Antrim Camogie Senior Division 1
Ballycastle v Loughgiel 6th Aug 2024
Report and photo album from Michael Corcoran at Pairc Mhic Uilín, Ballycastle
Driving into Pairc Mhic Uilín, Ballycastle on Tuesday evening, Dunloy were favourites for the league title, playing at home on their final encounter with Cushendall. Loughgiel were in Pairc Mhic Uilín in case Dunloy didn’t get the job done, though the game had an air of mystery about it as a strong Ballycastle squad might offer an upset to mark the Shamrocks’ cards ahead of the championship.
As it happens, Dunloy delivered 3-23 to 4-11 against Cushendall and having scooped up two interesting pieces of camogie silver (Feis na nGleann and the League), announce their confidence going into this year’s Antrim championship.
An unexpected swap of referees had Shane McDonnell taking charge and with Ballycastle winning the toss and choosing to play to the north nets with the breeze on their backs, McDonnell rolled in close to the half hour on the second pitch and a fierce battle for possession witnessed Amy Boyle dragging the sliotar away to a waiting Katie McKillop to register the first point in the game.
For the following ten minutes or so, both sides entered into a period of trading points up to 0-05 each, with only one free being awarded to Ballycastle as McDonnell spotted a slap on a stick and had Elen McIntosh making good of the opportunity.
Close to thirteen minutes into the first half, Loughgiel’s Roisin McCormick offloaded to a pressing Annie Lynn and at close quarters to keeper Becky Ellis, the Shamrocks had their first goal of the evening.
Less than a minute later, Amy Boyle ground out another sliotar and offered it to Katie McKillop. McKillop spotted a moving McCormick and Ballycastle’s net rippled to signify a second goal.
Ballycastle would reply with a point from a free awarded due to a clip on a helmet and that was enough to keep heads high and minds focused, but at twenty-six minutes an awarded free seen Loughgiel’s Emma McFadden drop the sliotar into Katie McKillop. McKillop offloaded to McCormick and weighing up her options, slipped the sliotar to Amy Boyle for Boyle’s goal to make that Ballycastle 0-07 Loughgiel 3-06.
At almost thirty on the clock, Annie Lynn fired in a high ball from outside the 20m line. Keeper Ellis had the hot sliotar covered but somehow it dropped out of her hands and rolled into the back of the net to register a half time score, Ballycastle 0-07 Loughgiel 4-06.
Despite the half time score ladened with Shamrock goals, Ballycastle were grinding out the puck outs and at times were directing balls into Loughgiels defence with some promise and had Clare McKillop and Emma McFadden working harder than they’d liked. This though would prove to be Ballycastle’s demise as McKillop and McFadden would run out with the sliotar and deliver to a tenacious Anna Connolly, who if she wasn’t pointing for herself, played a role in Loughgiel’s sequence of passes that amassed a further six goals and ten points in the second half.
Ballycastle had no significant answer to this pressure from Loughgiel, though Ballycastle’s Nuala Devlin had an exemplary point when team mate Fionnuala Kelly won the Loughgiel puckout and actioned the turn over for Devlin’s point. Kelly would be rewarded for her engagement with the last point for the Town after winning the sliotar from a long and tiring ruck.
McDonnell blew for full time with Loughgiel posting a decisive scoreline 10-16 to Ballycastle’s 0-09. That also concludes the league for 2024 with Dunloy rising to the top of the table and the Shamrocks tucking in below in second place. Loughgiel won’t have time to reflect on ‘what ifs’ as everyone’s attention now swings over to what many supporters eagerly await every year for, namely the championship season.
Loughgiel Scorers:
Clare McKillop 0-01, Amy Boyle 1-00, Anna Connolly 1-03, Christine McCloskey 0-01, Annie Lynn 2-02, Katie McKillop 2-01, Roisin McCormick 4-05 (3f), Marie Laverty 0-03
Ballycastle Scorers:
Fay McIntosh 0-01, Fionnuala Kelly 0-02, Nuala Devlin 0-03, Elen McIntosh 0-03
Photos from Tuesday evening’s game can be found in the photo album by clicking on the link here.
https://myalbum.com/album/UfqCeiFpQppmm2/?invite=a57c72b0-c280-48e9-a39a-0631c197e589
Follow Michael G Corcoran @keep_clickin on X (formerly Twitter) for match Gifs when available.
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