Bathshack Senior Hurling Championship – Group 1
Carey Faughs 0-13 Ballycastle 5-26
The first Senior Championship meeting between Ballycastle and Carey Faughs in 55 years turned out to be a stroll in the park for the Ballycastle men as they ran up a big score against their local rivals. In the build up to the game many pundits were tipping the Faughs to cause an upset, so poor had Ballycastle been in their opening game against Rossa, but the Town had a point to prove and a lightning quick start, which brought them a goal and three points in the opening four minutes, had Carey on the back foot and they never really recovered from it.
The pitch was perfect and a good crowd had turned up to see these neighbours battle it out for the first time since 1967, but Ballycastle’s focus was on the game and they flew from the traps as Conor Boyd, Joe McToal and Tiernan Smith sent over points. Conor McBride, who was to score the majority of Carey’s point, pulled one back for the Faughs but great work in the right corner by Dairmaid McShane set up Ciaran Smith for a well taken goal to give his team a 1-4 to 0-1 lead after just a four minutes.
That start set the pattern of the game, and though Conor McBride kept his team in touch with his excellent free taking the Town were piling on the scores through Conor Boyd, Joe McToal ,Tiernan Smith, ‘Rambo’ McCarry and Diarmaid McShane, and they were 1-9 to 0-5 clear by the 20th minute. Carey, who lost a man to a straight red card five minutes before the interval, added two more frees inside three minutes through McBride, but three from ‘Smithy’ and one from McShane had Ballycastle 1-13 to 0-8 clear by half time.
Corner forward Smith carried on where he left off as the sides resumed after the break with two more points, and though McBride hit two more for the Faughs, a scoring burst from Cian Waldron, Conor Boyd and Tiernan Smith were followed by a goal from Mickey Dallat that all but finished the home team’s challenge. McBride and James ‘Rocket’ Black got two more from play but Ballycastle were dominating throughout the field and points from Smith, Seamus McAuley, Conor Boyd, and Diarmaid McShane stretched the lead even further.
Ballycastle emptied their subs bench and the scores kept coming, and though three late goals from Dairmaid McShane Buff Dallat and Conor Boyd gave the scoreboard a somewhat flattering look, the result was never really in doubt.
The win throws Ballycastle a lifeline and earns them a quarter final place against the losers of Sunday’s final game in group two between Cushendall and St John’s
