O’Neill Sportswear Antrim Hurling League Division 1
Carey Faughs 0-22 Ballycastle McQuillan’s 1-11
Carey Faughs bridged a 62 year gap when they beat their neighbours Ballycastle in Division 1 of the Antrim Hurling League at Ballyvoy on Wednesday evening. Leading by three points at half time the Carey men took complete control in the second half, outscoring their opponents by nine points to four, all nine of them coming from corner forward Conor McBride, and all nine of them from frees.
McBride was in tremendous form for the home team, hitting six in the first half, to help his team to 0-13 to 0-7 lead at the break. He actually missed a couple early in the second half but soon regained his composure to add nine more. However it was more than a one man show by the Faughs, who had stars all over the field, like James Rocket Black who played in a sweeper’s role and Shea Hunter who starred at centre back
The early stages of the game saw Carey get the upper hand as they went 0-5 to 0-2 ahead, but Ballycastle got back on level terms when ‘Rambo’ McCarry fired home a goal on twelve minutes. McBride sent over a point to put Carey back ahead, but three points without reply from Tiernan Smyth gave the Ballycastle a two point lead by the 17th minute. However Carey dominated the remainder of the first half and two neatly taken points from corner forward Paddy Gillan, two by McBride and one from James Rocket Black saw them go in at the break with a three point cushion.
The pace of the game died a little early in the second half but McBride’s stretched the home team’s lead even further with three points from frees. Seamus McAuley pulled one back for Ballycastle but two more by McBride opened the gap still further. When McBride tagged on a couple more it was clear there was no way back for Ballycastle and though Tiernan Smyth did manage to send over two more points, McBride ended the half with three in a row to wrap up a six point winning margin.
Carey
Daniel McBride, Somhairle Matthew, Colm McBride, Daniel Hill, Michael McVeigh, Shea Hunter, Zach McCaughan, Caolán McCaughan, Conlith McKinley, Fiachra McVeigh, John McBride, James McCouaig, Patrick Gillan, Seamus Black, Conor McBride.
Ballycastle
Craoistai McAuley, Oran Kearney, James McShane, Jack McGowan, James McLister, Conor Boyd, Eoin McAlonan, Ronan McCarry, Ryan McCook, Cain Waldron, Seamus McAuley, Cathal Conor, Tiernan Smyth, Orann Donnelly, Lorcan Donnelly.
Referee – Colum Cunning
