Antrim GAA Reserve Cup Loughgiel v Dunloy 28th August 2024

Loughgiel 1-22 Dunloy 2-14

Match report and photo album from Michael Corcoran at Fr. Healy Park, Loughgiel

An electrically charged first half in Wednesday’s Reserve Cup would complement the distant rumblings of thunder, threatening to deliver a deluge in the already soft turf. But thankfully, for most of the sixty minutes, play would remain dry overhead…but heavy underfoot.

With three goals and twenty points between the sides before the break, supporters were entertained to a blistering game of hurling, refereed by Seamus Shannon. Shannon would get to work twenty seconds after the throw in as Loughgiel’s Eoin McGarry picked up a foul as he worked his way towards the goals at the clubhouse. Ryan McKee would send that wide but Maol Connolly would keep the pressure applied with the first point in the game at under the two minutes.

Dunloy would send their puck out deep into Loughgiel’s half for a goal mouth scramble that was well diffused by Loughgiel’s full back line but Dunloy’s Nicky McKeague would receive the outbound sliotar for a turnover that put Dunloy on the scoreboard with their first point.

A worrying threat around the edge of the square, Dunloy’s Decky Smith would cast a long shadow into Mark Christie’s goals and with just two and half minutes in, Smith struck a well angled sliotar to beat Christie and register his first goal of the evening.

Unphased by the early goal, Loughgiel waited patiently and Darragh Patterson would point from a Finn Henry pass and then at six minutes in, Patterson would assist Eoin McGarry with Loughgiel’s goal.

Dunloy would reply with a useful point from Tom McFerran, as he took possession in his own half around the forty-five metre mark and running into Loughgiel’s half, floated a high ball to bring scores level at 1-02 apiece on the Fridge Raiders scoreboard.

Loughgiel would now drift two points into the lead as Nicholas McNaughton delivered from a Conal McCloskey pass and a determined Finn Henry going to ground, kept possession and successfully pointed on recovery.

But Dunloy’s Smith would be a handful at almost exactly ten minutes in, when a high dropping ball originally meant to point, fell going wide but Smith got an angle on the sliotar and dropped it in past Christie for his second goal.

With just a point between the sides, Loughgiel inched ahead again with points from McNaughton and McGarry, both from the low side of the pitch but Dunloy would apply the pressure at the other end and it would be keeper Christie that would bear the brunt with a fine save but the turned over sliotar would earn Dunloy a penalty as they pressed again into the thirteen metre box. Dunloy’s McKeague stroked the sliotar down the line towards a waiting Christie and a solid save denied Dunloy another goal.

Loughgiel would now start to move ahead over the next four minutes with four points, three from McNaughton and one from Eoin McGarry as Damien Quinn scooped up the rewards from a brave block, offloading to Finn Henry and onto McGarry.

With just over eighteen minutes on the clock, Dunloy’s Aodhan McGarry would make good of a free for a throw ball, bringing scores on the scoreboard to Loughgiel 1-10 Dunloy 2-03 and with four minutes elapsing, Loughgiel’s Darragh Patterson would take his point from a McNaughton offload before Dunloy picked up another throw ball free. Aodhan McGarry was on shooting form and delivered another score over the bar.

Loughgiel’s Quinn was right back in the front line action as he turned over a Dunloy ball towards Eoin McGarry who inched the Shamrock’s up another point but Dunloy would reply when referee Shannon spotted a foul on Aodhan McGarry. McGarry took his point to bring the gap back to just four points before Loughgiel’s Patterson and McNaughton pointed and with four on the clock, it looked like Loughgiel would carry that into the break but a dropping ball into Loughgiel’s square was directed into the back of Christie’s net by Decky Smith. Shannon consulted the umpires at the road end and a decision of a square ball resulted in a disallowed goal. Smith though would take Dunloy into the break just five points adrift behind Loughgiel as he pointed from twenty metres out from an assist by Nicky McKeague.

In the second half, Dunloy’s Smith would pick up where he left off, with his point stemming from a delivery onto his stick from a diagonal ball coming in from Conor McKinley.

The pace of the game had by now eased up and settled into almost twenty-five minutes of trading points, Dunloy picking up half of their scores from frees. Almost from the whistle, Dunloy started to roll on substitutions well ahead of Loughgiel and it would eventually be Dunloy’s number 18, Ryan Mort that would point two in quick succession to offer the Cuchullains hope of closing the gap but there was a sense of urgency about that as the clock had no more than two minutes of extra time added. A final free for Dunloy was dropped in and fired to the net by Chrissy McMahon but saved by keeper Christie who was partially blocked by a body and swept away by an industrious Daniel McPeake as Shannon blew for full time in this round two match, leaving the scoreboard to register Loughgiel 1-22 Dunloy 2-14.

Loughgiel Starting Panel and Scorers

Mark Christie, Ciaran McKay, Daniel McPeake, Connor Dickson, Damien Quinn, Ben McGarry 0-01, Conall McCloskey, Finn Henry 0-01, Ryan McKee, Nicholas McNaughton 0-08 (4f), Darragh Patterson 0-04, Odhran McFadden, Eoin McGarry 1-03, Maol Connolly 0-04, Donal McKinley, Tiago McGarry 0-01

Dunloy Starting Panel and Scorers

Gabriel McTaggart, Cathair McCloskey, Karl O’Kane, Reece Cunning, Kevin McKeague, Conor McKinley, Daire McMullan, Ciaran Elliott, Ciaran McQuillan, Tom McFerran 0-01, Aodhan McGarry 0-07f, Barry Scott, Nicky McKeague 0-01, Decky Smith 2-02, Anton McGrath 0-01, Ryan Mort 0-02

Photos from Wednesday’s game can be found in the photo album by clicking on the link here:

https://myalbum.com/album/vgBVJSu2qJY68h/?invite=61bfaf92-9b75-4431-9d54-57ae8144ddf2

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.