Antrim Hurling League – Division 2
Sarsfields 1-15 Cushendun 1-18
Cushendun travelled to the Bear Pit on Wednesday evening, but they had to work hard to get the better of winless Sarsfields before heading back to north Antrim.
No team has suffered more for their commitment to the county than the Paddies, and though it may have been just Niall McKenna who was absent at times Daniel McKernan has been out through injury for most of the season. On top of that their midweek games has seen them short the services of club stalwart ‘Kevo’ McKernan who has been working in England during the week.
The wrong end of Division two may not be the place you expect to see such high levels of skill but both teams had players who have it in spades. We had exceptional saves by both goalkeepers over the hour and something else which I don’t think I have seen in a club game before……no less than five points scored direct from sideline ‘cuts’..two from Loaf McNeill of the visitors and three from Donal McKernan for Sarsfields. That takes some doing in a big wide pitch like the Bear Pit.
Niall McKenna opened the scoring in this game with a pointed free but the Emmets took the lead as they hit three in a row, two from Conlaoith McNeill (one from a sideline) and one from distance by goalkeeper Gareth McGhee. McKenna got his team’s second on six minute but two inside a minute by Conor McHugh and another from Loaf McNeill had the gap out to 0-6 to 0-3, the other Sarsfields score once again coming from McKenna.
Sarsfields had their best spell in the middle of the first half when Donal McKernan started a scoring run which was added two by Daniel, direct from a sideline cut, and a goal from a twenty metre free by Donal, which followed by another one from McKenna…which put them 1-06 to 0-6 ahead by the seventeenth minute. The second quarter was nip and tuck, the key score in this period coming from Cushendun substitute Eoin Magee who grabbed a goal with his first touch of the ball, and with Loaf hitting two more, which included his second direct from a sideline cut, they went in at the break leading by 1-12 to -09 at half time.
When Sarsfields grabbed three of the first four points of the second half it was clear this was going to be a tough battle. The skill level remained high and when the Emmet’s Andrew Breslin cut in from the wing and fired low for the corner of the Paddies net, home keeper McStay pulled off a magnificent save to turn it around for a 65, which Conor McHugh converted.
Donal McKernan kept the home team in touch with his third point from a sideline cut, (the fifth one in the game as Loaf had two for Cushendun). Loaf hit three of the next five points and Colm McKeegan one but going into injury time the home side were just two in arrears when they were awarded a twenty metre free. The Emmets packed the goalmouth and up stepped Donal McKernan to blast for goal, but his rocket of a shot was turned over the bar by the Emmet’s veteran keeper McGhee who dived full length to touch the ball over and deny the Paddies yet again.
