It was agony for Naomh Brid at Casement Park on Wednesday night as their ambition of reaching a historic senior football final was cruelly dashed by a Portglenone late late show. The boys in blue had outplayed their opponents in practically every sector and seemed set to secure a final showdown with St Gall’s as the match drew to a close, but they were gunned down by a salvo of four unanswered points in the closing minutes, the Bannsiders sneaking home by the narrowest of margins.
Back on their favoured stamping ground for this eagerly anticipated semi-final replay, Naomh Brid made all the early running and should have been ahead much earlier than Sweeney’s opener on five minutes teed up by Christie’s timely interception. Graham leveled matters on 11 minutes but the momentum lay with the Malone side, who were monopolizing possession with Smyth and Edwards grafting well at centre field. O’Neill immediately restored the lead, atoning for a 45 miss, before Sweeney extended the margin with a fine score on 14 minutes. However, Portglenone were economical with limited ball and McAleese struck back quickly to remind of his threat. Naomh Brid’s finishing was their only criticism, as the Portglenone keeper was relieved to clear three short efforts in the first half alone. Loughrey was not a culprit, however, and his industry and pace in leading the line won a free for a simple convert by Cunningham.
On 20 minutes the game took an unexpected turn, when against the run of play Portglenone danger man Kevin Madden fired his side ahead with an opportunistic goal that deceived the rooted Mackle, who looked to be unsighted. Naomh Brid were not ruffled by the temporary setback and the gutsy Sweeney won a hard-earned free for Cunningham to level matters on 24 minutes. Gerard McAleese looked to have given the Bannsiders a slender lead at the interval but Loughrey showed his class again with an excellent point from play in injury time.
Half time: Naomh Brid 0-6 Portglenone 1-3
Kearney and Taylor exchanged early score to maintain the balance, but Naomh Brid once again gained the whip hand and in the space of as many minutes surged three points clear with scores from Loughrey and Edwards, including a converted 45 from the latter. A McCann free on 43 minutes kept Portglenone in the picture as they survived on scraps. But for all Naomh Brid’s possession and fine lead-up play, their conversion rate was badly lacking. Taylor did all the hard work in turning over ball but only found the keeper. Then O’Neill seemed hard done by when penalized in trying to round the keeper, who seemed the clear offender. Three further wides were added before Sweeney obliged again on 53 minutes to steady the ship.
As the match raced into its final five minutes it seemed that, an unlikely Portglenone goal apart, Naomh Brid’s profligacy before the sticks might for once go unpunished. Wishful thinking. Gerard McAleese showed how it’s done with a long range point on 54 minutes that brought the large Portglenone support to life. With the towering McKeever now lording the midfield the traffic was suddenly heading in the wrong direction. The final three minutes unfolded before a disbelieving home support as the McAleese duo struck one apiece to level the match leaving Naomh Brid’s nemesis Kevin Madden to apply the painful coup de grâce.
Team: J Mackle, D MacAuley, A Christie, M Rooney, M Donnelly, D O’Hagan, B McMahon, D Edwards (0-2), R Smyth, J Loughrey (0-2), C Taylor (0-1), M Sweeney (0-3), R O’Neill (0-1), N Cunningham (0-2), C Donnelly
Man of the match: J Loughrey
