ACHL Division 1
Cushendall 1-18. Portaferry 0-21
Cushendall and Portaferry couldn’t be separated in this excellent division 1 clash in Cushendall on Sunday. With the sun shining down from above these sides produced a score-fest of hurling which kept the supporters on their toes throughout.
Level at half time, it looked like the Ruairi Og’s had finally done enough to grab both points when Joseph McLaughlin pointed them ahead from a free as the game edged into time added on but Portaferry replied immediately through Daithi Sands to take a share of the spoils.
It was score for score during the opening half with Francis McCurry pointing Cushendall ahead before the visitors were forced to make an early substitution with Daithi Sands replacing Ciaran Savage after 6 minutes.
Joseph McNaughton moved the Ruairi’s further ahead from a free before Daithi Sands opened the visitors account with a point in the 5th minute.
McLaughlin for the home side and Cahal Coleman and Niall Fitzsimmons for Portaferry kept the scoreboard ticking before Francis McCurry and Stephen Walsh edged the home side three ahead by the 12th minute.
Back came Portaferry with points from Eoin Magee and two from Padraig Doran in response to one from Alex Delargy and there was absolutely nothing between these sides as play swung from end to end.
A Joseph McLaughlin ‘65’ and another from play by Joseph McNaughton got the Ruairi’s noses in front once more with Padraig Doran hitting three of the next four points for the visitors in reply to one from McCurry for the ‘Dall’ to leave them one ahead by the 26th minute.
Play continued at a breakneck pace in the run in to half time with Padraig Doran and Shane Conlan edging the visitors ahead but the final score of the half fell to Joseph McLaughlin to leave it all square at the short whistle.
Half Time Score Cushendall: 0-11(11) portaferry: 0-11(11)
Sean Milligan replaced Cahal Coleman in the Portaferry side at the start of the second half with Austin Birt replacing Conor McCollam in the Cushendall side with seven minutes gone as the visitors edged ahead with an early Niall Fitzsimmons point.
The county champions replied emphatically when Joseph McNaughton finished to the net in the 4th minute to edge his side two in front with Sean Milligan replying immediately with a point for the visitors.
Conor Fay added another to bring the sides level once more as play continued at breakneck pace as Ryan Delargy replaced Patrick Sharpe in the Cushendall attack.
At this stage the visitors appeared to be gaining the upper hand as Daithi Sands 0-3 and Eoin Magee added four points in reply to one from Joseph McNaughton as Tom Murray came into the action for Deaglan Mallon in the visitors side with 12 minutes remaining.
Once again Ruairi Ogs would find a response as Joseph McLaughlin, Joseph McNaughton and Ciaran Neeson moved them ahead once more with Padraig Doran replying from a free in the 23d minute.
It still looked anyone’s game as Eoghan Sands entered the fray to replace Colm O’Neill with Padraig McKillop coming into the action to replace Alex Delargy as both sides shuffled their line-ups.
It was obvious that this one was going to go down to the wire as Joseph McNaughton for Cushendall and the excellent Padraig Doran 0-2 for the visitors exchanged further minors to move the ‘Ports’ one ahead by the 28 minutes.
Back came the North Antrim men and Francis McCurry and Joseph McNaughton looked to have snatched a last minute victory but Daithi Sands ensured that the visitors would not return to the ‘Ards’ empty handed with that late equaliser.
Cushendall: 1 Conor McAlister, 2 Charlie McAuley, 3 Liam Gillan, 4 Ryan McCambridge, 5 Ruairi McCollam, 6 Stephen Walsh, 7 Conor McCollam, 8 Francis McCurry, 9 Fergus McCambridge, 10 Joseph McNaughton, 11 Alex Delargy, 12 Dominic Delargy, 13 Patrick Sharpe, 14 Ciaran Neeson, 15 Joseph McLaughlin
Subs: 20 Austin Birt, 18 Padraig McKillop, Ryan Delargy
Portaferry: 1 Pearce Smith, 2 Neil White, 3 Ronan Smyth, 4 Emmet O’Neill, 5 Ciaran Milligan, 6 Ciaran Savage, 7 Ryan O’Neill, 8 Shane Conlan, 9 Eoin Magee, 10 Conor Fay, 11 Deaglan Mallon, 12 Padraig Doran, 13 Colm O’Neill, 14 Niall Fitzsimmons, 15 Cahal Coleman,
Subs: 23 Daithi Sands, 18 Sean Milligan, 24 Tom Murray, 22 Eoghan Sands
Referee: Kevin Parke (St. Enda’s)
