Thomas McLaughlin grabs a high ball in this challenge with Loughgiel’s Conor Dickson during the Under 21 Hurling Championship semi-final on Monday evening.
The game started like a whirlwind and after Loughgiel’s Darragh Patterson hit the opening score, right from the throw-in the ‘Dall came back with two inside 30 seconds from Joseph McLaughlin. The Shamrocks hit back and the sides were level on 3 apiece after three minutes as the blistering early pace of the game continued and three from Oran McCambride, Oisin Woodhouse and Fiontan Bradley put the home side 0-5 to 0-3 in front with less than five minutes on the clock.
Conor O’Mullan and Christy McGarry brought Loughgiel level again but a goal from Joseph McLaughlin and six points on the bounce from the home side started to see daylight appear between the teams, the Ruairis leading by 1-10 to 0-5 at the end of the first quarter. The Shamrocks closed the gap with points from a Christy McGarry free and one from play from Conor O’Mullan but Cushendall pulled away again with a goal from Fiontan Bradley on 22 minutes. Eight in arrears Loughgiel were in danger of being cut adrift, but they battled their way back into contention with four points in the last seven minutes of the half, one from play by Pearse Patterson and three from Christy McCarry frees to trail by just four at the half time whistle. (2-12 to 1-11)
Within a minute of the restart the gap was down to two as top scorer McGarry and Ronan McCollum swung over points, though Joseph McLaughlin and Callagh Mooney pushed the gap out to four again in the next three minutes. A Joseph McLaughlin free stretched the gap to five, but Loughgiel hit back with a goal from Ben McGarry and suddenly it looked to be anybody’s game.
Loughgiel’s Christy McGarry get away from Cushendall’s Callagh Mooney during the U21 semi-final at Pairc Mhuire
Two minutes later Cushendall had the ball in the net at the other end when Oran McCambridge drilled one in from a narrow angle on the right, but Loughgiel kept themselves in contention when Christy McGarry sent over two more points from frees. Cushendall were finding the scores increasingly hard to come by and Loughgiel drew level by the 50th minute as McGarry tagged on another point from a free and Liam Glackin added one from play.
The Shamrock fans must have felt their team were in with a great chance at this stage but the home side found another gear down the home straight as they outscored the visitors by 3-1 to a single point. The first goal came from Oran McCambridge and the other two from Joseph McLaughlin who completed his hat trick to seal the win and book his team’s place in the final against Dunloy next Monday evening in Ballycastle.
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CUSHENDALL
Liam McGhee, Alex McCambridge, Daire Mort, Michael Quinn, Mark Emerson, Callagh Mooney, Conor McCollum, Joseph McNaughton, Austin Birt, Oisin Woodhouse, Joseph McNaughton, Oran McCambridge, Fiontan Bradley, Padraig McKillop, Thomas McLaughlin
Subs – Aodhan Campbell for Mark Emerson;
LOUGHGIEL
Codai McGarry, Cahir Connolly, Ruairi McCormick, Conor Dickson, Conal McCloskey, Liam Glackin, Ben McGarry, Tiago McGarry, Christy McGarry, Eoin McGarry, Darragh Patterson, Pearse Patterson, Ronan McCollam, Ronan Fitzgerald, Conor O’Mullan
Subs – Finn Henry for Conor O’Mullan; Ryan O’Boyle for Ronan Fitzgerald; Oisin Connolly for Liam Glackin
Referee – Colum Cunning (Dunloy)