Andersonstown Social Club

Intermediate Hurling Championship

Glenariffe Oisins 3-26 St Brigid’s Clougmills 3-19 (AET)

Glenariffe booked their place in the semi-final of the Intermediate Hurling Championship when they beat Cloughmills in a thrilling encounter on Sunday evening at Pairc Mhuire, Cushendall.

On a weekend when much of the fare on view was insipid and uninspiring we were served the best wine last. Given their record in championship matches in Cushendall over recent years when they lost to St Enda’s twice and Armoy once, the Oisins could not have been jumping with joy when they heard the game was switched from its original venue in Loughgiel to Pairc Mhuire. After recovering from a bad start and leading by five at the break even the most pessimistic Oisins fans must have thought they were going to put their fear of playing in their neighbours back garden behind them when they stretched their lead to eight soon after the break. However as the game progressed they got the collywobbles once again as the Biddies battled back, but all seemed well when a goal from a penalty by man of the match Alex O’Boyle put them six clear again with just four minutes of normal time remaining.

That was that, or so it seemed, but the Pairc Mhuire curse was not dead yet and in the four minutes which remained the Biddies grabbed two goals, one from a Mickey Devlin penalty (his second of the half) and one from substitute John B McGuckian to tie the scores with just seconds left. If the Dubs fans in Croke Park two hours earlier felt they were under pressure when Kerry hit the front going down the home straight, it was nothing compared to this. All seemed well when the Oisins were awarded a free three minutes into injury time and Alex O’Boyle stepped up to seal the win. However as O’Boyle punched the air in celebration the corner-forward’s shot tailed wide of the target by the narrowest of margins, a la Tipperary’s Bubbles O’Dwyer in the 2014 All Ireland final against Kilkenny, and match referee Colum Cunning sounded the long blast on Cloughmills puc-out to indicate extra time.

If the Oisins fans nerves were shot by this stage they were soon calmed again as their team hit the first six points of extra time, five of them coming from O’Boyle. There were a few nerves when the Biddies closed the gap back to four early in the second period of extra time, but that was as close as they would get and two more from O’Boyle and one apiece from Conor McAlister and substitute Oliver Kearney sealed the win with seven to spare.

This was a great game of hurling and both teams deserve praise for their efforts. Liam Kearns, Aaron Smiley and Mickey Devlin all starred for Cloughmills but two men are worthy of special mention, and both of them are on the Oisins team. Corner forward Alex O’Boyle gave a display of score taking that will rank with the best seen for quite some time and over the hour and twenty minutes he had 1-17 to his name. The other is goalkeeper Seanan McToal who made a series of excellent saves, but one in particular in the first half was extra special when he somehow got his stick to a shot from point blank range from full forward Chris McKiernan to prevent what seemed a certain goal. It was to prove crucial as the Oisins goaled in their next attack and what would have been a nine point lead was suddenly back to three and it changed the face of the game.

The Oisins went into this game as firm favourites given St Brigid’s league record this season, but the Biddies were not weighed down by the underdogs tag and they flew from the traps to go four ahead in five minutes Liam Kearns leading the charge with two class strikes while Conor Laverty and Mickey Devlin hit one apiece. Paul McDonnell opened Glenariffe’s account on seven minute but Kearns hit three of the next four points to pull his team 0-7 to 0-2 clear after fourteen minutes. Alex O’Boyle pulled one back for the Oisins to cut the gap to six, but seconds later it looked certain to go out to nine when McKiernan won possession on the edge of the Glenariffe square, only to be denied by McToal’s miraculous save.

It was to prove a turning point in the game for the Oisins went straight up the field and when the ball broke across the large square Alex McDonnell struck a ground shot the Biddies net and though Stephen Smyth hit a quick reply the next four points all went the Waterfoot men, one from Mickey Gettins and the other three from O’Boyle, one of them direct from a sideline cut. Cloughmills were wasteful in front of goal as they battled back but they steadied the ship with two fine points from Mickey Devlin and Jimmy Doherty to leave just one between the sides, but the Oisins came back with an O’Boyle point and Conor McAlister goal on the stroke of half time to go five clear at the break. (1-12 to 0-10)

The gap was out to eight as O’Boyle added two more and Paul McDonnell one in the opening five minutes of the new half but Doherty grabbed a point and Mickey Devlin fired in a penalty to keep the Biddies in touch. That gap stayed roughly the same during the next fifteen minutes with a real purple patch from Kearns yielding three points, which were cancelled out by an O’Boyle goal from a penalty which he struck low to the corner. The Oisins appeared to have done enough but the Cloughmills men showed great resolve in the final minutes and Devlin’s penalty brought them within a score before John B McGuckian became an unlikely hero as he drilled the match saving goal to the Oisins net.

As is often the case in these type of games extra time turned out to be a bit of procession for Glenariffe and with O’Boyle pulling all the strings they closed out the game to set up a semi-final with newly crowned Division 2 champions Naomh Eanna in a fortnight’s time.

OISINS: Seanan McToal, Michael Haughey, Randal McDonnell, Kieran McKendry, Shane O’Connor, Mickey Gettins, Daniel Haughey, Caolan O’Connor, Aaron Cosgrove, Dan McKillop, Conor McAlister, Thomas Quinn, Alex McDonnell, Paul McDonnell, Alex O’Boyle.

Subs – Patrick Burns, Oliver Kearney, Conor Patterson

ST BRIGID’S: Gary McCollum, Sean McKendry, Michael Morrison, Stephen Martin, Geoffrey Og Laverty, Aaron Smiley, Jospeh Smyth, Stephen Smyth, Conor Laverty, James Doherty, Ruairi Laverty, Michael Devlin, liam Kearns, Chris McKiernan, Eoin Dobbin.

Subs – Johnny Duffin, John McGuckian

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