U21 Hurling Championship Final
Dunloy 1-20 Cushendall 3-13
Monday August 5
Brendan McTaggart reports from Pairc Mac Uilin, Ballycastle
For anyone who braved the mid-summer weather and attended the U21 final, they were treated to a contest that had everything we love about our game. Thrills, spills, goals and a game played at 100 mph. At the end of a pulsating 60 plus minutes, it was Dunloy who claimed the victory and cup by the narrowest of margins in a contest that was every bit as close as the scoreline suggests.
The pendulum swing of momentum was in full force in this contest with the game ebbing and flowing in a proper ding dong battle between two evenly matched sides. Cushendall’s ability to create and take their goal chances looked to be the winning of this game yet Dunloy just kept ticking along and a series of scoring bursts at the beginning and end of each half proved to be the winning of the game.
Aodhan McGarry would top score for the Cuchullains with 0-10 beside his name while Joseph McLaughlin was top of the charts for the Ruairi’s and 1-6. Both had plenty of support with Oisin McCallin and Padraig Martin impressing for Dunloy while Padraig McKillop was a real handful for the Dunloy defence. The ‘Dall full forward scored 1-2 and caused the Dunloy defence a lot of problems.
Neither side really put their stamp on this game in the opening 10 minutes. Dunloy held a one point lead at 0-3 to 0-2 with a couple of goal chances going begging, McCallin denied by ‘keeper Joseph McNaughton while Ryan Mort was denied by a brilliant last gasp block from Daire Mort.
At the other end of the pitch, the speed of Thomas McLaughlin and Oran McCambridge was yielding success for the Ruairi’s but three wides in the opening exchanges did little for their challenge.
A series of three points in just over two minutes from Joseph McLaughlin (free), McKillop and Oistin Birt put Cushendall ahead while they kept the Cuchullains scoreless for closing in on 10 minutes. A brace of frees from McGarry either side of Joseph McLaughlin’s second of the game (free) put the minimum between the sides going into the final 10 minutes of the half.
Cushendall struck the first meaningful blow of the final with a major in the 23rd minute. McKillop had just put his side two clear once more when Bradley tore down the left and as McKillop dropped into space, Bradley sent the sliotar his way and McKillop riffled his shot to the back of the net to give Eoghan Richmond no chance between the sticks for Dunloy.
Dunloy’s answer to that Cushendall goal was exactly what they needed. A run of four points in barely two minutes from Jack and Padraig Martin and McGarry frees (two) brought them to within the minimum and while Cushendall replied from a Joseph McLaughlin ’65, Dunloy had the final say of the half. McGarry firing over a brace of points (one free) to leave the sides tied at 0-11 to 1-8 at the short whistle.
If anything, half time came at the right time for Cushendall as Dunloy really turned the screw at the end of the first half, outscoring the Ruairi’s 0-6 to 0-1 in the space of just over six minutes.
Dunloy would continue that momentum at the start of the second half when they scored their opening goal in the second minute. They sent a long, high ball into the danger area and while Cushendall forced Padraig Martin out wide, he cut inside and riffled his shot to the back of the net from an acute angle. It was a ridiculous angle and Martin had no right to score from there but it was a touch of brilliance that lit up the final and was a sign of things that would come.
Martin would fire over a point soon after to take the Dunloy lead to four for the first time in the game but it was the Ruairi’s who found a way back into the game once more. McKillop the tormentor in chief once more and while the Dunloy defence looked to have dealt with his threat, he dropped the sliotar low and passed to Joseph McLaughlin in space. He made no mistake with a pulled, first time effort.
The sides traded scores before Dunloy took a three point lead in the 41st minute. Cushendall found another gear however with Joseph McLaughlin splitting the uprights with a quite brilliant score when he had neither time nor space but still managed to get an accurate shot away. His brother Thomas would split the uprights before McCallin raised another white flag for Dunloy.
Cushendall’s third goal came in the 48th minute and again, McKillop was at the heart of it. Dunloy swarmed and looked to quell his danger but he managed to pass unorthodoxly to Bradley and despite an acute angle, he found the back of the net.
Once again, Dunloy found another response. Three points in as many minutes from Luke and Eoin McFerran before McGarry’s eighth free of the final cancelled out the Cushendall major to put Dunloy two clear going into the final five minutes.
Joseph McLaughlin (free) and McCallin swapped scores before the Cushendall man would leave the minimum between the sides as the clock ticked into injury time.
Dunloy packed their defence and looked to the speed of McCallin on the break while Cushendall threw the kitchen sink in the closing stages. They had a free from distance where McLaughlin took aim and with the sliotar dropping, there was carnage on the edge of the square but Dunloy managed to clear the danger with referee Ciaran McCloskey calling time.
This was a quite brilliant advertisement for hurling within our county with two sides that just refused to lay down or give in. The Ruairi’s more than played their part in what was an incredibly entertaining final and even the most ardent of Dunloy supporter wouldn’t have denied them an extra 20 minutes for extra time. But, it was the Cuchullains who claimed the silverware.
TEAMS
Dunloy: Eoghan Richmond; Reece Cunning, Sean Og Blaney, Michael Traynor; Daire McMullan, Ben O’Kane, Joseph Magee; Jack Martin, Aodhan McGarry; Eoin McFerran, Luke McFerran, Barry McCloskey; Padraig Martin, Ryan Mort, Oisin McCallin
Subs: Tom McFerran for J Magee (HT)
Scorers: A McGarry 0-10 (7fs 1’65); P Martin 1-2; O McCallin 0-3; L McFerran 0-3; E McFerran 0-1; J Martin 0-1
Cushendall: Joseph McNaughton; Aodhan Campbell, Daire Mort, Michael Quinn; Alex McCambridge, Callagh Mooney, Conor McCollam; Oistin Birt, Charlie McAuley; Oisin Woodhouse, Joseph McLaughlin, Oran McCambridge; Fiontan Bradley, Padraig McKillop, Thomas McLaughlin
Subs: Mark Emerson for C McCollam (37); Stephen McAuley for O Woodhouse (44)
Scorers: J McLaughlin 1-6 (3fs 1’65); P McKillop 1-2; F Bradley 1-00; O McCambridge 0-2; T McLaughlin 0-2; O Birt 0-1
Referee: Ciaran McCloskey (Loughgiel)
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