Club News

19/10/02 Under 21's breeze past Moneyglass to the Quarter Finals

Perhaps it was inevitable that after such a tremendous and hard fought win in the preliminary round stage against Portglenone St. John's Under 21's would find their next opponents a much easier team to contend with. And so it was that, although they still had to work hard throughout, they dismissed Moneyglass from the championship with some style and points to spare.

The first half of the game saw St. John's very much on top, despite surprisingly going 2 points behind, courtesy of some quick Moneyglass scores. However, it wasn't long before St. John's took a hold over the game which would remain for the rest of the match. Paul Rooney scored St. John's first goal with points from John Mead and Conal Kelly. The first half ended with St. John's taking a 1-8 to 0-6 lead.

Conal Kelly was again an immense figure for the team in the first half, commanding midfield along with Kevin McGlinchey, who just got better as the game went on. In the second half, in particular, Kevin won ball in defence hotly contested midfield domination and was also in the forward line wreaking havoc. He finished up justly as one of St. John's top scorers as he slotted over two superb points and then struck a wonder goal late in the game. As he raced into the area with the ball he produced a fierce shot which left the Moneyglass keeper standing and with absolutely no chance - in fact it was lucky for the keeper he didn't get in the way of it!!

Not to be outdone by his midfield partner, Conal Kelly sent the ball past the Moneyglass keeper with ease a few minutes later to seal the match. By this stage St. John's forwards had produced a point taking display which many senior teams, including our own, would be envious of. Long range points were confidently taken from a number of the St. John's forwards - Gary Rafferty, John Mead, Harry Connolly to name but a few and the other forwards got their names on the score sheet as well - Gareth Clarke putting over a neat point from close in. The score line speaks for itself - St. John's winning by nearly 20 points in the end, 3-17 to 0-7.

Defensively the team worked hard to keep Moneyglass out - this again is reflected in the score line Moneyglass only managing to get 7 scores in total. Darren Rafferty impressed along with Neil Kelly, Anto Press and Aaron Douglas though all of the defenders performed well.

The next match has to be a mouth watering prospect for Belfast Gaelic Football enthusiasts with St. John's facing Rossa in the Quarter Finals and, going on the past two performances, St. John's will certainly make it very difficult for their city rivals and you'd have to believe that they can make it to the semis!

 

		St. John's
		N. McCallin
J.J. Hartigan		D Rafferty	N. Kelly
S. Mallon		A. Press	A. Douglas
		K. McGlinchey C. Kelly
G. Rafferty		G. Clarke	H. Connolly
J. Mead		G. Cunningham	P. Rooney
(Subs: A. Oliver for S. Mallon, G. Hamilton for H. Connolly, J.Herald for P. Rooney)