ACL Div 1: Seniors lose to battling Ahoghill

A beleaguered Naomh Brid tumbled to a three point mid-week defeat to a plucky Ahoghill side that showed no sign of resigning themselves to relegation without a battle. And if they can continue to pick off the type of quality scores they took in the second half of this match, they are not without hope with four rounds of matches remaining. The southsiders, on the other hand, have just over a week to rediscover quickly their earlier decent league form before their championship joust with St John’s, who have already accounted for them twice this season.
 
Such as the night that was in it, with a persistent heavy drizzle beneath a low dark cloud and rumbling thunder, you could have sold tickets for the packed away dugout. In the circumstances the excellent floodlights were a blessing, turned on by the interval to showcase a superb playing surface. Playing with a cross pitch breeze Naomh Brid opened smartly with an O’Neill point from the throw in. They completely dominated the first quarter with O’Hagan prompting well from midfield. The away defence had little to worry about other than to witness the alarming succession of wides and shots into the keeper’s hands at the opposite end, which would have been enough to win some matches.
 
Additional points from Loughrey and Cunningham were cancelled completely against the run of play when Ahoghill won a converted penalty after turning over cheap possession when the Naomh Brid defence overplayed the ball. Despite Loughrey’s immediate reply after good work by O’Hagan and O’Neill, Ahoghill actually hit the front on 20 minutes with two quick points, the latter a rebound from an excellent McSorley one-on-one save.  Naomh Brid were then dealt a blow with the loss of Sweeney to an eye injury, but re-grouped to finish the half strongly. O’Carroll and O’Neill restored the lead after good work by MacAuley and McMahon respectively, while Edwards atoned for some earlier misses with an excellent score from the sideline.
 
Half time: Ahoghill 1-2 Naomh Brid 0-7
 
The narrow half time lead evaporated within minutes of the resumption as Ahoghill laid down an early marker. O’Neill nudged the visitors ahead again on a breakaway, but it was no surprise when, on 40 minutes, Ahoghill’s creativity and overall dominance, especially at midfield where the visitors had wilted badly, found a hole in the away defence to smash a goal past a helpless McSorley. The major seemed the inspiration for the home side who took complete control of the game, scoring four sublime long-range points from play, including one from their full back who had strayed up the field.
 
The game seemed up but Ward took a score as Naomh Brid to their credit kept going. Their endeavour was eventually rewarded on 59 minutes when O’Neill won a soft penalty as he was carelessly nudged when stooping for the ball in the small rectangle. However, Ward’s composed conversion gave no more than a glimmer of hope as Ahoghill flooded their defence and never looked like conceding the second goal that would be the only way back for the visitors. There were no complaints when the referee called time and a warm shower beckoned.
 
Full time: Ahoghill 2-10 Naomh Brid 1-10
 
Team: W McSorley, C Mackle, C McLaughlin (A Christie), R Daly, J Loughrey (0-2), B McMahon, D MacAuley, M Malone, D O’Hagan, C McGrady (R McGrady), M Sweeney (M Ward (1-1)), D O’Carroll (0-1), N Cunningham (0-1), D Edwards (0-2), R O’Neill (0-3)