last line of defence. Full time score 1-10 to 0-8.

St.Mary’s Rasharkin: Ryan Doherty, Duirmuid Quinn, Sean Hasson, Dominic McFerran, Connor Gribben, Thomas Doherty (0-1), Paddy Hasson, Paul Doherty (Capt) and Benny Hasson (0-3), Peader McMullan, Joey Quinn, Mark Hasson, Eamon McNeill (0-2), Philip Quinn and Johnny McAleese (0-2).

Subs: Declan McKay, Cahir O’Kane, Cathal Mooney, Shane Hasson and Eamonn O’Boyle.

St.Paul’s Belfast: Sean McGreevy, Patrick Copeland, Sean Bradley, Declan Gamble, Damien Duffy (0-1), Don Burns (Capt), Padraig Lowe (1-0), Paul Barr and Liam Carlane, Joe Duffy, Mickey Joe Cooper , Conor McCartan (0-4), Niall Peoples, Barry Burns (0-3) and Aaron Traynor (0-2)

Subs: John Parker

Referee: Davy McGrath (St.Galls)