Cargin eased to the last four thanks to goals from John Carron, Conhuir Johnston, Mick McCann and Tomas McCann in what proved to be Pete McGrath’s final game in charge of Aghagallon
Northern Switchgear Antrim SFC quarter-final: Cargin 4-20 Aghagallon 0-9
Cargin are the first team through to the last four of the Antrim SFC following a one-sided rout of Aghagallon at Dunsilly on Friday night.
The game proved to be Pete McGrath’s last in charge of St Mary’s as the Down legend informed the players he would be stepping down after four seasons in charge.
Aghagallon enjoyed a stroke of good fortune in the group stages with St Paul’s pulling off a shock win over Ahoghill in the final round of games to see St Mary’s go through as runners-up in Group Four, despite suffering a 1-25 to 3-9 loss to St Brigid’s in the previous outing.
Their luck deserted them in spectacular fashion on a night when absolutely nothing went right for for 2022 county finalists.
Already trailing 1-9 to 0-3 approaching half-time, Aghagallon were guilty of a three-up breach with Tomás McCann converting the free. Jonathan Hannon then crashed a free off the post at the other end while Adam Loughran’s rebound hit the other post.
The third attempt fell to Pauric Magennis, who hit the crossbar. To add insult to injury, Cargin broke down the pitch and Conhuir Johnston’s goal gave the holders a 2-11 to 0-3 lead at half-time with McCann converting another free in stoppage time.
Adam Loughran’s early point would be the one and only time his side side and Cargin had 1-4 on the board by the time Hannon raised Aghagallon’s second white flag.
Cargin’s sweeper ’keeper John McNabb kicked a long-range free and another two-point free with captain James Lavery adding two points from play.
Aghagallon’s goalkeeping crisis saw them employ a fifth different shot-stopper of the season with Odhran Rooney getting the nod for the quarter-final tie.
However, he failed to collect a shot from Tom Shivers and John Carron was on hand to palm the ball home from close range.
St Mary’s needed a fast start to the second half, but Hannon’s attempt at goal from 20 metres didn’t have enough power to trouble McNabb Aghagallon never threatened his goal for the remainder of the contest.
Instead, the Toome men kept their foot firmly on the throttle with Laverty bringing his tally to 0-3 from play before McNabb converted another two frees.
Cargin’s third goal came via the McCann brothers. With Mick McCann stationed at the edge of the square, Tomas delivered a high ball in and Rooney failed to collect once more leaving Mick a simple finish.
The roles were reserved for their fourth major when McNabb played a great pass inside and Mick McCann palmed the ball into the path of his younger brother and Tomas drilled the ball into the net in stoppage time.
Cargin must now wait until Sunday evening to learn their semi-final opponents, but Ronan Devlin’s men remain very much the team to beat in Antrim.
#Pete #McGrath #departs #Aghagallon #Cargin #cruise #Antrim #SFC #semifinals
