Antrim Camogie League – Division 2
McQuillan’s 4.8 Loughgiel 2.13

A Riana Mc Bride free, deep into injury time was what separated these 2 teams in what was an excellent display of camogie. McQuillan’s had raced to an early lead, grabbing a 5 point lead with just 4 minutes gone after Riana McBride opened her account with an early point, soon followed by a brilliantly taken goal by Nuala Devlin and Niamh O Neill then slotting over from range. The industrious Orlagh Laverty opened the scoring for the visitors with an excellent individual run and finished off with a goal, followed soon after by a Kirsty McKendry free to close the gap to 1 point. Mc Bride and O Neill traded points with McKendry and Laverty, and Charly McCarry also finding the target to bring the sides closer. Maria Bakewell and Carla McGarry also got in on the scoring action before Cara McIntyre landed a goal from a rebound to send Loughgiel into the lead just on the stroke of half time, with the scores standing at 2.5 to 1.7.
The second half saw key battles all over the pairc, with Ciara Dobbin and Mary McKillen matching Enya McShane and Emma Laverty for work rate. Charly McCarry was ever dangerous around the square but was well marshalled by Niamh Ann Donnelly, to keep the threat at bay. After the first 10 minutes , it looked like it was going to be plain sailing for Loughgiel as they hit 6 unanswered points, stretching their lead to 7, with Annie Lynn also adding to their tally. However, the excellent shot stopping of Aoife McGowan kept the McQuillan girls hopes alive and they clawed their way back into the game with a goal from Riana McBride, followed soon after by another from Maria Bakewell to bring the margin back to a single point. Loughgiel pushed forward again with superb delivery from centre half back Ciara Laverty, with Meadhbh McCormick pointing and Kirsty McKendry sending over another free to put them 3 in front with only 4 minutes left of normal time. A cross ball from Aoife Toner found the path in front of Nuala Devlin and the youngster made no mistake this time, rattling it to the Loughgiel net. With it all square in injury time, Loughgiel had the chance to seal the game but the shot went wide and a foul at the other end gave Riana McBride the chance to clinch it for McQuillan’s which she ably converted to the delight of the McQuillan fans.