Form is temporary, but Aghagallon’s class shone through during the second half of their Antrim SFC quarter-final win over St Brigid’s at Lámh Dhearg on Sunday.
As the incessant wind and rain made playing conditions extremely testing for both sets of players, Audi Kelly’s men managed the elements better than the South Belfast side.
Having led 0-5 to 0-4 at half-time, St Mary’s surged clear in the second half to win by seven points to progress to the last four of the Championship.
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Aghagallon’s resurgence in the Championship comes off the back of a disappointing League campaign and Kelly’s side will need to defeat Ballymena in a promotion/relegation play-off later in the season in order to retain their status in Division One.
“We’ve had a tough enough year and it was good to get the win,” said Kelly.
“We knew St Brigid’s are a good outfit and they’ve been scoring a lot of goals all year. Our boys really rose to the challenge. That direct ball in didn't pay off for St Brigid’s and our boys performed really well in trying circumstances and I’m delighted for them.
“When we look back at the first half, in the first 20 minutes we were very poor.
“About five minutes before half-time, we started to get things going. At half-time, we knew we had it all to do in the second half. We knew that St Brigid’s would throw everything at us to try and get into the game.
“Our boys really had to grind it out. Conditions were very bad and it was just one of those days when you are happy to come away with the result.”
Before Brendan Toland threw the ball in at Lámh Dhearg, both teams knew that Portglenone were awaiting the winners after their facile win over Gort na Móna on Saturday.
As it transpired, this year’s Antrim SFC semi-finals is a repeat of the 2021 line-up with holders Creggan taking on Cargin in the other semi.
Aghgallon's key players were to the fore in the second half with Adam Loughran, Eunan Walsh and Ruairi McCann turning in impressive showings.
Yet, Kelly feels his side will need to improve again if St Mary’s are to get the better of Casement’s after winning last year’s game following two periods of extra-time.
John McKeever’s side are unbeaten in the Championship campaign to date and have Tyrone legend Peter Canavan in their backroom team.
“We’re under no illusions ahead of the next game. Portglenone blew us away in a League game earlier this year and they’ve been outstanding throughout the course of the Championship,” stated Kelly, who led the Moy to the All-Ireland Intermediate title in 2018 along with Gavin McGilly.
“That performance (against St Brigid’s) wouldn’t be good enough to get near Portglenone and we’re realistic to know that’s the case.
“Portglenone have an outstanding management team and you can see what they are building towards. They are going to be really well prepared for this game and they’ll be trying to get to the county final.
“Our boys have been going slowly along and improving each game, but it will take a massive performance the next day to get a result.”
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