Bathshack Senior Hurling Championship – Group B – Round 1
Dunloy 0-24 St John’s 0-18
Saturday 10 August
Brendan McTaggart reports from Pearse Park, Dunloy
Dunloy opened their senior hurling championship campaign with a hard earned victory over St John’s at Pearse Park on Saturday evening. Six points might have separated the sides at the end of the hour but the Johnnies gave the home side their fill of it in a display that looked to frustrate the Cuchullains for long periods.
The home side put in a strong second half performance to pull away from St John’s and a period of just over ten minutes where they threatened to score goals at will. Some ‘cute’ defending from St John’s kept Simon Doherty’s clean sheet intact during that period of play but it saw the Cuchullains score six points unanswered, open a nine point deficit going into the closing stages and effectively take the championship points on offer.
Seaan Elliott top score for Dunloy, taking over the free taking responsibility from the injured Conal Cunning, he would finish with 0-9 beside his name. Playing in a deeper role for the majority of the game, Seaan was in the thick of the action for the Cuchullains and put in a strong performance. Keelan Molloy excelled once again and fired over seven points from play that came from a variety of angles and positions making him a nightmare to defend against.
Shea Shannon was a shining light in midfield for the Johnnies and had 0-8 by the end of the hour while Conor Johnston looked back to his impish best. Peter McCallin’s duel with Phelim Duffin was entertaining both on and off the ball. The St John’s man was a livewire and there wasn’t much room afforded from Duffin one way or another. Conal Bohill’s move into the forward line in the final quarter looked to yield some attacking joy against a solid Dunloy defence but the Johnnies had little or no sights of Ryan Elliott’s goal.
The first half was a very tactical affair, much like the contest between the two sides in the championship last year. Unbelievably, the first score didn’t come until the 8th minute of the game, Aaron Bradley knocking over for his first of three points in the opening half.
By that stage, Dunloy had hit five wides while the visitors didn’t fair much better with two efforts missing the target.
A brace of scores from the Elliott brothers, Nigel and Seaan (free) preceded two white flags by Shannon for St John’s (one free). Tactically, the Johnnies were posing a problem for Dunloy and but for some further wayward shooting, they could have extended their narrow advantage.
The Cuchullains found another gear in the second quarter and played with more fluidity. They fired over four points in five minutes from Seaan Elliott (free), Keelan Molloy (two) and Paul Shiels with a Shea Shannon free the only response for St John’s as they opened a two point lead.
Aaron Bradley’s excellent first half performance was underpinned with a further two points in the time that remained, his second a sublime score off the hurl and while Donal Carson also found his range, Dunloy finished with a flourish. Scores in the same period from Chrissy McMahon, Nicky McKeague, Seaan Elliott and Keelan Molloy ensured Dunloy would take a three point lead into the half time interval, 0-10 to 0-7.
The sides traded scores at the start of the second half, Conor Johnston and two from Shannon (one free) for the Johnnies while Eoin O’Neill and a brace from Seaan Elliott (1 ’65) found the target for Dunloy.
Conor Johnston’s second of the half in the 39th minute followed before a piece of opportunism from Stephen Tierney brought the best out of Ryan Elliott in the Dunloy goals. Shannon had sent a free to the edge of the square and while the sliotar looked to be dropping wide, Tierney managed to get his hurl to the delivery and deflect it towards the Dunloy goal. Elliott’s reflexes were a match for his effort to keep the Dunloy lead at two.
A brilliant score from Keelan Molloy in the 41st minute marked the beginning of the Cuchullains purple patch. Wide on the right, under pressure, Molloy’s effort had the Dunloy crowd purring as they watched the sliotar sail between the sticks. He would fire over another moments later, this time from fully 80 yards and while Shannon replied from a free for St John’s, by the time his side would find their range again the Dunloy lead would be extended to nine.
Seaan Elliott fired over four frees as Dunloy’s attacking play found another level. Eoin O’Neill, Seaan Elliott and Eoin O’Neill all dragged to the ground when they had a sight of the St John’s goal. Taking one for the team and understandable, as they looked to try and rein in the Cuchullains attack. Further scores followed from Keelan Molloy and substitute Aodhan McGarry as the St John’s defence looked overworked.
The Johnnies did break the Cuchullains momentum and split the uprights with three unanswered free, two from Shannon and one from substitute Oisin MacManus but the home side kept the scoreboard ticking at the other end and never looked like yielding their advantage. Nigel Elliott and substitute Padraig Martin fired over with MacManus (free) and Conor Johnston replying for Mickey Johnston’s side while Keelan Molloy took his tally to 0-7 for the evening before Enda McGurk completed the scoring deep in injury time.
Six points between the sides and the championship is off and running for both sides. Dunloy meet Rossa in Dunsilly on the 25th August in their next encounter while St John’s will face reigining champions Cushendall in Ballymena on the same day.
TEAMS
Dunloy: Ryan Elliott; Phelim Duffin, Ryan McGarry, Oran Quinn; Eamon Smyth, Kevin Molloy, Ronan Molloy; Paul Shiels, Seaan Elliott; Nigel Elliott, Keelan Molloy, Eoin McFerran; Nicky McKeague, Eoin O’Neill, Chrissy McMahon
Subs: Aodhan McGarry for P Shiels (43); Deaglan Smith for C McMahon (45); Padraig Martin for N McKeague (50); Anton McGrath for E O’Neill (56)
Scorers: S Elliott 0-9 (6fs 1’65); Keelan Molloy 0-7; N Elliott 0-2; P Shiels 0-1; N McKeague 0-1; E O’Neill 0-1; C McMahon 0-1; A McGarry 0-1; P Martin 0-1
St John’s: Simon Doherty; Odhran Carleton, Ciaran Johnston, Sean Wilson; Enda McGurk, Conal Bohill, Conal Morgan; Andrew McGowan, Shea Shannon; Conor Johnston, Stephen Tierney, Darragh McGuinness; Aaron Bradley, Peter McCallin, Donal Carson
Subs: Conor Hand for C Morgan (15); Michail Dudley for P McCallin (38); Oisin MacManus for S Tierney (41); Conor McAvoy for S Wilson (45); Ruairi Galbraith for D Carson (60)
Scorers: S Shannon 0-8 (6fs); Conor Johnston 0-3; A Bradley 0-3; O MacManus 0-2 (2fs); E McGurk 0-1; D Carson 0-1
Referee: Tarlach Conway (Ballinascreen)
TO SEE MORE OF BRENDAN McTAGGART’S PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
https://myalbum.com/album/RqETTH8RTzKjcG/?invite=902bfb7a-b368-480c-8738-9c61e79d1cce