11 November 2011
Late points from substitutes Tiernan McLarnon and Finton Burke sealed the Antrim Under 21 football title for Creggan Kickhams at Casement Park on Thursday evening and finally ended the stout resistance of a gallant Lamh Dhearg side in a thrilling contest.
A goal from corner-forward Oran Mc Larnon nine minutes from the end of normal time followed soon afterwards by an Hugh McNulty point appeared to have put Creggan in the driving seat, but the Hannsstown side fought back and two points from their excellent corner-forward Ryan Murray had thrown the game wide open again.
However as the clock ticked towards injury time good movement by Creggan saw county hurling star Conor McCann place substitute Tiernan McLarnon for a well taken point, and no sooner had the cheers for that score died down than Finton Burke added another to seal the win.
Creggan took a long time to settle in the opening half and after and early exchange of points Lamh Dhearg opened up a 0-3 to 0-1 lead with points from Declan Bunting and Michael Hughes.
It was twenty-one minutes before Creggan added their second score of the game through Hugh McNulty, but it signalled the start of a purple patch as McNulty hit a second, right-half back Declan McCann added one and Odhran McCann hit his team’s fourth in as many minutes to open up a 0-5 to 0-3 lead.
Lamh Dhearg cut the gap to a single point by the break and early in the second-half they drew level when Murray again found the target from a narrow angle. The same player was unlucky in the fortieth minute when he cut in along the endline and hand-passed the ball across the Creggan goal only to see the ball go directly to the net which referee Garret Duffy correctly ruled out.
Left-half back Brendan McCrudden did manage to edge Lamh Dhearg ahead in the forty-ninth minute when he came up to join the attack and fired over a very good point, but Creggan hit back quickly and corner-forward McCann gave them back the lead when he grabbed a goal from close range, the ball just spinning over the line after an initial save from Lamh Dhearg goalkeeper McIlvenny.
When Odhran McLarnon increased the lead to three a minute later Creggan looked home and hosed, but Murray kept his team in the hunt with two more points and it took the late scores from the Creggan substitutes McLarnon and Burke to finally seal the win.
CREGGAN – Murtagh McKeague, Aiden Maguire, Ricky Johnston, Paddy McLarnon, Declan McCann, Martin Johnston, Ferghan McGranaghan, Conor McCann, Seamus Allen, Paddy McAuley, David McGuckin, Aiden McKeown, Odhran McLarnon, Hugh McNulty, Oran McCann.
Subs – Tieranan McLarnon and Finton Burke.
LAMH DHEARG – Mark McIlvenny, Conor McVarnock, Aaron McCaulfield, Mark McGarry, Michael Hughes, Declan Stranney, Brendan McCrudden, Mark Lynch, Declan Lynch, Gerard Slane, Stephen Tully, Neil Cunningham, Kevin Quinn, Declan Bunting, Ryan Murray.
