Teconnaught put on a show as they make their return to Division 3

2 July 2025

TECONNAUGHT were promoted to Division 3 when they secured their 12th win from 11 games in emphatic fashion against Ardglass on Friday night.

Paddy Grant stole the show in the first half, grabbing two goals and a mighty haul of points to give the hosts an impressive 2-14 to 0-1 lead at the break.

While Ardglass were much improved after the break, Teconnaught never showed any signs of taking their foot off the gas and pulled away for a 22-point victory.

The visitors hit the first point of the game through John Polley, after just two minutes, but their opponents quickly discovered the form that has seen them sit pretty at the top of the table for most of the season.

Grant led from the front, bagging a pair of two-pointers either side of an Andrew McCartan point, as the home side embarked on a scoring spree.

Ciaran Carville also got off the mark from outside the arc, and followed up by driving through the heart of the away defence and delivering a point.

Ardglass were struggling to gain a foothold in the game and although it was not for want of trying, their opponents were unstoppable in attack and virtually unbeatable at the back.

The travelling side were left frustrated by a series of wides and on the rare occasion they did manage to breach the home defence, goalkeeper Daniel

Morgan presented as a brick wall.

Danger man Grant racked up another four points without reply and by the time the clock reached 25 minutes, it felt as though the result had already been determined.

That was because matters went from bad to worse for Ardglass, who were reduced to 14 men when Conor Kearney received a black card for tripping the marauding Josh Smyth in front of goal.

There was no doubt Grant would be the man to step up for the resulting penalty, and he made no mistake in opening his side’s goal account.

The Teconnaught star was simply untouchable, adding another point to his tally and completing a blinding first half performance with his second goal of the game.

McCartan returned to the scoresheet in the final play of the half, stretching the margin to a dazzling 19 points at the mid-way point.

Tec’ went for the jugular from the restart and despite Carville firing uncharacteristically wide of the uprights on their first attack, it did not take long for the scoring to resume.

McCartan got the ball rolling with his third point of the evening, before Carville collected possession on the right wing, caught a defender sleeping and strolled through for goal.

There was no real surprise when Grant added another point to his collection from a free and with promotion firmly in their grasp, the hosts used the opportunity to make a number of personnel changes.

However, the substitutions derailed their momentum, allowing Stephen Rooney to hit Ardglass’ first score since their early opener from distance.

Teconnaught got back into the swing of things rather swiftly though, with McCartan converting an eye-catching free from two-point territory.

Polley and Rooney exchanged scores with Ross Green and Conor Blaney, as Ardglass began to hold their own in the latter stages of the contest.

Although a major would not have had any impact on the final outcome, it would have provided a morale boost for the travelling team, and they came to within a whisker for the second time.

Michael Magee took a quick free and forced a stunning, diving save from Morgan. The full forward had a second bit of the cherry on the rebound, but his powerful effort drifted agonisingly wide.

It truly became evident that it was not the visitors’ night when another goal chance landed their way and Morgan denied Dylan Murphy from point-blank range.

Magee and Adam Mulhall did manage to convert the final two points of the match and while Ardglass should be commended for their fighting spirit, there was only ever going to be one winner.

The celebrations can now start for Teconnaught, who have finally returned to Division 3 after narrowly missing out in previous campaigns.

Teconnaught: D Morgan, H Smyth, V Reid, J Green, C Murdock, A Davis, J Greene, J Smyth, D Napier, O Casement, T Murphy, Ciaran Carville, P Grant, A McCartan, M Mulholland. Subs: J Casement, R Green, C Blaney, T Napier, C Deegan, F Mulhern, M Murray, Cormac Carville, C Davis, K Reville.

Ardglass: M Armstrong, C Kearney, A O’Shea, C Mahon, D O’Shea, S Teggart, C O’Shea, J O’Shea, M Magee, J Polley, L Kearney. Subs: S P Halpin, D Murphy, A Mulhall, K Fitzsimons, J O’Connor, M Crangle, J Telford.

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