JHC Group 1
Rasharkin 5-29 Ardoyne 3-10
In a very convincing win over Ardoyne played at Rasharkin, the home side made it very clear that they are serious contenders for this year’s Junior Hurling Championship.
Ardoyne were first off the blocks with a point from play by Paddy Heaney after several wides from Rasharkin.
Declan McKay got Rasharkin into gear with a lovely point from a sharp angle before sharp shooter McKeever rifled over the next two points for Rasharkin. Paddy Heaney was the anchorman for the North Belfast men as they strove to keep in touch, with Padraig McGreevey playing his part with a goal that was a fitting end to a great solo run through the Rasharkin defence by Sean Searle. However, with six different players getting their names on the scoreboard for Rasharkin, it was looking ominous for Ardoyne as the short whistle was blown.
Half-Time: Rasharkin 2-14 Ardoyne 1-06
Dan Moore opened the second half for Ardoyne with a point that sparked a revival for Ardoyne as they outscored Rasharkin by 2-04 to 0-05 in the third quarter of this game. McKeever was in form though and he kept the scoreboard ticking over for Rasharkin. Matt Killen has been a regular goal scorer for the Northenders this season and again he was on target but his goal at 15 minutes into the second half marked the end of any meaningful resistance from Ardoyne.
The final quarter exposed Ardoyne’s lack of experience at this level of competition as Rasharkin corrected their sights and put on a display of accurate shooting for which Ardoyne, despite several outstanding saves from Agnew, did not have the answer on the day.
Rasharkin will move on with confidence, while Ardoyne will hope that with several key players back on board that they can regroup as both teams move on to the next stage of the championship.
Full-time: Rasharkin 5-29 Ardoyne 2-10
Rasharkin: Liam Tunney Daniel Doherty Conor Doherty Conaire Donaghy Ruairi O’Boyle 0-03 Aidan McKeever 0-01 Tiernan O’Boyle Shane Hasson Conor McFerran 0-01 Caolan Maria Emmet McFerran 0-01 Declan McKay 0-02 Conor McKillop 1-03 Donagh Quigg 1-04 Conor McKeever 1-14 James O’Mullan Terry McGregor 2-0 Brian Og O’Neill
Ardoyne: JP Agnew, Paul O’Halloran Micháel McGreevy Eamon Mac Lochlainn Sean Searle Kealan McCallan Diarmuid Martin Dean Goodall 0-01 Paul McGuigan Paddy Heaney 0-03 Dan Moore 0-01 Padraig McGreevy 1-03 Aran Stewart 0-03 Matt McKillen 2-0 Caolan Wallace, Enda Slattery Piarais O’Neill, Padraig O Deorain Connor O’Neill Cormac Curran Jonathan Larkin Ciarán Gaston
Referee: Declan McGarry
TO VIEW BRIAN MC KEE’S PHOTOS CLICK ON LINK BELOW