O’Neill All County Hurling League – Division One
Deaglan Murphy finished top scorer for Rossa but it was left to young brother Tiernan to hit the winning point.
Rossa 3-15 Dunloy 2-17
Last season’s league race turned out to be a three way affair between Loughgiel, Cushendall and Dunloy but who would have thought that after the opening day of the new season neither of these three big guns would have a win under their belt. Admittedly last season’s winners Loughgiel and Cushendall shared the spoils in their game in Cushendall, but today at Rossa Park the home side caused the first real shock of the new season when a last gasp free from distance by Tiernan Murphy gave the home side victory over county champions, Dunloy.
The visitors were no doubt showing signs of rustiness after their winter lay off, but despite that the win has to be seen as a major boost to the Shaw’s Road men as they got their new season off to the perfect start.
Playing with wind advantage in the opening half, it was Rossa who opened brightly, but they squandered some early scoring opportunities and it was left to Kevin McKeague to fire the visitors ahead in the third minute.
Rossa got off the mark in spectacular fashion when Michael Armstrong drilled a breaking ball to the Dunloy net and they were soon a goal clear when Geard Walsh added a point from distance
Chrissy Brogan pulled a point back for the visitors and they got back on terms soon afterwards when Brogan was put clear by Nigel Elliott and fired the ball to the Rossa net.
Deaglan Murphy and Paul Shiels exchanged points from placed balls but Rossa were beginning to get on top and a series of good scores saw them take a five point lead with just six minutes of the first half remaining. However Dunloy steadied the ship and a point from a Paul Shiels free and one from play by Nicky McKeague cut the arrears to three at the break. (Rossa 1-9 Dunloy 1-6)
With the breeze at their backs in the second half Dunloy looked revitalised and they eased their way back into the game with points from Shane Dooey and Paul Shields to cut the arrears to the minimum. Stephen Beatty hit back with a fine long range effort for Rossa but Dunloy were finding their rhythm and three unanswered points from Paul Shiels, Shane Dooey and Nicky McKeague had them back on top by the three quarter mark. However Rossa weren’t about to give up the fight and three unanswered points from Murphy frees saw them regain the lead, but once again the county champions responded and two more points from Paul Shiels frees put them a point up after fifty minutes. Rossa were facing an uphill task, and when they had free taker Deaghlan Murphy sent off in the fifty third minute that task seemed a whole lot tougher. However when it appeared that their great efforts may be wasted they got a break as James Connolly’s low free from the left wing caught the Dunloy full-back line flat footed and the ball was deflected to the visitors’ net.
All appeared to be fine for Dunloy when Nicky McKeague hit back with a cracking goal to put them back in front and when the lead went out to two it appeared they had done enough to seal the win.
However this great game had another twist and when the ball broke loose around the Dunloy square following a Rossa attack county footballer Stephen Beatty stepped forward to kick the sliothar to the net and put his team a point up with less than two minutes of normal time left to play.
With time almost up it appeared that the points were destined to be divided as Paul Shiels found Eamon Smith with a clever pass and the big half back sent over the equaliser, but the drama wasn’t finished yet as Rossa were awarded a free at midfield deep in injury time. With Deaglan Murphy off the field the task now fell to younger brother Tiernan who undaunted drove the ball between the posts for the match winning score.
ROSSA: C Walsh; N Crossan, K McDonnell, M Smith; G Walsh (0-1), C McGuinness, A O’Brien; S Beatty (1-1), C Orchin; D McEnhill (0-2), C McVeigh (0-1), J Connolly; M Devlin, M Armstrong (1-1), D Murphy (0-8 frees). Subs: T Murphy(0-2 frees) for M Devlin (46)
DUNLOY: R Elliott; P Duffin; J McKeague (1-0 OG), A O’Kane; E Smyth (0-1), K Molloy, K McKeague (0-1); P Shiels (0-7 frees), P Shivers; N Elliott, G McTaggart (0-2), S Dooey (0-2); N McKeague (1-3), C Brogan (1-2), A Dooey. Subs: C Cunning for A Dooey (45).
REFEREE: Darren McKeown (St Gall’s)