Naomh Brid made an excellent start to life in ACL Div 1 with a thoroughly deserved win over Lamh Dhearg at Hannahstown on Sunday. This was an accomplished performance by the Malone boys who showed no early signs of nerves as they claimed an historic first two points in the top flight.
A Joe Brolly free in the second minute cancelled Lamh Dhearg’s lightning opener as the sides sparred for early domination. Naomh Brid were making little of the wind and slope disadvantage in the first half, and, as the game settled down, there were signs that their pace and movement, which suggested a rigorous pre season training schedule, would prove hard to handle by the Red Hands.
When Ruari O’Neill passed up a decent opportunity it appeared that the blow would be doubled as Lamh Dhearg immediately honed in on goal at the far end, but John Mackle spread himself well to prevent a certain score. The sides traded points again, McMahon with a fine score from play, before new recruit Aidan Cole eased the visitors in front from a free on 16 minutes. Naomh Brid were now taking a grip of proceedings at midfield, with the tenacious half back trio snapping up break ball. The lively forward line was enjoying a constant supply of quality ball and drawing frees from a hard pressed home defence. Cole punished another indiscretion on 21 minutes, and moments later the margin was five when O’Neill, who was in menacing form throughout, sent through Brolly who calmly lobbed the ball over the stranded keeper into the corner of the net.
Lamh Dhearg’s attacking threat was severely blunted by James Loughrey’s domination of Paddy Cunningham on the square, though the latter did point from a soft free on 26 minutes to reduce the gap. But the flow of play was up the hill and another sweeping move involving McKeever and Edwards ended with O’Neill slotting over. Then almost on the half hour the visitors struck a decisive blow when the elusive O’Neill flicked a pass into the path of Cole who slammed home from close range. A shell-shocked Lamh Dhearg mustered a point in reply before trudging off to the dressing room with plenty to ponder.
Half time: Lamh Dhearg 0-4 Naomh Brid 2-5
The second period was a somewhat lacklustre affair with the home side seemingly resigned to their fate and content to mitigate the damage. Naomh Brid continued to enjoy the bulk of possession but were quite wasteful in attack, shooting from long range when there was time to work the ball in. The rock solid defence dealt well with the limited home threat, reflected in the fact that a Lamh Dhearg pointed free on 32 minutes was their last contribution in the match. O’Neill and Sweeney swiftly responded as the visitors near monopolized possession. Conor MacSherry could afford to make four changes as the points were in the bag. The final coup de grâce was delivered by sub Ryan Brolly firing home from close range after an inspired run and interchange of passes by the excellent James Loughrey.
Full time: Lamh Dhearg 0-5 Naomh Brid 3-7
Conor MacSherry will be pleased with this start and, importantly, the early points on the board. If Naomh Brid can maintain and build on this level of performance, there are grounds for optimism for the season ahead. Next up on Wednesday week sees the visit of Mickey Moran’s Creggan Kickhams to Harlequins. Creggan will be buoyed by their win against Gort Na Mona and, based on their impressive performance in Div 1 last year, will surely prove stern opposition.
Team: J Mackle, J McKeever, J Loughrey, P Finegan, B McMahon, D O’Hagan, M Donnelly, R Smyth (M Malone), D MacAuley, B Reilly (N Cunningham), M Sweeney, A Cole (R Brolly), R O’Neill, J Brolly (C McGrady), D Edwards
Man of the match: R O’Neill
