On Saturday, the squad were back on Championship duty against Lamh Dhearg. To the Mentors relief there was no hint of a hangover of the mid-week heavy defeat as St Brigids forward line lead by Cormac Mc Bride pounded the Lamh Dhearg goals from the off. Score were hard to come by however and after fifteen minutes the tie was evenly poised at 3 points to 1 in favour of St Brigids. Then, having been somewhat anonymous for the early phase of the match, St Brigids lofty mid-fielders Oliver McDonald and Conor McGranaghan decided to enter the fray and three forays forward lead to a goal and two points to provide a comfort zone as half-time approached. Thinking the job was nearly done at this point however Lamh Dhearg gave our defence a rude awakening with two well taken points from close in – the sight of goalkeeper Conor Carey bearing down on the forwards almost certainly ensured St Brigids did not succumb to two soft goals.

After the break and with the now customary changes in the forward line St Brigids laid siege to the Lamh Dhearg goal with scores from Simon Ramsey, McDonald and Mc Bride. In this twenty minute burst the game was effectively killed off by the home side and, despite a brace of late goals conceded, St Brigids secured a well-worked and deserved victory.

Final Score: St Brigids 4 – 7 Lamh Dhearg 3 – 4

This was a squad effort with all players contributing to a polished performance . There were welcome returns to form by the Ramsey brothers, some eye-catching runs from mid-field by Oliver McDonald, sound defensive work by Owens, Bogue and Heaney but for speed, balance and finishing with both feet performance of the day as voted for by the spectators was Cormac McBride. Well done Cormac and congratulations also to those in the squad who made the Antrim panel – Ben Kelly, Cormac Mc Grady, Conor Mc Granaghan, Conor Mackle and Oliver McDonald.

By Paul Gormley Mon 28th Mar