ACHL Division 3

Loughgiel 3-20 Glenarm 3-16

Report and pictures by Michael Corcoran

Sunday’s Division 2 match between Loughgiel and Glenarm was a closely fought, fast paced game and delivered bouts of skills to entertain the crowd around Fr. Healy Park.

After a photo call, rallying support for ‘Gaels Against Genocide in Gaza’, match referee, Piarais McCaffrey, summoned order and the sliotar was rolled in almost on the hour.

Loughgiel’s Rónán Fitzgerald would take the honour of putting the first two points in the game onto the scoreboard from play, quickly followed by Glenarm’s two points from Niall McGarel. McGarel would prove himself throughout the hour with accurate free taking and well struck points from play but not before Loughgiel’s Roan McGarry would find the sliotar near Glenarm’s net, requiring a mere flick for the sliotar to ripple the back of the net.

Loughgiel would use that momentum well and amassed another five points, all from play, before Glenarm responded after 13 minutes when Cormac McFadden’s sliotar dropped to the ground, Blain McDermott wasted no time in collecting the ball, opting to kick it over the line.

Five minutes of the game would elapse before another goal opportunity would come knocking on Loughgiel’s door, as Conor O’Mullan rifled the sliotar towards Glenarm’s keeper, Michael Abram. Abram read the line well and parried the sliotar for a wide.

Goals would be a feature of this afternoon’s game and Glenarm’s Ciaran Magill would increment their score tally with another goal to bring the game to a half time result Loughgiel 1-15 Glenarm 2-07.

At the start of the second half, Loughgiel’s Roan McGarry would prove to be too much to handle for Glenarm’s defence as he read and intercepted a pass to deliver a fine point followed by a goal. Rónán Fitzgerald, much to the frustration of Glenarm’s bench, was proving almost unmarkable as he ran from one end of the pitch to the other. That youthful energy would eventually pay off when he picked up the sliotar and rifled it to the back of Glenarm’s net for a goal.

Not to be outdone in the classy goal category, Glenarm’s Daniel Black persevered in a ruck on the low side of the pitch close to his own bench and on his own volition, carried the sliotar to the back of Loughgiel’s net for a well-deserved goal.

With six points in the game, Loughgiel 3-16 Glenarm 3-10, Roan McGarry would punish Glenarm with four from four frees but Glenarm responded each time to keep the hosts within reaching distance, especially after a late flurry of points from McGarel and Sean O’Boyle, however that wouldn’t be enough to close the gap and Loughgiel would celebrate another win at the Park, Loughgiel 3-20 Glenarm 3-16.

Loughgiel Starting Panel

Cormac McFadden, Cahir Connolly, Daniel McPeake, Charley O’Hagan, Ciaran McKay, Liam Glackin, Conall McCloskey, Nicholas McNaughton, Finn Henry (0-01), Ronan McCullom, (0-01) Odhran McFadden (0-01), Rónán Fitzgerald (1-03), Eoin McGarry (0-02), Roan McGarry (2-09), Conor O’Mullan (0-02)

Ronan Casey (0-01)

Glenarm Starting Panel

Michael Abram, Joshua Quinn, Barry Hamill, Matthew Black, Aidan Scullion, Darren Hamill, Declan McDermott, Kieran O’Boyle, Daniel Black (1-03), Dylan McLaughlin (0-01), Ciaran Magill (1-00), Sean O’Boyle (0-01), Blain McDermott (1-01), Niall McGarel (0-10), Conal Ward