After a weekend of hurling championship it’s down to the football tonight with games in the Intermediate Football Championship.
IFC GROUP 1 – 7.15pm
St. Teresa’s v Ardoyne
St. Teresa’s and Ardoyne get the action underway in Group 1 at MhicDhomhnaill/UiDhoctirtigh Park with the home side favourites to win that one. St. Teresa’s finished second in division 2 of the league while Ardoyne were relegated to division 3
IFC GROUP 1 – 7.15pm
Rasharkin v St. Paul’s
The action continues in Group 1 when St. Paul’s travel to Dreen to take on Rasharkin and while they will not get it easy I would expect division 2 league winners, St. Paul’s to edge that one. Rasharkin did enough to maintain their division 2 status and will be no pushover in the championship and are likely to push the Shaw’s Road outfit to the wire.
IFC GROUP 2 – 7.15pm
All Saints v Gort na Mona
The only division 1 team competing in this year’s Intermediate Championship, All Saints get this year’s Group 2 campaign underway as they entertain Gort na Mona. The Ballymena side enjoyed a good division 1 campaign this year, finishing third while Gort na Mona struggled in division 2.
All Saints should get their campaign off to a winning start but their opponents, Gort na Mona are an experienced side and are capable of much better than their league form suggests.
IFC GROUP 2
Sarsfield’s V Davitt’s – 7.15pm
The meeting of Sarsfield’s and Davitt’s at the Bear Pit could well prove to be the tightest game of tonight’s fixtures with the ‘Paddies’ buoyed by a great opening win over Cushendun in last weekend’s Intermediate Hurling championship. Quite a number of those players could be back in action tonight against a Davitt’s side who finished above them in division 2 of the league and this one could go either way.
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
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.
FOR MORE PICS FROM THE GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
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
Chris Dornan wore a smile as wide as Slemish Park as he walked off the field after his All Saints side made their little bit of history with this win over Lamh Dhearg in the semi-final of the U21 B Hurling Championship.
Thanks to the enthusiasm of the Cushendall native, who manages the Senior team, the Ballymena club fielded a side at this level for the first time and it proved to be a very successful night for Dorney’s side.
The visitors certainly played their part in a typically rugged championship encounter and were level at half time when the sides retreated to the dressing rooms tied at 0-6 each.
Jakub Kaczmarek ( Above and featured image) fires home his second goal to secure All Saints their place in the U21B Hurling final
The Ballymena management made a vital switch at half time when they moved Jakub Kaczmarek to the edge of the square and the switch was to pay dividends as the strong running number 10 struck with two excellent goals to swing the contest decisively in favour of the home team.
His first came with ten minutes remaining at a time when the visitors had hauled back a four point deficit to draw level at 0-10 to 1-7 and he ensured that there would be no way back for a battling Hannastown outfit as he fired home his second with only a minute remaining.
Darach Bradley put the home side ahead with a pointed free after 30 seconds and the All Saints number 11 would be an important contributor as he hit four of his side’s six first half points with Sean McDermott and Daniel Kelly their other marksmen.
Lamh Dhearg matched them all the way through the opening half where they had wind advantage with Ciaran Boyd, Adam Murray 0-2, Finn Mervyn 0-2 and Donal Martin their first half scorers and Boyd was unfortunate to see his shot come back of an upright with 7 minutes gone.
Conor McConville, Lamh Dhearg and Tiernan McGurk, All Saints challenge for the ballDarch Bradley who scored 0-9 for All Saints in their win over Lamh Dhearg
The home side lacked penetration up front during the opening half and Kaczmarek’s switch to full-forward for the second 30 minutes proved a master stroke.
Indeed they might have had a goal as early as the second minute but Rhys Camlin in the visitors goals brought of a superb double save to deny Jakub Kaczmarek and Darach Bradley on the follow up.
All Saints seemed to be taking control however as Daniel Kelly and Darach Bradley with three on the bounce move them four ahead by the 13th minute and they looked to have found their grove.
Lamh Dhearg had other ideas however and they struck back with a goal from Conal McGuigan in the 15th minute, their first score of the second half and when Ciaran Boyd followed immediately with a point the sides were level.
The Slemish Park side had hit half a dozen wides at this point but Jakub Kaczmarek became their hero when he raced through on goal and kicked the sliothar past the advancing Rhys Camlin to move the home side three in front.
The superb Darach Bradley added two points and Kaczmarek put the icing on a fine performance as he fired home his and his sides second goal with time almost up to secure a place in next week’s final against Sarsfields.
All Saints: 1 Luke Walsh, 2 Finn Connon, 3 Peadar McGuckian, 4 Diarmuid Casey, 5 Senan O’Boyle, 6 Harry Connon, 7 Archie McGreevey, 8 Sean McDermott 0-1, 9 Daniel Kelly 0-2, 10 Jakub Kaczmarek 2-0, 11 Darach Bradley 0-9, Fintan Brady, 13 Eddie McKendry, 14 Tiernan McGurk, 15 Ciaran Logan.
On a beautiful day Antrim GAA FOR ALL got a great opportunity to train and play a match at Antrim County ground Corrigan Park. On the GAA FOR ALL open day to welcome new members Antrim welcomed another 8 new players coming in to enjoy our games and more importantly they also had 2 clubs in Belfast expressing an interest in starting up so hopefully watch this space. With the summer holidays we were all down players but a massive thanks to Bronagh McCavigan bringing up the Aghagallon ALL STARS and Martina Loughran for also bringing up some of the Derry GAA FOR ALL TEAM.
Training started with County star Patrick McBride doing the warm-up and a few drills and then Gearóid Adams added his experience to the drills as both coaches kept things moving along nicely. We then split the panel into two teams and the skill level shown by everyone was fantastic with great goalkeeping, defending and some fantastic scores on the day. The day was a fantastic success and a massive thanks to Gearóid, Paddy, Bronagh, Martina, Philip, Kevin and Peter for keeping everything going all day. Thanks also to Angela Callon and her husband for showing up on the day and supporting us and also not forgetting the main man Bert Trowlen. Our last thanks go to Aiden Kelly and his club Naomh Eoin for the use of their facilities and pitch which were first class.
