Andersonstown Social Club Intermediate Hurling Championship

Oisins 3-20 Con Magees 0-15

When Glenariffe Oisins lost their opening game of the championship campaign to Creggan there was doom and gloom around the club, but two games later they sit on top of the table on 4 points after wins against St Paul’s and Glenravel, with all the other clubs on 2. However this still does not guarantee the Oisins a place in the knock-out stages, for they have played a game more than the three teams below them, and they have to travel to the Bear Pit in the last game of the campaign to take on Sarsfields.

The Con Magees win came on Wednesday evening and Glenariffe had a wee bit too much for their neighbours from ‘over the mountain’, many of whom had played a lot of their juvenile careers for the Oisins.

Oisins corner forward Shae McDonnell and Con Magees Declan Traynor exchanged points in the opening minutes as did McDonnell and Eoin McCusker to leave the score tied on 0-2 apiece after five minutes. However the Oisins were gaining the upper hand and Niall Murray and Caolan O’Connor put them two clear by the seventh minute. Conleth O’Loan pointed a free for the visitors on ten minutes to keep them well in touch and Cormac McKeown pulled one back for the Con Magees on fourteen minutes.

However as the half progressed the Glenariffe men took charge of the game and boosted by a late goal from Caolan O’Connor they went at the break leading by 1-11 to 0-5.

Caolan O’Connor and Cormac McKeown exchanged points early in the second half, but Glenariffe came back with a goal from full forward Conor Patterson to push their advantage out to twelve.

Con Magees kept battling away but when Patterson found the net again midway through the second half there was no way back for them and the Oisins pushed on the win convincingly to set up that final meeting with Sarsfields in two weeks’ time.