Antrim GAA Senior Reserve Cup Final Loughgiel v Cushendall 17th Sept 24
Loughgiel 1-16 Cushendall 1-17
Match report and photos from Michael Corcoran in Quinn Park, All Saints GAA Club, Ballymena
A dazzling sun that dropped suddenly out of the sky made it difficult to distinguish between jerseys at one point in the game, complimented the fact that it was difficult to distinguish between the teams in tonight’s Reserve Cup final. Two halves of action-packed hurling gave supporters value for money as they lined both sides of Quinn Park, witnessing a classic toe to toe under a harvest moon.
It was the Ruairi’s that enjoyed spearheading the first half as they walked in with a two point lead, but the Shamrock’s would bounce back in the second half and with five minutes gone on the clock, took the lead for the second time in the game. Loughgiel held that position for the next ten minutes, then Cushendall would claw their way back up the scoreboard to win by the narrowest of margins, just one point.
Such was the interest in tonight’s game that the match was delayed by five minutes as we waited for an official to navigate the traffic up the Woodstock Road. Paul McSparran officiated tonight’s game and got the match underway, rolling away from the dugouts.
Cushendall would have the first opportunity to ledger a score from a free after only seconds on the clock, but Charlie McAuley would drift that wide playing towards the Slemish Park end. The Dall supporters would only be kept a minute before Stephen Walsh pointed after receiving a lobbed loose hand pass that wasn’t challenged. McAuley would drift another free wide of the mark but Dominic Delargy looked as though he was going to make amends as he struck the sliotar at close range into Loughgiel’s goal mouth. Goalkeeper Mark Christie would pull off a save that roused the Shamrock voices on the Quinn bank.
Loughgiel were defending well along the backline, despite the early pressure but a pushed sliotar wide at three and a half minutes, came with a penalty point as Joseph McNaughton cruised that over Christie’s bar.
Mark Christie’s puck out was in the process of being turned over but Loughgiel’s Odhran McFadden lunged to block the sliotar, managing to find Nicholas McNaughton for a high lobbed ball that probably was ball net bound, however the sliotar dropped viciously to fool goalkeeper Eoin Gillan for Loughgiel’s only goal in the game.
With some momentum building from the goal, the Shamrocks would tag on another two points from Nicholas McNaughton as Cushendall were unable to convert a free by Joseph McNaughton. The Dall were patient though and when McSparran blew for a foul on Stephen Walsh, McNaughton made sure that would find the ball net to close Loughgiel’s lead by two points, and Cushendall’s Sean McAfee would find Loughgiel’s net only minutes later and the Dall’s deficit was now a one point lead.
Now it was Cushendall’s turn to enjoy some momentum off the goal, as they ran up four points from Sean McAfee, Joseph McNaughton, Dominic Delargy and Paddy McGill, before Loughgiel’s Nicholas McNaughton went to ground, managing though to offload to Maol Connolly for a rescued point.
The pace of the game had by now throttled back a degree and with eight points amassed between sides over the final twelve minutes of the first half, almost on a point by point basis, it would be Loughgiel’s Conor O’Mullan that would raise the exception to the rule as he made a bee line to Eoin Gillan’s goal. A combination of a closing Alex Delargy with a possible hook and a brave body deflection from Gillan would deny O’Mullan his goal chance from very close quarters.
As McSparran blew for half time, the scoreboard illuminated the shadowy corner of the pitch Loughgiel 1-08 Cushendall 1-10.
The autumnal evening closed in quickly for the start of the second half, and All Saints obliged with switching on the floodlights as supporters lined up for warm drinks in the chilling air.
As the second half got underway, Loughgiel would be troubling Eoin Gillan with less than a minute gone, but the Ruairi had the better of the sliotar and Loughgiel would have to wait until Ben McGarry found the ball net minutes later.
Cushendall’s Joe McNaughton replied almost straightaway then Loughgiel would snatch the lead by just the one point as Odhran McFadden, Darragh Patterson and Eoin McGarry pointed from narrow angles. Cushendall’s Joe McNaughton would bring the sides all level as he fired over a foul that was advanced by ten metres as a small Loughgiel contingent protested the decision.
Loughgiel’s Eoin McGarry was making advances into close quarter scoring territory and a worried Dall group of supporters erupted in praise as Cushendall’s Senan Black blocked the Shamrocks’ incoming missile.
Loughgiel would raise their Cup hopes more as Donal McKinley flicked the sliotar back to a running Maol Connolly, who wasted no time in getting the sliotar safely over Gillan’s bar and with thirteen gone on the clock, Loughgiel’s Seamus Dobbin widened the gap by two as he too pointed over Gillan’s bar. But there still wasn’t daylight between the sides as the Dall’s Alex Delargy pointed from a sumptuous soft ball brought down from a towering Gillan puck out by Paddy McGill.
The Shamrocks would reply from a free taken by Nicholas McNaughton as McSparran blew for a body check on a dangerously advancing Roan McGarry. With fifteen minutes elapsed in the second half, Cushendall would enjoy a run of three frees from Joe McNaughton to take the lead by a point. Loughgiel however would level the match with a fine point from Roan McGarry stemming from a sideline cut pass, near to the scoreboard.
Cushendall’s Joe McNaughton would now offer the Dall a one point lead from a free with twenty eight minutes gone as McSparran disagreed with Loughgiel’s Seamus Dobbin as Dobbin tripped over a sprawling Sean McAfee, McAfee having gone down as he slipped on his turn.
Despite it not being readily easy to calculate the remaining time from the scoreboard, the Shamrock’s sensed the sands of time coming to an end and threw everything, bar the literal kitchen sink at Cushendall. Maol Connolly looked to secure at least a point if not a goal before being blocked, a nearby sideline cut by Loughgiel fizzled into nothing and a sure-fire goal attempt by Tiago McGarry as he set himself free from his marker, shaved the far post near the scoreboard and even a waiting Pearce Patterson wasn’t able to deflect the scorching sliotar into the goals. Having played close to three minutes of extra time, McSparran drew tonight’s Reserve Hurling Cup to an end, leaving the Tullyglass/Hassan scoreboard to announce into the darkened evening Loughgiel 1-16 Cushendall 1-17.
Loughgiel starting panel and scorers
Mark Christie, Connor Dickson, Daniel McPeake, Ciaran McKay, Damien Quinn, Ben McGarry 0-01, Tiago McGarry, Eoin McGarry 0-01, Ryan McKee, Nicholas McNaughton 1-07 (1f, 2×65), Darragh Patterson 0-01, Odhran McFadden 0-01, Conor O’Mullan, Maol Connolly 0-02, Donal McKinley 0-01, Roan McGarry 0-01, Seamus Dobbin 0-01
Cushendall Starting panel and scorers
Eoin Gillan, Michael Quinn, Daire Mort, Charlie McAuley, Padraig McKillop, Stephen Walsh 0-01, Ruairi McCollam, Alex Delargy 0-01, Austin Birt, Andrew Delargy, Sean McAfee1-01, Joseph McNaughton 0-11 (7f, 1×65), Ciaran Neeson, Dominic Delargy 0-01, Paddy McGill 0-02
Photos from this evening’s game can be found by clicking on the album link here…
https://myalbum.com/album/9KWf4rCjRqSSPs/?invite=7a3fb67c-698f-4182-a70b-dbf73cb8bb43
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