Antrim Hurling League – Division 1
Ballygalget 0-9 Loughgiel 4-24
Match report and photos by Michael Corcoran
Saturday’s Antrim ACHL senior Division 1 game between Ballygalget and Loughgiel was the result of a rescheduled match originally due to an unplayable Mitchel Park. After hollow tining and an application of top-level sand, recent dry weather has re-established a good playing turf, albeit dusty in the wind due to the dry sand.
Match referee, Hugh Torney, concluded the coin toss with a quick update on the Down U20B Croke Park success and threw in the sliotar promptly at 5pm, where Ballygalget had the southerly breeze on their backs for the first half of the game.
As Loughgiel’s Declan McCloskey attempted to pick up the sliotar from a back pass out of the throw-in, Torney called for a chop and McCloskey dispatched the sliotar over Ballygalget’s bar to register the first point in today’s game.
Not long back from his travels in Australia, Loughgiel’s Shan McGrath picked up a ball fed into the full forward line and offloaded to a waiting Jack McCloskey on the edge of the square, finishing off with the first goal of the evening’s game.
Cormac Coulter would set the ‘Galgets’ running on the scoreboard from a free just around the midfield position. Both sides would regret a number of early wides from frees and play but once the game got going, points and frees started to flow freely up to the short break and the large scoreboard registered Galget 0-07 Away 1-11.
The second half will be remembered for a show of bad tempers boiling over in various areas of the field, keeping referee Torney busy establishing order. That will take something away from the game, as there were spells of entertaining hurling from both sides to please the supporters.
During one of those spells of play, Loughgiel’s Dan McCloskey worked hard along the half forward line, picking up a loose ball and offloading to a running Shan McGrath. McGrath would solo the sliotar to within firing range of Aaron Crowe’s net and at short range, fired to find Crowe getting his stick to the ball, but it was rapidly turned around and into the net for the Shamrock’s second goal. McCloskey would quickly be rewarded for his persistence and a short pass onto his stick seen him solo in a pattern similar to McGrath’s and the Shamrock’s now had their third goal of the game in quick succession.
Loughgiel nudged up their points largely due to three frees, taken successfully by Declan McCloskey and two from Jack McCloskey. Dan McCloskey would find Jack McCloskey deep on the left-hand side of the pitch and a quick move off his marker would give him enough space to deliver the sliotar over the bar to bring the scoreline up to Ballygalget 0-07 Loughgiel 3-16 before Ballygalget’s David Johnson cleanly pointed into the strong breeze.
On resumption from play due to another ‘dust-up’ that swept players up into the reception area of the fitness suite, Loughgiel settled quickly and a delicate pass off the stick from Jack McCloskey found Dan McCloskey running off his shoulder towards Crowe’s nets. McCloskey reached his destination after a solo run from outside the 20m line, delivering the sliotar into the net for his second goal of the game.
Loughgiel would accumulate four more points, two from play and two from frees before Ballygalget’s John McManus soared a towering ball over Loughgiel’s bar.
The closing point of the game would go to the man that opened up the scoring, namely Declan McCloskey. Crowe’s puck out landed short in the wind and McCloskey turned it around prompting Torney to blow the long whistle after approx. five minutes of extra time. The large, sponsored scoreboard would read Galget 0-09 Away 4-24.
Saturday evening’s result would leave Loughgiel within three points of top of the table, currently held by St. John’s. With all teams having three matches to play, the league is shaping up for an interesting race to the finish.
Photos from this afternoon’s game can be found in the album here…
https://myalbum.com/album/PMLFKeP9Hftqsc/?invite=13ec422a-166f-4a7a-85d8-9fe1608c16e3