Antrim U21 Hurling Championship semi-final
O’Donovan Rossa 1-14 Dunloy Cuchullain’s 2-24
Dunloy set up a final meeting with Cushendall when they turned on the style at Rossa Park on Monday evening to see off the challenge of Rossa. Following their win over Ballycastle the previous week the Cuchullains were sharp throughout the field and were always in control of the game.
Rossa took the lead from a Diarmaid Rogan free, but found their scores hard to come by. The visitors were soon level when Eoin McFerran sent over the equaliser and they hit the front when Jack Martin pointed from distance. Rogan came back with an equaliser but Aodhan McGarry, Luke McFerran and Jack Martin replied with scores for the Cuchullains as the gap began to open.
They went seven clear with ten minutes of the opening half remaining, four of them coming from the ultra-reliable Aodhhan McGarry while Oisin McCallin chipped in with a fine score. Their rhythm was disrupted when Rossa hit back with a goal from Diarmuid Rogan, but the young Cuchullains soon recovered from that setback and pushed on to lead by 1-14 to 1-04 at the interval.
The ten point lead soon went out to eleven as Luke McFerran drilled over just seconds after the restart. Hard though they tried Rossa could not contain the talented Dunloy side. McCallin then set up Paudi Martin for their sides second goal and it soon became clear that the size of the winning margin was the only thing to be decided.
Rossa kept plugging away and Pearse Short and Ruairi Murray pulled a couple of points back. They were never able to get the major scores they needed and the impressive Cuchullains pushed on to win by thirteen points and will go into next week’s decider as firm favourites to take the title.
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ROSSA: D Boylan; P Moyes, C Boyle, F McDonald; C Shortt, R Murray (0-1), B Hegarty; D Rogan (1-8, 0-7f, 0-1 ’65’), B McCauley; L McEnhill (0-1), P Short (0-2), M McKiernan; C Walsh (0-1), E Trainor, N May.
Subs: S Cunningham (0-1) for N May (19), D Morgan for M McKiernan (40), B Crawford for B Hegarty (60), S McDonald for F McDonald (60).
DUNLOY: E Richmond; R Cunning, S Og Blaney, M Trainor; F McMullan, B O’Kane, J Magee (0-1); J Martin (0-3), A McGarry (0-9, 3f, 2 65s); B McCloskey, L McFerran (0-1), E McFerran (0-3); P Martin (2-3), R Mort, O McCallin (0-4).
Subs: C McMullan for M Traynor (33), C McMullan for F McMullan (44), E O’Kane for B McCloskey (51), C Mullan for L McFerran (53).
REFEREE: Paddy Tumelty (Lámh Dhearg)
FOR MORE OF BERT TROWLENS PHOTOS FROM THE ROSSA V DUNLOY GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW