Carey’s James ‘Rocket’ Black

Sarsfields Kevin McKernan

By John McIlwaine

Sarsfields go it into Saturday’s Intermediate Hurling final as hot favourites after a season that has seen them show the kind of form that we expect from such a club. Admittedly they have been playing their hurling in a division below Sunday’s opponents Carey but after a slow start in Division 3&4 they have steadily improved and now sit top of the table with games in hand on all of their opponents. In the early days of the league their involvement in the football league meant there was early fixtures that they were unable to fulfil, but when the early pace setters in the league began to slip up, the Paddies carried on their unbeaten run and though they still have a few game to play they are assured of promotion and are almost certain to go up as champions.

The Faughs on the other hand have gone the other way, all be it in a much tougher league. Narrow defeats in the opening two games left them with a mountain to climb, but after successive wins over Glenariffe and Cloney Gaels they appeared to have found their form and looked set for a good campaign. However home and away defeats to neighbours Armoy was a bad blow and though they bounced back from that second defeat to the Glen Rovers with a big win over Tir na nOg in mid August, a bad defeat at the hands of champions St John’s at Corrigan Park last Sunday saw the trap door open and they dropped to Division 3.

Luckily for the Faughs their Championship form has been much better and after a very shaky start in their quarter final against Glenariffe they produced a brilliant comeback to beat the Oisins convincingly and book a semi-final spot. In that semi-final they were dealt a blow when they had midfielder Patrick Butler sent off in the opening minute, but they played some great hurling to see off the challenge of Tir na nOg. They were brilliant during the first half of that game as they opened up a seven point lead by half time, a lead they maintained to the end of the third quarter. However Tir na nÓg’s extra man began to tell and with the Randalstown men improving by the minute they were relieved to hear the final whistle with two points to spare.

Sarsfields started their championship campaign with a win over Belfast neighbours St Gall’s at Rossa Park in a game that had been delayed for two weeks because of a bereavement in the Sarsfields club. Despite the fact that St Gall’s had been playing their hurling in a higher division this season the Paddies held the upper hand for most of the game and though they won in the end by five points the win was even more convincing than the scoreboard suggested. Because of the delay in their quarter-final they were back in action just three days later against St Enda’s in the semi-final at Corrigan Park. An early scrambled goal put the Paddies in the driving seat and with the McKernans, Kevin, Daniel and Donal all to the fore they booked their final spot with a bit to spare.

Saturday’s showdown will depend a lot on the key men on each side and how they perform on the big day. For Sarsfields county players Niall McKenna and Daniel McKernan have been the driving force, as indeed has Kevin McKernan who has showed the kind of form which made him an automatic choice on the Antrim team just a couple of years ago. McKenna picked up a bad hand injury a few weeks ago and is still a major doubt, but I will be surprised if he doesn’t make an appearance at some stage.

Carey will look to the likes of former county player James McCuaig, Sean McBride and his brother John in defence. James ‘Rocket’ Black has been brilliant at midfield in their two previous championship games and when he is on form there is no finer player in this division. His tussle with Kevin McKernan could be crucial. Up front the Faughs will look to the likes of Fiachra McVeigh, Cathal ‘Doog’ McAuley and the mercurial talent of Shea Hunter for the scores. Hunter only came on in the final minutes against Tir na nÓg because of injury but still got a vital score to seal the win at the end. While last week’s heavy league defeat, and the subsequent relegation, will have knocked Carey back on their heels it will all be forgotten come Saturday when the men from Ballyvoy will take inspiration from their championship run so far. Both good wins against good opponents, and both in Armoy. They will be back there again on Saturday and though their opponents look strong, and start as favourites, I see this being a much tighter game than a lot of people are predicting. It could all come down to the free taking of Sarsfields Daniel McKernan and Carey’s Doog McAuley to decide the destination of the trophy.

Darragh’s Joinery Antrim Intermediate final Saturday 1pm in Cushendall Brídíní Óga Glenravel v Loughgiel It was widely expected at the start of the championship that these two teams would contest the Darragh’s Joinery Antrim Intermediate final; Loughgiel are perennial finalists and the team to beat at this level for the past half dozen years while Brídíní Óga have shown at under-age level over the past few seasons that they are a club on the up. Last year the Glenravel girls were clear favourites in the Junior championship and they took their chances well to not only claim the county title but then gallop through Ulster to collect the Bridie McMenamin Shield. This year they took a bold step to enter Division 1 and probably knew that they would suffer heavy defeats with the overall aim of speeding up their game. However the heavy defeats seemed to sap their morale significantly, but they seem to have regained some of that with wins over Tir na nÓg and Cargin in the intermediate championship after both south west sides had finished 2nd and 3rd to the Shamrocks in Division 2 of the league. They didn’t play with the fluency of last year in either game, but neither did they look in real danger of losing – although it took two goals in the 55th minute to sign Cargin off! They have not added to last year’s squad in terms of younger players coming through and rely heavily on members of the team that ran Loughgiel close in the Under 16A final three seasons ago – including Laoise McKenna, Ellen Hynds, Kirsten and Torie Edgar, Sian McNeill, Kirsty Laverty and Aine Duffin. Loughgiel have really impressed in their two games to the final with facile wins over both Creggan and Ballycastle, two teams that were in the bottom half of Division 2. They were also in the enviable position of fielding with quite a few players who have had first team experience – although they subsequently lost Finvola McVeigh and Lucia McNaughton, both of whom played in the Senior c