Club News

25/08/02 Ballygalget beat senior hurlers at Corrigan Park

It was a disappointing second half which ultimately decided this fixture in which Ballygalget turned the tables on St. John's good first half performance.

Within the opening ten minutes of the game the Ballygalget centre 3/4's ran through the defence and sent a shot past keeper Barry Mulgrew and then their other forwards picked off a couple of soft points. However, St. John's were unphased by this and after Conor McCaffrey and Gerard McFall scored two fine goals and Brian McFall sent over a couple of points St. John's had staged a mini-comeback of sorts to go into the changing room at half-time 2-5 to 1-4 up.

Generally the St. John's play was good with few concerns around the pitch however, the second half was to be a Jekyll and Hyde scenario. As the keeper and backline cleared their lines to get rid of any imminent danger, the ball couldn't get past the midfield area and came straight back in. When the ball did get past the St. John's midfield Ballygalget's defence swept it up, sending it again into the under pressure defence. This can perhaps be best shown by the scorline in the second half - St. John's only registering 3 points (2 from Stephen Thompson) whilst, in stark contrast, Ballygalget managed an impressive 1-9 finally finishing the game 2-8 to 2-13.

'Flat' would probably best describe the team performance in the second half though, individually there were some superb efforts. Chris Clarke was simply scintillating at corner back, producing a commanding display which few defenders in the county could rival. Likewise Mickey O'Neill was his usual solid self, with John Kelly continuing his impressive return after a long absence from hurling with a strong showing. Kevin Rafferty was also in good form, this undoubtedly being one of his best seasons in recent years.

At midfield Donal O'Hara was sorely missed, few balls being caught and distributed as would normally be the case. Upfront Ronan Heenan and Paul Montgomery's absences were also felt however, Locky McCurdy did make an appearance in the second half which will surely strengthen the squad.

For his part referee Tommy McIntyre kept proceedings flowing well, neither side having any cause for complaint and in all likelihood he produced the best refereeing witnessed this year in Corrigan Park.

All eyes will of course be on Sunday, with favourites Cushendall looking to progress to the County final however they will need to turn in a championship winning performance if they are to get past a determined and passionate St. John's side.

The 'underdogs' label will suit St John's just fine as they go into the semi-final with nothing to fear, nothing to lose and everything to play for. "Up the Johnnies!!"

 

		St. John's
		B. Mulgrew
C. Gannon		M. O'Neill	C. Clarke
J. Kelly		K. Rafferty	N. Kelly
		N. Reynold H. Kennedy
B. Moss		B. McFall	G. McFall
S.Thompson		E. Blaney	C. McCaffrey
(Subs: L. McCurdy for B. Moss, N. McCallin for C. Gannon)