Travel Ireland Coaches Antrim senior final

Sunday 2pm in Fr Maginn Park, Glenravel : Loughgiel v Dunloy

EVENTS over the past month strongly suggest that Loughgiel Shamrocks will extend their record run in the Travel Ireland Coaches Antrim senior championship to a ninth successive title.

There was much speculation before the first of the group games as to how they would measure up this year given that they were missing four from last year’s winning team (Maeve Connolly, Emma McMullan, Emma McFadden and Racquel Murphy) and with injury worries over Róisín McCormick.

The club made their statement on the field with three comfortable victories that has taken them into the final. Admittedly they looked a bit rusty in the opening game against Ballycastle. In the second game Dunloy put it up to them in the first half, but completely faded after the break and a fortnight ago they powered past Cushendall.

That final game also marked a return to action for McCormick, albeit with a heavily strapped ankle. The Antrim county star was just ten minutes on the field and scored three points. A fortnight further on, she will definitely see action for more than ten minutes, but the question will be whether or not her management team will name her to start. She would definitely add to the scoring power up front.

Caitrin Dobbin was the star against Ballycastle but Dunloy managed to curtail her during the second game. Loughgiel got through that because they had a fair distribution of scorers across the forwards with Lucia McNaughton also weighing in from midfield.

Should Dunloy force McNaughton to play at the back of midfield, the Shamrocks won’t be as effective in accumulating scores and McCormick could give an extra dimension whether from the start or off the bench.

Dunloy though look to have a number of issues to solve – not least their erratic form during each of the three group games.

From being average against Cushendall for the opening 20 minutes, they burst into life and ran riot for the rest of the game. It was the opposite in the Ballycastle match; brilliant as they went 1-7 to 0-0 ahead over the first 20 minutes and then very average for the rest of the game. 

Then there was the middle game with Loughgiel – on a par for the whole of the first half and failing to score during the second. The Shamrocks’ took control at half back and midfield and Dunloy couldn’t break through. Despite that, only three points separated the teams going into the final seven minutes.

In a way, Dunloy have created a scenario where they could ambush the champions. No-one is expecting them to win and their form is not good. That is in contrast to last year when they beat Loughgiel in the group stages, but were swamped in the final – and McCormick only lasted the first ten minutes of that final as she sustained a serious injury.

If Dunloy can match the Shamrocks as they did during the first half of the league game, it will come down to how much game time McCormick gets. She will make a difference while on the pitch, if only to create a distraction!

However the question remains whether Dunloy can get enough scores from a teenage forward line up against an experienced defence.

It may be a low-scoring final and that would give the challengers a chance. But the indicators are all pointing to Corn Uí Dhubhthaigh returning to the Lough Road.