Antrim Camogie TeamKit Senior Championship
Cushendall v Loughgiel 18th August 2024
Match report and photos from Michael Corcoran at Páirc Mhuire, Bun Abhann Dalla
Cushendall 3-12 (21) Loughgiel 2-15 (21)
Under the peering presence of Lurig Mountain, supporters were welcomed into Páirc Mhuire to see an opening game from the Antrim Camogie TeamKit senior championship. Occasional glimpses of sunshine and a warm breeze sweeping across the breadth of the pitch, was also welcomed with no rain forecast for at least the duration of the match.
Spectators would witness an on form Cushendall squad, perceptive in cutting off passes and finding space behind Loughgiel’s defence, testing the nerve and resolve of the Shamrocks in a game that delivered excitement, intensity and a fitting draw in the end.
Referee Paul O’Neill promptly got the match underway, with Loughgiel opting to play towards the village goals in the first half. With less than thirty seconds on the ‘Moyle’ scoreboard, Loughgiel’s keeper, Eimear Boyle, was in action as she diffused an incoming sliotar from Cara O’Boyle out wide for a 45m. Cushendall’s Eva McNeill stepped up and sent the sliotar over and the Dall were on the scoreboard with their first point in their championship campaign.
Loughgiel’s centre half forward, Lucia McNaughton cut in a sideline ball, finding Roisin McCormick but a hook would bring that attack to a halt, before McNaughton was fed a ball from Katie McKillop and as it hit the ball net over the bar, Loughgiel had their campaign underway too.
Cushendall’s Eva McNeill would make that three on the board with two points, one coming from a free and a point from play as she picked up a pass on the dugout side of the pitch. Loughgiel were happy to reply as Amy Boyle took possession of a loose ball around the forty-five metre line and Katie McKillop slotted her point over the bar from a long and unchallenged solo run by Annie Lynn.
With three points apiece, Loughgiel were taking the game back into Cushendall’s defence. McCormick’s pass to Amy Boyle set the mid fielder up for a point but the sliotar dropped short into Keeper, Louise Mulholland’s care. McCormick though was able to turn the puck out around but it bounded off the upright and it would be twelve minutes into the game before both centre forwards, Kady McNeill for the Dall and Roisin McCormick for the Shamrocks would score a point apiece in quick succession.
Cushendall’s Brogan Abram stayed off the scoring sheet but assists were going to prove pivotal as Kady McNeill took the first one for a point and on the fifteenth minute, finding Orlaith McAlister, Cushendall had their first goal.
Loughgiel replied, playing the advantage, as Katie McKillop pointed to close the gap, Cushendall 1-05 Loughgiel 0-05 but on the stroke of eighteen minutes, a running Cara O’Boyle intercepted a Loughgiel pass and offloaded to Kady McNeill for the Dall’s second goal.
Such was the ebb and flow of the game, that barely a minute had passed when Annie Lynn found a running Katie McKillop around the thirteen metre line who had slipped past the full back line. McKillop would lift Shamrocks’ spirits with a goal to close the gap back to three points.
Loughgiel’s Shauna Devlin was pushing forward to bring the sliotar out for a clearance, but found herself unable to deliver the sliotar as the mauve jerseys moved in, O’Neill blew for holding the sliotar too long. Eva McNeill dispatched that over the bar followed by a clean point from Siobhan McKillop, before Loughgiel’s Annie Lynn brought the Shamrock’s back into the game with a fine point, delivered from a pass from Roisin McCormick.
With approximately five added minutes of injury time, Loughgiel would improve their score by two points as McCormick pointed from an Annie Lynn pass and Anna McKillop would slide the sliotar from under the scoreboard over Mulholland’s bar.
As Cushendall’s Siobhan McKillop was delivering the sliotar out wide, she was clipped on the faceguard and O’Neill blew for a foul. Eva McNeill slotted the sliotar over and into the ball net to bring the difference back to three points as O’Neill blew for half time with the scoreboard registering Cushendall 2-08 Loughgiel 1-08.
Roisin McCormick would jump start Loughgiel back into the match with a point from a free awarded to McNaughton and McNaughton would be right back into the thick of it as she found McCormick running into a space big enough to deliver a rasping strike, some 25 metres out, low and to the right of Mulholland for Loughgiel’s second goal and for the first time in the game, Loughgiel had their noses out in front.
The Shamrocks had another run on goal about five minutes into the second half, only this time it was McCormick to McNaughton, seeing the sliotar run wide for a 45. McCormick dispatched the sliotar cleanly for her point and it felt like the tide was on the turn for Loughgiel but Cushendall threatened to enter the danger zone when Orlaith McAlister was unmarked and receiving the sliotar moved closer to Boyle’s goal. Sensing the closure of Loughgiel players, McAlister opted to point but patience would be her virtue as McAlister returned minutes later to find the back of Boyles net.
Buoyed on by her goal, McAlister returned back into Loughgiel’s half back territory only to go to ground. McAlister improvised a pass to Kady McNeill and McNeill didn’t waste the hard fought sliotar for the point.
With twenty minutes on the clock in the second half, Loughgiel would rally three points in a row, McCormick from two frees, one on Lucia McNaughton twenty metres out and a stick around Christine McCloskey’s neck. McCloskey would take some comfort from pointing after Anna McKillop delivered her pass on the low side of Páirc Mhuire.
Conscious of little less than six minutes on the clock including three minutes of added injury time, both sides were on level pegging, Cushendall 3-10 Loughgiel 2-13 and a point looked like it might take the game. Referee O’Neill blew for a throw ball foul from Loughgiel as they were advancing the sliotar out. Eva McNeill delivered the sliotar accurately but at twenty-eight minutes in, McCormick brought the game back to level with a point from a free.
As the pressure built, both on and off the pitch, Ellen Leech opted to take a free, given by O’Neill, as Cushendall pushed up. As the sliotar dropped from the ball net onto the ground behind Boyles goals, the Dall were back to a one point lead and with less than a minute left on the clock. But it would be Loughgiel’s Roisin McCormick that would rescue the game for the Shamrocks as a last minute point was enough to secure the draw when O’Neill blew for full time shortly after.
A gritty performance from Cushendall will boost their self-confidence in the championship but it will also put Loughgiel on alert, who were probably marked as strong favourites ahead of today’s enthralling game of camogie, that other clubs have raised their game and anticipate having a real chance of getting to the final.
Cushendall starting panel and scorers:
Louise Mulholland, Annie Leech, Sinead Cosgrove, Caoimhe McNaughton, Anna McNeill, Ellen Leech 0-01 (1f), Laura Black, Cara O’Boyle, Siobhan McKillop 0-01, Brogan Abram, Eva McNeill, 0-06 (1×45), Laura McMullan, Kady McNeill 1-03, Orlaith McAlister 2-01
Loughgiel starting panel and scorers:
Eimear Boyle, Clare McKillop, Katie Lynn, Maria Lynn, Emma McFadden, Ciara Laverty, Shauna Devlin, Amy Boyle 0-01, Anna Connolly, Christine McCloskey 0-01, Lucia McNaughton 0-01, Annie Lynn 0-01, Katie McKillop 1-03, Roisin McCormick, 1-07 (4f 1×45), Anna McKillop 0-01
Photos from Sunday’s game can be found in the photo album by clicking on the link here:
https://myalbum.com/album/HmWet3nyy9imdJ/?invite=55e26f7e-ab69-4b06-a967-f44104aa2fa1
Follow Michael G Corcoran @keep_clickin on X (formerly Twitter) for match Gifs when available.
Follow The Saffron Gael @TheSaffronGael on X for links to match reports