Antrim U16 Hurling Championship semi-final
Oisins 4-15 Ballycastle 1-3
Glenariffe Oisins booked their place in the final of the Under 16 Hurling Championship when they beat Ballycastle in Monday evening’s semi-final in Cushendun. They were slow to get started and trailed by two after two minutes but once they got going there was no stopping the Glenariffe boys. There were 0-6 to 0-2 in front at half time and two goals just after the restart all but wrapped it up. The goals kept coming and in the end it was plain sailing at they raced to a 4-15 to 0-3 win.
Ballycastle started the game well and two points from James Bakewell, one from a free and the other from play indicated they would be competitive. Glenariffe finally got going in the ninth minute when Seanie McIntosh pointed a free and it was midway through the half before they were level, McIntosh again the scorer from a placed ball. On twenty minutes Ballycastle suffered a bad blow when they lost centre half back Eoin Boylan with a shoulder injury. Glenariffe took the lead for the first time on 22 minutes when Nial McGarel sent over a point from play and as the Oisins began to dominate McIntosh added three more from frees to give his team a 0-6 to 0-2 lead at half time.
During the opening half Glenariffe had played Shea McDonnell further out the field but when the number 14 moved in to the edge of the square in the second half it paid immediate dividends. McDonnell got the first goal of the game inside a minute when he kicked a the ball over the line and five minutes later he added a real beauty from play. He and McIntosh added points apiece before he completed his hat-trick with a lobbed effort which deceived the Ballycastle goalkeeper and dipped in to the net. The score were now flowing from the Oisins and they added some great points, the highlight of them a point direct from a sideline cut by Aidan Scullion. Ballycastle kept battling to the end and in injury time they got some reward when Gavin McToal steered the ball to the Oisins net after good work by Jimmy Jo Burns.
The Oisin will now play Cushendall in the final at Feis na nGleann on Sunday in Waterfoot.
OISINS: John v Morgan, Calin Devlin, Archie McSparran, Ben O’Boyle, Daniel Kearney, Aidan McSparran, Ronan Rodgers, odhran Gillan, Jack Leech, Seanie McIntosh, Daire Mort, Nial McGarel, Patrick McIlwaine, Shea McDonnell, Brogan O’Connor.
BALLYCASTLE: Peter Mullan, Patrick McAlonan, Jack Colgan, Cormac Dallas, Patrick McAllister, Eoin Boylan, Orran Donnelly, Rueben McClean, James Bakewell, Gavin McToal, Somhairli Matthews, Corey Cambell, Jack Egan, Croistai McAuley, Tadh Donnelly.
Referee – Vincent Boyle (Cuchullains)
