Month / June 2021

by thesaffrongael

Antrim make changes for Dublin clash

Antrim have named their team for Saturday’s Leinster Senior Hurling Championship 1st round tie with Dublin at Pairc Tailteann in Navan.

With a consistent run in the league few of us were expecting many changes in personel, and though there are several switches from the Laois game, the team is along the expected lines, with only one debutant, that of Seaan Elliott at corner forward.

Elliott missed most of the league campaign because of injury but made it back for the last game in the campaign against Laois where he made a big impression, scoring five points from play on his senior debut.

Ryan Elliott once again starts in goal with the full back line of Damon McMullan, Gerard Walsh and Stephen Rooney retaining their places. There is one change in the half back line where Joe Maskey returns to wear the number 7 shirt in place of Aodhan O’Brien, who started against Laois. Eoghan Campbell retains the right-half back berth while Paddy Burke once again pivots the defence.

Keelan Molloy, who was rested for the Laois game, comes back into midfield to partner Michael Bradly, replacing his Dunloy club mate Ryan McGarry.

There are two changes in the half forward line where James McNaughton and Conal Cunning come in to replace Conor Johnston and Eoin O’Neill, while in the full forward line debutant Seaan Elliott is joined by Ciaran Clarke and Neill McManus, with Daniel McCloskey dropping to the bench.  

The full team is

1 – Ryan Elliott                   Dunloy

2 – Damon McMullan         Loughgiel

3 – Gerard Walsh                 Rossa

4 – Stephen Rooney             St Paul’s

5 – Eoghan Campbell           Cushendall

6 – Paddy Burke                   Cushendall

7 – Joe Maskey                     St Enda’s

8 – Keelan Molloy                 Dunloy

9 – Michael Bradley              St John’s

10 – Niall McKenna               Sarsfields

11 – James McNaughton      Loughgiel

12 – Conal Cunning               Dunloy

13 – Seaan Elliott                   Dunloy

14 – Neil McManus                Cushendall

15 – Ciaran Clarke                  Ballycastle   

SUBS – 16: Paul McMullan 17: Phelim Duffin 18:Matthew Donnelly 19: Ryan McGarry 20: Aaron Crawford 21: Ciaran Johnston 22: Conor McCann 23: Conal Bohill 24: Daniel McCloskey 25: Shea Shannon 26: Domnhal Nugent.             

by thesaffrongael

McKenna: “We’re not going down to make up the numbers”

Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Quarter-Final

Antrim vs Dublin

Date: Saturday June 26 Time: 3pm

Venue: Pairc Tailteann, Navan

Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway)

By Brendan McTaggart

The Christy Ring has come and gone and the epic journeys through the McDonagh Cup has been negotiated.  Finally, Antrim have finally made a return to the Liam McCarthy Cup and the Leinster Championship after a five year absence.

Pairc Tailteann awaits the Saffrons and a rematch with the Dubs who accounted for Darren Gleeson’s men comfortably in Parnell Park just five weeks ago.  Eight points separated the sides then as Antrim didn’t hit the heights and standards they have set themselves in recent seasons.  It’s not often you get a chance of redemption so soon in the beautiful game but there’s no doubting it will be in the thoughts of the players and management as they prepare for Saturday’s clash with Dublin.

2021 was always going to be an acid test for Darren Gleeson’s men.  Making the step up from Division 2 is massive but the Saffrons have performed exceptionally.  One ever present in the starting 15 this year and outstanding performer for the Saffrons has been Niall McKenna.  Now considered to be one of the more senior members of the squad after celebrating his 27th birthday this week, the Sarsfields man has been leading by example this year.  A powerhouse, workhorse and a player with graft and guile in abundance.  McKenna has been playing for the Saffrons since making his debut in the 2013 Ulster Final and has been enjoying the best form of his career in a Saffron shirt for the past two seasons.

McKenna gave us his summary and thoughts on their League campaign: “What got what we wanted.  We held our own and that was our objective. 

“If you look at the team this year, we have a lot of young boys in the team and this year was great to get them that experience.

“We secured our status for next year and we’re in a better position now.  But we’ll continue to push and keep Antrim going forward, getting better and going in the right direction.  Antrim is definitely going places.”

In a campaign that had many highs and numerous pivotal moments.  Like many of us, McKenna struggled to pinpoint one moment that could define the league season for the Saffrons: “We got something from every game and every game we felt there was turning points.  In the majority of the games we went behind and came back and showed our spirit and character.”  He continued: “The Kilkenny game stands out.  We clawed our way back but just couldn’t hold on but the first game against Clare ultimately gave us the belief.  That win was massive for us and gave us a major boost in the arm.”

Barring a run of unexpected results, Antrim had the job done after their epic draw with Wexford at Corrigan Park.  A match that had everything and thankfully some faithful Saffron supporters were there to witness one of the games of the year.  Points shared on the day when all three results were possible, you might think it was a satisfactory 70 minutes work but McKenna felt differently: “It was bizarre.  The final whistle went and the roar went up around the ground.  I thought I read the score board wrong.  Yeah I suppose it more or less secured our status in Division One for next year but that game felt like a defeat for me.  I was disappointed with the draw and a lot of the lads were too.”

Against the Dubs in Parnell Park, Antrim looked a tired side.  It was the third match at this level inside 14 days and it showed on the day.  The zip, the intensity, the work ethic wasn’t there.  Dublin looked a step ahead throughout the game and while McKenna acknowledges they were second best on the day, the Sarsfields man told us they feel like they’ve learned from that contest already: “There’s no way you can read too much into that game (Dublin).  Don’t get me wrong, Dublin are a good side and will start Saturday as favourites but we did not perform to our standards at all that day.  When you look at all our performances in the league, the Dublin performance is the one where we just did not perform at all.

“We didn’t play the way we had planned.  It just didn’t happen and we reverted back to our old habits but hopefully we can learn from that.  I feel like we did learn from it against Wexford so hopefully we can continue that again on Saturday.”  The Antrim star continued: “Like I said, they’re a good side.  They move the ball well and are a physically big and strong side but if we play our own game that we’ve been working and our game style, we’ll perform better than we did in Parnell Park.”

McKenna has been there and saw it all so far in an Antrim shirt at either side of the glory spectrum.  He’s better placed than most to cast his thoughts on the current camp as they prepare for the Leinster Championship once again: “There’s a definite buzz.  Everyone is training with confidence and challenging for positions.  It might be a cliché but no-one’s jersey is safe.  Training is competitive and everyone is driving each other on.  Everyone has that goal to do their best for Antrim.

“Dublin has been our sole focus since the Laois game.  It’s how we’ve treated every match this year, we’ve never looked further than the next game.

“It’s the Championship so you can’t help but get excited.  We know it’s not going to be a walk in the park in Navan and we know we’ll have to play to the best of our capabilities but we’re not going down to make up the numbers either.  We’ve done the work and hopefully it’s enough. “

by thesaffrongael

Derry Girls out for revenge but Antrim can take the title

 
It has only been several weeks since the Saffrons last met Derry in the Lidl Division 4 league clash, where they came out convincing winners on a 5-10 to 3-4 scoreline. 
This weekend, however, the pair will be battling it out for neighbourly bragging rights in the Ulster Junior Championship Final. 
Oakleaf management, Benny Marron and Odhran McNeilly, both have experience in the Antrim club scene with Moneyglass and will almost certainly have a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to tactics and game management. 


However, the Saffron duo of Emma Kelly and Kyla Trainor have represented their counties for decades between them and know exactly what it takes to get over the line in championship. 
With a few injury concerns in the Antrim camp, there are likely to be changes to the starting line up, however a big boost for the team is the return of vice captain, Grainne McLaughlin, who missed the whole league campaign through injury. 
Antrim are certainly going into the game as the bookies favourites, but even an ounce of complacency from the Saffron side would be erroneous as the Derry girls plot revenge. 

For the members of Davitt’s GAC this is a big occassion, hosting and Ulster final for the first time. The club have put an awful lot of work into building this great facility and it will be an ideal venue for this game. The Derry girls are coming looking for revenge, but Antrim will be keen to show that they were deserving winners last time out.
All roads lead to Davitt’s Park on Saturday evening, where we could have a very interesting game on our hands!

by thesaffrongael

Ruairis see off Naomh Eanna challenge with strong second half display

North Antrim Senior Hurling – Feis Cup semi-final

Cushendall 3-20 Naomh Eanna 1-12

A strong second half display saw Cushendall advance to the Senior Feis Cup final at the expense of Naomh Eanna at Pairc Mhuir on Thurday evening. The Glengormley men had performed really well in the opening half and with just five minutes left for play in that opening period they lead by two points. However a strong finish to the half saw Cushendall turn things around and they went in four up at the break and then pushed on in the second half to win with a bit to spare.

Fred McCurry pointed Cushendall ahead in the second minute, but that was to be their only score for 14 minutes and during that time Luke O’Connor brought Naomh Eanna level. Top scorer Christy McNaughton put Cushendall back ahead on 15 minutes with a point from a free but Cormac Jennings soon had Naomh Eanna back on terms with one from play at the other end. The pace began to pick up a bit when Christy McNaughton and Emmet Laverty got two in quick succession, only to see Naomh Eanna hit back with three of their own inside a minute, two from centre back Eoin Conlon and one from Cormac Jennings to edge their team ahead.

Fergus McCambridge pointed to bring the Ruairis level but two quick replies from Diarmuid Maguire and Cormac Jennings had the Glengormley men two ahead with just two minutes of normal time left in the opening half. Things looked promising for Naomh Eanna at this stage, but the home team produced a strong finish and after Christy McNaughton sent over a ‘65’ midfielder Alex Delargy got through for a goal which was followed by points from McNaughton and Emmet Laverty, which gave their team a four point lead at the break.

Points from Cormac Ross, Cormac Jennings and Diarmuid Maguire early in the second half kept Naomh Eanna in touch but the tide was turning in Cushendall’s favour and a run of scores in a five minute spell between the 37th and 42nd minutes put them firmly in command. Young substitute Ronan McAteer started it all with a goal, and two from Christy McNaughton and one from McCurry put them seven ahead. Points from Eoghan Caldwell and Cormac Jennings kept them withing range but another scoring burst from the Ruairis which yielded 1-1 from Christy McNaughton, plus points from ‘Frein’ Laverty and Fred McCurry sealed the deal.

The visitors did manage a goal from Cormac Jennings five minutes from time but the Ruairis place in the final was secured by this time and three unanswered points saw them finish 14 points clear. In that final they will play the winners of next Tuesday’s second semi-final between Loughgiel and Dunloy

CUSHENDALL

Eoin Gillan, Terry McAlister, Martin Burke, Liam Gillan, Scott Walsh, Arron Graffin, Mark Emerson, Fred McCurry, Alex Delargy, Dominic Delargy, Christy McNaughton, Fergus McCambridge, Emmet Laverty, Conor Carson, Andrew Delargy.

Subs – Eoin Laverty or Dominic Delargy (inj)

NAOMH EANNA

Martin Curran, Eoin Maguire, Rian Gillan, Ruairi Diamond, Luke O’Connor, Eoin Conlon, Cormac Ross, Ryan Bogue, Ruairi Donaghy, Daniel Lowry, Cormac Jennings, Diarmuid Maguire, Eoin Jennings, Conor McSteen, Eoghan Caldwell

Referee – Owen Elliott (All Saints)

by thesaffrongael

Week-end Football Fixtures & Previews

(Friday-Sunday 25th -27th June)

Friday 25th June

ACFL Reserve Div One (all games at 7.45pm)

St Enda’s Glengormley v Kickham’s Creggan

Only a single point separate this duo in the ratings with the home side just ahead and home advantage may well give the Hightown men the edge as Creggan visit.

O’ Donovan Rossa v St Gall’s

St Gall’s second string have been faring well this term and underlined their quality last time when they gained the verdict over the visiting Cargin and they may well follow suit here as they visit Rossa.

Gort na Mona v St Mary’s Aghagallon

Little may separate this pairing at conclusion as Aghagallon visit Gort na Mona, but the home side would seem to have the edge and they may well gain another couple of points on home turf.

Division Two Reserve (all games at 7.45pm)

St Ergnat’s Moneyglass v Tir na nOg

Tir na nOg lead the way in this grade to replicate the standing of their first team and although they will probably be asked questions on this trip to Marian Hill the Whitehill residents may well gain the verdict.

St Joseph’s Glenavy v St Comgall’s Antrim

St Comgall’s have continued to find the going tough to date despite effort a plenty and the Chapel Hill side may well gain the verdict on their own sod.

St Mary’s Rasharkin v All Saint’s Ballymena

All Saint’s remain just a single point behind the pace setters Tir na nOg and they may well remain in close proximity with the addition of another brace of points acquired in this visit to Dreen.

St James Aldergrove v Con Magees Glenravel

Just a single point separate these sides with the Crumlin based Aldergrove just ahead of their visitors and ground advantage may well tilt the balance in favour of the St James’s men.

Sunday 27th June

Under-17 League

Division One (all games at 12 noon)

All Saint’s Ballymena v St Enda’s Glengormley

St Enda’s have struggled to make impact to date and they will face another testing challenge when they travel to Ballymena.

St James Aldergrove v St Paul’s

St Paul’s are undefeated this year as they take the road down to Crumlin where the home side are sure to provide them with a stiff test.

Patrick Sarsfield’s v Erin’s Own Cargin

Cargin have been plagued with injury problems but if they have all hands on deck in this visit to the Bear Pit the Toome side can gain the day.

St Mary’s Aghagallon v St Brigid’s (1)

St Brigid’s have remained unbeaten although they did have to share the points on a recent visit to Aldergrove and they will not find this as an easy assignment as they travel out to Aghagallon

Division Two

St Gall’s Tir na Nog Randalstown

St Gall’s are unbeaten in the competition as they visit Whitehill where they will have to be at their best if they are to remain on the winning trail

Cuchullian’s Dunloy v St Joseph’s Glenavy

Dunloy have no points on board as they play hosts to Glenavy and although Cuchullian’s are capable of improvement sand improvement will be needed if they are to turn the corner.

O’ Donovan Rossa v St Ergnat’s Moneyglass

Moneyglass remain without defeat to date and the St Ergnat’s can continue in winning ways as they visit a Rossa side which remains without a point in he competition

Con Magees Glenravel v Gort na Mona

Gort na Mona are without defeat in the competition and they may well add another brace of points here as the Glen’s men, in search of a first point, visit Enright Park.

Corpus Christi Gaels v Casement’s Portglenone (1.00pm)

Both Corpus Christi Gaels and their visitors in this one Casement’s have a single win apiece with ground advantage possibly tilting the balance in favour of the city men in this one.

Division Three

Kickham’s Ardoyne v Kickham’s Creggan

Creggan travel up to Ardoyne in search of their first points and although the North Belfast side may well give their visitors a run for their money the Kickham’s lads may well collect the points

Lamh Dhearg v St Comgall’s Antrim

Lamh Dhearg have remained unbeaten to date as do their visitors from St Comgall’s with ground advantage possible proving the difference aiding a home win.

St Brigid’s (2) v St Mary’s Rasharkin

Rasharkin lead the way in this division and the St Mary’s men will look to extend that good start as they travel to Belfast to cross swords with the St Brigid’s second string.