Antrim Féile Na nGael 2024
Saturday 20th April 2024 at Woodlands
Dunloy 2-07 Loughgiel 1-05
Report and pics by Michael Corcoran
Today’s Féile Na nGael final, between Dunloy and Loughgiel was held on the 3G pitch in
Woodlands Playing fields, Belfast. Despite an earlier encounter today with Dunloy,
where Loughgiel didn’t manage to get going, the final would be everything that
spectators would relish.
Referee Darren McKeown and linesmen Ray Mathews and Declan McLarnon ushered in
the start of the match on a beautiful sunny afternoon with very little breeze, where the
M1 motorway could be heard humming in the background between bouts of spectator
excitement.
In a tightly contested first half, Loughgiel were the first to open a score with a point, but
Dunloy answered with a sudden break-through Loughgiel’s defence for their first goal of
the match.
The second half started with a goal from Loughgiel and that brought in extra tension into
the game as there were only 12 minutes in a half and with the clock ticking down, there
was little room for any side to recover from a setback. Dunloy drilled another goal into
the back of Loughgiel’s net and that would see them increase their lead by five points.
Both teams continued to trade points in the latter part of the second half, but by now,
the clock had made it difficult for Loughgiel to close the gap.
Both sides put on a great display of hurling despite a lively sliotar off the 3G surface, but
Dunloy kept both their cool and lead to win this year’s Féile na nGael when the long
whistle eventually came
