With a direct entry to the quarter-final stage of the championship, where they will meet Dunloy from Division 2 later in the month, Naomh Brid were inactive this weekend as the five preliminary rounds determined the make-up of the last eight. First up at Casement Park on Friday night was the local Belfast derby between St John’s and St Paul’s, both clubs currently struggling to find their form in the league. The Johnnies eventually edged home by three points despite a late rally by the Shaw’s Road men, whose focus for the remainder of the season will now be directed on retaining their Div 1 status. Co-incidentally, that will start with their visit to Harlequins on Wednesday evening, when they will hope to avenge their heavy defeat to Naomh Brid in their opening league fixture. We will have something to say about that.
There was no upset in the Toomebridge derby as championship favourites Cargin vapourized hapless Moneyglass by a 27 point margin. Second favourites St Gall’s proved too strong for Rasharkin, pwering home by 10 points at Casement Park on Sunday evening. Meanwhile Portglenone just got the better of Creggan by a single point in the other South West clash. The final fixture was the meeting of Div 2 contenders Lamh Dhearg and Gort na Mona. The Red Hands were unable to sustain the loss of their talismanic county captain Paddy Cunningham, eventually going down by five points. The quarter final line is therefore as follows with matches provisionally scheduled for the weekend of 22/23 August.
1. All Saints Ballymena v Portglenone
2. Naomh Brid v Dunloy
3. St Gall’s v St John’s
4. Erin’s Own Cargin v Gort Na Mona
Semi finals: Winners 1 v Winners 2 and Winners 3 v Winners 4
