Antrim Hurling League Division 1

Ballycastle 0-15  Cushendall 2-17

Cushendall travelled to Ballycastle on Sunday evening and came away with an eight point win. Leading by four at half time Cushendall stretched their lead with goals from Eoin Laverty and Sean McAfee but Ballycastle fought back and were just three behind going into the last five minutes. At that stage it looked like the home side might salvage something, but five on trot from the visitors slammed the door firmly in their faces as three from Fergus McCambride, one from Paddy McGill and one from Paddy Sharpe had them eight in front tat the final whistle.

It was score for score in the early stages until three in a row from ‘Frein’ and Dominic Delargy put the Ruairis two up at the first water break. The second quarter was much the same with not a lot between the sides as Ciaran Butler and Eoin Laverty exchanged scores, with Cushendall stretching their advantage to four at the break.

A brilliantly taken goal from a penalty by Laverty eight minutes into the second half gave the Ruairis the upper hand and when Dominic Delargy grabbed a second they were in control. Ballycastle gradually edged their way back as KB McShane (2), Lorcan Donnelly, Conor Boyd and Ciaran Butler sent over points, but a scoring burst in the final five minutes but the visitors ended their hopes.

BALLYCASTLE

Brendan Connor, Oran Kearney, Thomas McIlroy, Oisin McAuley, Neal McAuley, Eamon Elliot, Conor Boyd, Seamus McAuley, Ciaran Butler, Feargal McKiernan, Cathal Connor, Lorcan Donnelly, Kevin McShane, ?.

SUBS

Ryan McGarry, Eoin Boylan, Colum Butler, Callum Campbell, Cailin O’Connor, Conal Colgan, Matthew Donnelly, Sean Brogan, Eoin Magee, Ryan McCook, Mark McClean, Rueben McClean.

CUSHENDALL

Eoin Gillan, Terry McAlister, Martin Burke, Liam Gillan, Scott Walsh, Ryan McCambridge, Mark Emerson, Alex Delargy, Aidan McNaughton, Dominic Delargy, Eoin Laverty, Fergus McCambridge, Paddy McGill, Sean McAfee, Andrew Delargy.

SUBS

Paddy Sharpe.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Antrim Minor Hurling League Division 1

Oisins 4-13 Ruairi Og 0- 11

For the second week in a row Oisins got the better of their neighbours Cushendall in minor hurling, this time in the All County League, a win which keep their unbeaten run going.

Once again Niall McGarel was the stand-out player, accounting for 2-9 of his team’s total, two of which came in the first two minutes. Odhran Gillan added another before Cushendall came back with points from Padraig McKillop and half back Joshua Schnell to leave just a point between the sides by the tenth minute.

That was as close as it was to get however as the Oisins hit six of the next seven points put them in charge. Schnell and McKillop kept the visitors in touch with two points inside a minute but a goal and a point from McGarel just before the interval put the 1-10 to 0-5 clear.

After the break the home team continued to hold the upper hand and two goals from corner-forward Peadar McDonnell and one from McGarel had them 14 clear at the end.

GLENARIFFE

Phelim Ward, Matthew Black, Mark McSparran, Ronan Leech, Cathan Graham, Niall Magee, Cailin Devlin, Aidan McSparran, Patrick McIlwaine, Odhran Gillan, Brogan O’Connor, Peadar McDonnell, John Morgan, Niall McGarel.

SUBS

Daniel Kearney, Daniel Douthart, Oran McClintock, Calum McIlwaine, Oisin Mort, John Scullion, Colla Ward, Sheamus Monaghan.

CUSHENDALL

Thomas McLaughlin, Oissine McMullan, Michael Quinn, Callagh Mooney, Joshua Schnell, Sean McKay, Stephen McAuley, Austin Birt, Joseph McNaughton, Joseph McLaughlin, Padraig McKillop, Darach Bradley, Killian McNaughton, Frankie McCormick, John Birt.

SUBS

Oisin Woodhouse, John Mitchell, Charlie McAuley, Aodhan Campbell, Oran McCambridge, Aran McCloskey, Alex McCambridge, Fiontan Bradley

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

One year on from their epic fundraiser for Marie Curie, McQuillan GA&CC and Carey Faughs finally got the opportunity to officially present the local Marie Curie group with the fruits of their fundraising labour.
When lockdown first hit last year, the Clubs soon rallied to see what they could do to help those in need.  The neighbouring Clubs left their on pitch rivalry to the side to unite forces to raise much needed funds for Marie Curie.
The charity had issued an ‘Emergency Appeal’ due to Covid19 putting fundraising on hold, with funds for Nurses and Hospices being needed more than ever.  Both clubs have several links to those involved in the local Marie Curie group, so it made sense to work together to raise as much as possible for this much needed service.  Marie Curie’s biggest fundraiser takes place at the Lammas Fair and with the historic event cancelled due to the pandemic, funds needed to come from somewhere.
This incredible fundraiser involved club members of all ages, as they used their daily exercise during lockdown, to clock up their kilometres by running, walking or cycling, leaving the event organisers to collate the distances and report on the daily totals.
It created a great buzz for everyone involved and the Club Social Media platforms were used to keep everyone motivated and informed.  Photos and videos were pulled together and shared and really captured the spirit of what the Clubs wanted to achieve; keeping interaction amongst Club members, albeit virtually or passing by on a walk.  It was a great boost for participants physical and mental health too.
It had been originally planned for the squads to take on the challenge to race from ‘Fairhead to New York’, but such was the response they ‘arrived’ in New York in just 3 days clocking up an amazing 5,855.71km, exceeding all expectations. The organising committee said ‘We decided to keep the challenge going and to continue on to Australia adding a further 16,020km to the journey.
This target was again smashed and the clubs made it to Sydney with 5 days to spare. The group realised the momentum but also the challenge it would be to then ‘get back home’ again, but the groups within the clubs, not just the players but the ‘Carey Fit Club’ and ‘MacUilín Brighter Nights’ crew plus the Committee and Supporters groups were all keen to keep going until the new challenge was met and that they did.
Within the 14 Day target that was set, they collectively covered a massive 40,592.93km through running, walking and cycling, a phenomenal effort. The equivalent distance of travelling from Fairhead to Sydney via New York and back home to Ballycastle again, with 2,463.93km to spare. That’s a lot of exercise!
The clubs had originally set a fundraising target of £2000, however this amount was  amazingly surpassed with a final grand total of £17,507.25 pledged to support Marie Curie.
The phenomenal community spirit at such a difficult time was heart-warming and a pleasure to be a part of for all involved.
Winnie McGarry, the Treasurer of Marie Curie Moyle group said ‘We have been overwhelmed by the response – the Clubs came to us with this idea and the uptake was just brilliant; it was fantastic and shows how generous everyone is in times of crisis, especially in these uncertain times, where there are many individuals and organisations in need.’
With lockdown restrictions now beginning to ease, the official handover photo became possible, albeit that the funds raised all went directly to Marie Curie via Just Giving at the time.  Pictured at Ballycastle Seafront, with the striking Fairhead in the background, are Members of both GAA Clubs – the event organisers, Martin McAuley, Úna Kelly, Cíara and Caoimhe McShane and James Mulholland. Accepting the cheque on behalf of the local Marie Curie group are Winnie McGarry, Sharon McClean and Briege McGarry.

ACHL Division 1

Loughgiel 2-10  St John’s 0-17

By Darach O’Mullan

St John’s recorded a narrow win over Loughgiel in Sunday’s Division 1 League game at Fr Healy Park on Sunday in a game played in a constant downpour. In a highly competitive game the Johnnies ability to pick off points gave them the edge in a hard fought physical game.

With Michael Dudley, Conor Johnston and Aaron Bradley to the fore for the visitors they forged ahead early one, Bradley’s accuracy from frees proving a major factor. At the other end Rian McMullan, in his first season of senior hurling, was keeping the Shamrocks in touch and his 1-3 in the first half kept his team in touch.

A good point from Ryan McKee early in the second half saw the Shamrocks get more into the game, but Aaron Bradley free taking was keeping the visitors comfortably in front. A goal from Shan McGrath brought Loughgiel right back into the game but St John’s ability to pick of their points saw them over the line with just a point to spare to give the Corrigan Park men a morale boosting win.

Loughgiel

1. Chrissy O’Connell. 2. OD Laverty. 3. Tony McCloskey 4. Ronan McCloskey 5. Cathal McMullan. 6. Declan McCloskey . 7. Odhran McFadden. 8. Ryan McKee. 9. Donal McKinley. 10. Callum McKendry. 11. Eddie McCloskey. 12. Shane O’Boyle. 13. Rian McMullan. 14. Daniel McCloskey 15. Shan McGrath. 17. Paul Boyle. 18. Cormac McFadden. 19. Christy McGarry. 20. Ciaran McKay. 21. Declan Laverty. 22. Michael McGarry. 23. Daniel McPeake. 24. John Francis Connolly.

St John’s

1. Declan Cregan. 2. Aidan McMahon 3. Ciaran Kerr. 4. Conor Carson. 5. Stephen Tierney. 6. Cónall Morgan. 7. Conall Bohill. 8. Jim Peoples. 9. Andrew McGowan. 10. Conor Johnston. 11. Oisin Donnelly. 12. Shea Shannon. 13. Dónall Carson. 14. Michial Dudley. 15. Aaron Bradley. 16. Simon Doherty. 17. Jack Bohill. 20. Danaan McKeogh. 21. Ciaran McKenna. 22. Lorcan Heenan. 24. Domhnall Nugent.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•