Senior Reserve Championship Semi Final
Monday 29th August
Report by Niall Kelly
Loughgiel Shamrocks 2-25 O’Donovan Rossa 0-09
Loughgiel secured their place in the Senior Reserve Hurling Final with familiar foes Cushendall with an emphatic win over a battling Rossa side. The foundation of their success was built upon a dominant display in the middle third in the first half and an unrelenting desire to press and despatch scores ruthlessly in the second. Maol Connolly, often the conductor and pulling the strings in attack, notched up a personal tally of 1-08 and was unplayable at times with Damian Quinn also in potent form boasting a total of 1-04 for his side. Perhaps even more pleasing for the Loughgiel management team was the fact that scores were shared across the team with 10 different outfield players getting on the scoresheet. A purple period in the last ten minutes of the first half essentially sealed Rossa’s unfortunate fate as the hosts rattled over eight points without reply to stretch into what would be an unassailable lead of 0-15 0-04 at the short whistle.
Centre forwards Callum McVeigh and Maol Connolly exchanged scores in the opening minutes before Loughgiel seized the early initiative and raced into a 0-06 0-01 lead with scores from Connolly, Damian Quinn, Michael McGarry and the mercurial Shay Casey. Rossa responded well though and had cut the deficit to three points midway through the half as Dara Rocks began to exert his influence on proceedings with Diarmuid Rogan and Callum McVeigh on target yet again for the Shaws Road outfit.
The Shamrocks though switched to another gear approaching the half and began to turn the screw. Pinpoint passing and interchanging of attacking options bamboozled Rossa and the hosts were turning on the style. Maol Connolly was in on the scoring act and turned provider for the next three scores from McGarry and Quinn with the pick of the bunch a fine score from wing back Conal McCloskey who finished a slick and flowing attacking move. Declan Gillan’s long range effort saw the sides retreat to the changing rooms with Rossa looking to scale a steep mountain in the second half, trailing by eleven.
The men in blue and yellow started brightly in the second period with early scores from Eoin Trainor and McVeigh but the hosts seemed to have an answer for any minor setback and replied with scores of their own with corner forwards McGarry and Ronan McCollum on target.
Rossa’s fate was well and truly sealed after the first green flag of the evening. Rather fittingly it was Connolly who dealt the blow with a thunderous effort to the net from a close range free on the thirty eighth minute as the deficit was now fourteen points.
To their credit though, Rossa’s spirit was never in question and they sought about their business with their determination never waning. Rocks and Trainor responded with points from range but the cogs in the Loughgiel machine began to turn with even more vigour and they were relentless in their pressing and intensity. Caolan Blair got in on the act with an excellent point after embarking on a surging run from centre half back before Quinn got himself a major after tenacious work and utilising his blistering pace to cause havoc in the Rossa rear-guard. The scores kept coming for the hosts and it was the trusty hurl of Connolly who continued to heap misery on the visitors, devastatingly accurate from the placed ball.
Rossa continued to fight despite the sizable margin and with Niall Devlin marshalling the defence, they did all they could to supress the might of the Shamrock’s attack. Further scores from Quinn and Patrick Laverty put the seal on an efficient and domineering performance.
Credit to both teams for an entertaining game of hurling. Despite the discrepancy on the score sheet, Rossa had their moments of class in the game but just couldn’t cope with the ferocity and relentlessness of the Loughgiel attack. A very intriguing final with Cushendall is certainly on the cards.
Teams
Loughgiel:
C McFadden; F Henry, D McPeake, C Henry; R McCormick, C Blair (0-01,) C McCloskey (0-01;) D Gillan (0-01,) C McKay (0-01;) P Laverty (0-01,) M Connolly (1-08,) D Quinn (1-04;) R McCollum (0-02,) S Casey (0-02,) M McGarry (0-04)
Pearses
C Rocks; A McLean, E O’Neill, C Boyle; P Short, E Trainor (0-02,) N Devlin; O May, D Rogan (0-01;) D Rocks (0-02,) C McVeigh (0-04,) C McPartland; J Quinn, R O’Neill, J Reynolds
