The senior men went into battle with All Saints Ballymena on Wednesday evening. The game started bright but ended in gloom and I’m not just referring to the lack of evening sun. There was also no real wind advantage in either half as what wind there was blew across the pitch.
On home ground Ballymena have always been hard to get past. They opened the scoreline with a point from their left half back. From a free kick Cormac Mc Grady responded, followed by a fine point from Kevin Gallagher. By ten minutes it was all level then a free for Ballymena saw them take the lead. Ronan Mackle was replaced by Joe Mc Keever due to an arm/shoulder injury. St Brigids woke up and realised they had very strong opponents. For nearly 15 minutes it was all going St Brigids way. A point from play by Ruairi O’Neill, was followed by one from Jack Dowling, then one from Daire King, Jack Dowling once again pointed before Ronan Mc Grady slotted the ball past the keeper, a further point came from Jack and finally Ruairi. So that run saw 1 goal and 6 points all from play. Ballymena finshed the first half with 2 points, one from a free being the last kick of that period.
Half Time Ballymena 0-5 St Brigids 1-8
Declan Moragn and Andy Moohan, half-time talk was all about discipline, coming out strong and getting ready for Ballymena to put us under pressure.
The visitors opened the second half with a fine point from Andy Duffy. Ballymena responded with one of their own. Then Ballymena struck the back of St Brigids net and that generated a buzz in their team. Cormac Mc Grady slotted over a free kick. For the next 10 minutes Ballymena took the upper hand, thanks to a bit of indisciplined play from St Brigids. They scored two points from frees and a penalty to see them go one point clear. Duncan Macauley came on for Barry Mc Mahon at right half-back, Deaghlan O’Hagan came on in mid-field for Andy Duffy. It was very much game on for Ballymena as St Brigids struggled to figure out what had happened. Philip Loughran pointed from a 45 followed by a point from Kevin Gallagher. By this stage the light had gone and teams were playing with limited visibility. Ballymena then took a point from play and a second from a free kick to be 1 point ahead with 27 minutes gone. The final score was a well worked point from Deaghlan O’Hagan and a game that at one time seemed in the bag for St Brigids resulted in a single point from the draw.
It was fair to say that St Brigids management were not available for comment, at least not one that could be published.
Final score Ballymena 2-10 St Brigids 1-13
