Club News

09/05/02 Division 2 footballers down but not out

The Division 2 footballers suffered a set back last Saturday evening when they were knocked out of the Intermediate Championship by Aldergrove.

Whilst they were hotly fancied to ease past a team which they had beaten soundly on several occasions last year in both official and unofficial matches (one match played at Corrigan Park, which saw the Crumlin based team suffer a heavy defeat, was then subsequently refused to be regarded as an official fixture by Aldergrove at a later date) they were found lacking on an evening which saw Aldergrove record their first ever Championship win. Despite St. John's going into the second half of the match in front, Aldergrove went on to win by a single point and secured a first round match-up against Ballymena.

Some four days later the Division 2 team faced their Championship opponents for a second time in an away match up at Crumlin, however this time the team had to travel without a single substitute. In fact this was a completely different team than the one which had lined out earlier in the season or in the championship.

Whilst a number of players were missing due to family and work commitments, suffice to say some six players had received a call up to the senior ranks to face St. Pauls in their league game, with a further number of players having taken premature retirement from the sport altogether.

However the team which travelled to the game were not short on either commitment or team spirit.

Whilst the official referee failed to appear, the Division 2 team lined out to play the match presided over by an Aldergrove official.

The match saw a number of returns to the field for the likes of Mick Kane and Kevin Mallon and call ups for Neil Kelly, Brian Moore and Eamon Grieve.

After the first half St. John's, despite fielding a depleted panel, were trailing Aldergrove by only 3 points, with some terrific points scored by Gerard McFall and Kevin Mallon and with strong defensive work coming out of the defence.

The second half saw Aldergrove press home their obvious advantage, however in the latter stages of the game Gerard McFall rattled home to the back of the net a superb penalty kick, won from the efforts of Neil Kelly and Eamon Grieve, which brought the sides closer together.

Whilst on the night St. John's may have recorded a second successive defeat to Aldergrove in Division 2 Football every player on the team worked extremely hard for each other, put up a spirited display for the few St. John's supporters who travelled to the game and can certainly be proud of their contribution on the night. Hopefully this team spirit will continue on into the coming season.

St. John's wishes Aldergrove the best of luck in their forthcoming championship match against Ballymena.