Aghaderg senior Footballers made the short journey to play away to St Michael’s on Wednesday evening. The rain held off for the first 10 mins of the game but was pretty constant from then on which made for greasy conditions at times. Aghaderg settled into an early lead with a point from Joe O’Kane followed by two stylish long range scores from from Cailum Meara. Chrissy McEvoy converted a free before Joe O’Kane knocked over another with his left foot from a tight angle. St Michael’s were struggling to get into the game with a single point from a free after 10 minutes. Aghaderg were enjoying their early dominance with Kieron Davis working hard to win breakdown ball before sending McEvoy in for a well taken point, Rory McShane added another from a flowing move that went the whole length of the field and then Niall Lennon got in on the act with a point of his own. St Michael’s added their second point just after 20 minutes but Aghaderg replied with the first goal of the game. Louis Murray won the ball, played a perfectly weighted pass to Michael Fitzpatrick who went straight for goal and gave the St Michael’s keeper no chance.
At 0-2 to 1-09 it looked like Aghaderg were comfortable and in control but whether it was a loss in concentration or a touch of complacency, it was to prove costly. St Michael’s scored their third point on 25 mins, followed it quickly with another and were then awarded a penalty after a scramble in the square resulted in the ball adjudged to have been touched on the ground. The penalty just squeezed over the line and suddenly the home side had belief. They added another two points to leave the half time score 1-6 to 1-9 and sent Aghaderg in wondering how things could have changed so quickly.
Unsurprisingly, St Michael’s came out fast in the second half but two early points from Niall Lennon and a free from Chrissy McEvoy helped Aghaderg to settle back into the style of play that had them going so well for most of the first half. The home side responded with a free but Michael Fitzpatrick came steaming through from half forward again to score his second goal of the night. Chrissy McAvoy followed with another goal after turning the ball over inside the St Michael’s 21 yard line. This gave Aghaderg an 11 point margin but to be fair to St Michael’s, they never stopped trying and made the Aghaderg midfield and backs work hard all night. It was a credit to Aghaderg that they were able to keep the home side to one point from play and two more frees during this period with plenty of turnovers and some nice controlled possession. Michael Fitzpatrick capped a fine display on the night by adding two more points to his tally before St Michael’s finished the match with their second goal just before the final whistle
The game finished on a score-line of St Michael's 2-11 Aghaderg 3-16.
Apart from the brief period before half time when Aghaderg lost their way, this was another good performance from an in-form Aghaderg team who are having a great season so far. We now have a break for a few weeks until the boys play East Belfast at home on Friday 22nd July