North Antrim Under 16A Shield Final
Loughgiel’s Cathal Hargan leads the charge during the Under 16A Shield final win over Dunloy in Cushendun. Pic by John McIlwaine
Loughgiel 4-13 Dunloy 2-9
Loughgiel added the North Antrim Shield to their League and McMullan Cup titles when they beat Dunloy in Saturday’s final in Cushendun. In a game full of good hurling the Shamrocks came from a goal down midway through the first half to turn the game around and take the honours.
The teams were level on four points apiece midway through the opening half when Dunloy hit the front with a goal by full forward Rory Mullan, but Loughgiel came back strongly and a goal from Odhran McGrath brought them level. Points from corner forward Conor McCormick and centre forward Michael McGarry put the Shamrocks two clear before McCormick turned the ball to the Dunloy net following a great run by Shane O’Boyle and when McGarry added another Loughgiel were 2-9 to 1-6 ahead at half time.
An early exchange between McGarry and Dunloy’s Ryan McFarline kept the gap at six but Loughgiel began to pull away as McGarry added two more points from frees. A point by McFarline kept Dunloy in touch but Conor McCormick’s second goal all but killed the game. Dunloy did have plenty of chances during the second half but were denied two great goal opportunities by Loughgiel goalkeeper Kevin McAuley who denied Dunloy corner forward Sean O’Neill with a brilliant smothering save. Dunloy kept battling and they finally found a way past McAuley when Rory Mullan hit the net for the second time, and Sean O’Neill also grabbed a point, but Loughgiel were to have the final say when a long range free by Declan McCloskey from well inside his own half went all the way to the Dunloy net.
Loughgiel
Kevin McAuley, Conor Henry, Ruairi McCloskey, Christie Dickson, Ryan Dallas, Declan McCloskey, Tiernan McAlonan, Cathal Hargan, Shane O’Boyle, Dylan Devlin, Michael McGarry, Rian McMullan, Conor McCormick, Odhran McGrath, Damian Quinn.
Dunloy
Paul Doherty, Ruairi O’Boyle, DJ Crawley, Conor McAleese, Cathaior McCloskey, Barry Scott, Ciaran McQuillan, Padraig McGilligan, Eoghan McGrath, Tiernan O’Boyle, Ryan McFarline, Sean Scullion, Conal Kelly, Rory Mullan, Sean O’Neill
Referee – Paul McSparran (Emmet’s Cushenun)
