A determined if under-strength Naomh Brid made league leaders Cargin battle all the way at Toome on Sunday as the Erin’s Own men eventually squeezed home by two points. But while the narrow defeat will rankle, encouragement can be taken from the display that showed plenty of heart and endeavour. The type that will be required in spades for the impending championship semi-final against Portglenone
Gloves on and brollys off the pitch were the order of the day as the rain fell unrelentingly on a sodden turf that nevertheless stood up well to the conditions. Naomh Brid made a dream start as Cargin were left in the stalls. In a whirlwind opening seven minutes they had carved out a similar points advantage to the disbelief of the home support. A Cunningham free on two minutes opened the scoring. Then on six minutes a smart interception by O’Hagan began a sweeping move involving Loughrey and Chris Donnelly that released the unmarked Mickey Donnelly who simply trundled the ball into an empty net. Moments later Cargin were left reeling from a second goal when another excellent passing sequence again prised open their defence. Reilly the instigator this time, releasing Taylor, who set up the impressive Chris Donnelly for a clinical finish.
A rattled Cargin eventually opened their account on eight minutes but O’Neill nailed an excellent sideline point to restore the advantage. There was a championship pace and physicality to the game as Naomh Brid gamely matched up to the league leaders, who were slow to get into their stride. Midfield was an even affair with MacAuley and McMahon ferreting hard to pick up scraps. The sides traded a brace of points before a superb sideline point from Loughrey and a long-range effort from Sherry on 22 minutes widened the margin to eight. It seemed things could hardly get any better, and they didn’t. Naomh Brid would add just two more points to their tally in the remaining 40 minutes and the inevitable Cargin comeback was imminent. Scullion and the McCanns were now more prominent in the middle and Close and Kelly in the full forward line struck back with three points to reduce the advantage to five at the interval. Despite the relatively healthy lead, there was a gnawing concern among the small away support that the momentum may have begun to shift.
Half time: Erin’s Own Cargin 0-7 Naomh Brid 2-6
Cargin clicked straight into gear on the restart with two quick Kelly points, and although MacAuley briefly stopped the rot with a fine score, the traffic was now clearly headed in one direction. The McCanns had a firm grip in the middle as the supply line to Naomh Brid’s forward line petered out dramatically. What limited ball reached that sector sorely missed the fulcrum of Loughrey, who retired with an injury on 40 minutes. Kelly struck a further three points as the lead shrank at an alarming rate. Smith was introduced at midfield to stem the tide and a free from Cunningham did restore a two-point lead going into the last 10 minutes. It was now a question of running down the clock, but in a rambunctious match punctuated with numerous stoppages, there was still ample time for Cargin to overhaul the visitors, which they did as the match ticked into injury time. Naomh Brid battled hard for an equalizer but in their haste too often took the wrong decision, and Cargin had the final say as Mackle tipped over a blazing effort.
Full time: Erin’s Own Cargin 0-16 Naomh Brid 2-8
Team: J Mackle, A Christie, B Reilly, B McMahon, D O’Hagan, C Mohan (P Finnegan), M Donnelly (1-0), F Sherry (0-2), C Taylor, J Loughrey(0-1) (R Smith), D MacAuley (0-1), R O’Neill (0-1), N Cunningham (0-3), C Donnelly (1-0)
Man of the match: M Kelly (Cargin)
