Antrim ACHL Division 1 – May 19th, 2024
Ballycastle 5-18 Loughgiel 2-25
Match report and photos – Michael Corcoran
Under a clear blue sky with temperatures heading towards 20°C, Páirc Mhic Uilín was a fitting venue for today’s ACHL league game between Ballycastle and Loughgiel. Spectators would witness a game of two halves as the Shamrock’s forged a lead in the first half from a considerable work rate, but Ballycastle had other ideas in the second half and their persistence would yield a clutch of goals that would halt Loughgiel in their tracks.
Lámh Dhearg’s Patrick Tumelty got proceedings underway and a very early attempt to point from Loughgiel’s Declan McCloskey would float wide, but the half back would soon make amends with an offload to Seamus Dobbin, subsequently passing to Eoin McGarry for the first point of the game.
The Shamrock’s took charge of the first fifteen minutes and consolidated six points before Christie McGarry struck at the heart of Ballycastle’s net, drilling the sliotar under the body of the keeper, giving Ryan McGarry little chance of a save.
Ballycastle had early chances but drifted three of these wide of the uprights. Loughgiel’s Caolan Blair rolled a pacey sliotar up onto his stick and offloaded to a calling Paul Boyle, who pointed the Shamrock’s ninth point of the game before Ballycastle’s Seamus McAuley pointed from winning a Loughgiel puck out. This would put ‘the Town’ in motion and after a series of back-to-back frees awarded from a high stick and tackles deemed heavy by referee Tumelty, Ballycastle slotted those over the bar to roll up another four points on the scoreboard, Ballycastle 0-05 Loughgiel 1-12.
The Town’s fortune would continue to change as Ronan McGarry picked up the sliotar around the 65m mark and from a solo run, found the back of Cormac McFadden’s net.
Loughgiel’s Christie McGarry would enter a very productive spell, slotting two frees, one from a slap on Jack McCloskey’s hand and the other a push on McGarry’s back. McGarry wasn’t finished there, surrounded by Ballycastle defenders as he advanced towards the goals, he made a long hand pass to McCloskey running towards Keeper McGarry’s domain, and McCloskey drilled the sliotar beyond a save and Loughgiel took their second goal.
Both sides would take the game up to the short whistle, with two frees going to Ballycastle, both successfully pointed by Neal McAuley and Lorcan Donnelly before Loughgiel’s Tiago McGarry intercepted a Ballycastle pass and pointed, then Dan McCloskey won a ball from a ruck, spotting and passing to Declan McCloskey who finished the first half with that point. Scores stood at Ballycastle 1-10 Loughgiel 2-17.
Loughgiel’s first half work rate and success in winning Ballycastle puck outs set the Shamrock’s up as favourites for the match, but the lads from the Town had other plans.
Minutes had only passed in the second half when a high ball into Loughgiel’s goal mouth was saved by keeper McFadden, but an alert James McShane rushed in and buried the sliotar into the back of the net. This second goal was met with indifference amongst the Town supporters who had not yet felt a change in the tide as Loughgiel continued to point from two more frees and two points from play from Maol Connelly.
Jack McCloskey would be the recipient of a deep pass into the forward line as Loughgiel turned around a Ballycastle attack. McCloskey wasted little time finding the uprights for a point that brought a roar amongst the Shamrock supporters.
Ballycastle would find new energy from three consecutive points, one came from a free as Loughgiel’s Dan McCloskey was boxed in for an over-carry and two from play before Lorcan Donnelly found Loughgiel’s net and now the Town supporters dared to hope. With a scoreline of Ballycastle 3-14 Loughgiel 2-22, the Shamrock’s didn’t panic with a five-point lead.
Both sides nudged up the score line three points apiece, but it was Christy McGarry’s towering point received from Declan McCloskey that got the Loughgiel supporters excited.
Ballycastle’s Ciaran Butler would put the cat amongst the pigeons with a fourth goal that seemed to come out of nowhere but again the Shamrock’s held their composure with a two-point lead and only a few minutes left on the clock.
Fortune struck the Town when Neal McAuley rolled the sliotar up onto the stick from a loose ball around the 20m mark and opted to drop the sliotar low and hard, just above the defender’s heads but with enough velocity to find the underside of Loughgiel’s bar for Ballycastle’s fifth and match winning goal.
Ballycastle’s Tiernan Smyth pointed in the dying seconds and put the match beyond saving for the Shamrock’s as Tumelty’s long whistle closed today’s proceedings, Ballycastle 5-18 Loughgiel 2-25.
Photo Album for today’s match can be found here…
https://myalbum.com/album/eHD9YUYAeEa7mR/?invite=62585cb1-b4a1-4c53-aa14-a28da2ccb0c3