Hurling takes centre stage in Antrim this weekend with a couple of finals in Junior A and B and semi-finals in both Intermediate and Senior down for decision. St. Brigid’s Belfast and Belfast Saints get the ball rolling in the Junior B final at Davitt’s Park on Saturday at 2-00pm while Glen Rovers, Armoy and St. Mary’s Rasharkin meet in the Junior A final in Loughgiel an hour earlier.
Junior B hurling final.
St. Brigid’s v Belfast Gaels
Davitt’s Park 1-00pm Saturday
The junior B hurling final is an all Belfast affair with St. Brigid’s taking on Belfast Saints at Davitt’s Park in what promises to be an interesting encounter.
The Musgrave Park side will probably start this one as slight favourites following their semi-final win over Loch Mor Dal gCais where James Kelly proved to be their star man.
The wing half forward finished the game with 0-12 to his name and his accuracy from frees and play would prove the difference against a Lough Shore side where Darragh Turley matched him on the score board but the Musgrave man had a much stronger supporting cast.
Fintan Cleary got the opening goal for St. Brigid’s in the 17th minute and Jack Pardy’s kicked goal from close range before half time sent the Musgrave Park side on their way to a 2-23 to 0-19 victory.
Kelly, Cleary, Jack Pardy and former Cloughmill’s man, John McGuckian lead the attacking threat from the Musgrave side who have strong defenders in Chris Lundy and Peter Heaney while Cathal Conway and Niall Murtagh form a solid mid-field partnership.
Belfast Saints had to travel to Brustin Braes for their semi-final win over Latharna Og where Philip Maguire got them on their way with a goal in the 12th minute as they went on to outscore the home side 1-22 to 0-14.
The veteran full-forward finished the game as top scorer with 1-12 to his name as they overcame the challenge of a hard hitting home side and this win will have set them up for a serious challenge in Saturday’s decider.
Conor Grieve gave an accomplished display in the Belfast Saints goals while Dan McConnell, Matt Carlin and Conor O’Rawe were rock solid in defence. Pierce O’Rawe got through a power of work at mid-field while Maguire had dangerous colleagues in Ronan Carroll and Daniel McGuigan in attack.
Last year’s beaten finalists, Belfast Saints will be confident of going all the way this time around and if Philip Maguire, Conor O’Rawe, Pierce O’Rawe and Daniel McGuigan can re-produce their semi-final form then they may not be too far away.
St. Brigid’s have shown improving form over recent year’s however and have looked the team to beat in this year’s championship with James Kelly in sparkling form and it could all come down to how the respective defences deal with Maguire and Kelly.
Junior A Hurling Final
Glen Rovers Armoy v St. Mary’s Rasharkin
Loughgiel 1-00pm Saturday
Trevor Linton led the way as Glen Rovers, Armoy overcame the spirited challenge of Michael Davitt’s in an excellent high scoring semi-final in Armoy with the veteran full-forward ending the game with 2-6 to his name.
They certainly didn’t get it all their own way against a Davitt’s side who have been knocking hard at the door in recent years with Linton proving the difference between the sides.
Armoy topped a group that included Gort na Mona, Lamh Dhearg and All Saints with three wins from three starts and last year’s beaten finalists will fancy their chances of going all the way this time.
They will face a St. Mary’s Rasharkin side who are no strangers to finals at this level and have been in sparkling form on their way to this year’s decider.
Rasharkin topped a group that included Davitt’s and Kickham’s Ardoyne and their win over Davitt’s in West Belfast where they hit 2-20 marks them down as a team with serious championship ambitions.
They would record a further 5-29 against Ardoyne but were given a much stiffer challenge when Gort na Mona visited in the semi-final. Rasharkin emerged as 2-16 to 1-15 winners however to set them up for Saturday’s final against Armoy.
Conor McKeever continues to lead the way in attack for Rasharkin and his accuracy from the placed ball will be important if they are to overcome the challenge of the Glen Rovers.
St. Mary’s are far from being a one man team however with Conor Doherty, Aidan McKeever, Shane Hasson, Connor McFerran, Declan McKay, Conor McKillop, Donagh Quigg and Terry McGregor all serious hurlers.
Trevor Linton will take some watching but the experienced Armoy attacker will have plenty of support on a side who came close last year before falling to Cloughmills in the final.
Colin Lordand Thomas Burns both rattled the Davitt’s net in their semi-final win while PJ McBride, Emmet O’Hara, Turlach McBride, Conor Christie and Owen Kinney are just a few of the names who could edge it the way of a very experienced Armoy side.
Intermediate Hurling Championship semi-final
Cloney Gaels v Carey Faughs
Glenravel 1-00pm Saturday
The Intermediate Hurling championship has been the most difficult to predict over the past decade and this year’s battle for honours has taken on a life of its own.
Both Saturday’s opponents, Cloney Gaels and Carey Faughs went into their final group games needing a win to qualify and both produced the goods when the chips were down.
Cathaoir an Ri’s win away to Oisin’s Glenariffe was perhaps the more spectacular as the Ballyvoy side recovered from a home defeat to Cloughmill’s on day 3 to overcome the challenge of a high flying Oisin’s in Waterfoot to record a must-win victory.
The Faughs came into the game knowing that anything less than a win wouldn’t be good enough and for most of the game it looked like they were going to canter over the winning line, such was their superiority.
However the Oisins, who started without four of their first choice players who would play in their Minor final against Dunloy, brought two of those players on at half time, and the other two midway through the second half, and suddenly the tide began to turn.
With five minutes remaining the gap had been cut to two but Carey held on for a 0-23 to 1-18 win that should stand them in good stead going into tomorrow’s semi-final.
Cloney Gaels found themselves in a similar position when they took on Sarsfield’s on the final day of their Group 2 programme having lost to Tir na nOg at Whitehill.
Only a win would be enough and in truth the Gales never looked like losing this one in Cloney as they racked up an impressive 0-32 against the men from the Stewartstown Road to win by 13 points.
Sean McBride, James McCouaig, Conall McGlynn, Caolan McCaughan, James Black, John and Conor McBride and Patrick Butler will lead the Carey challenge while James O’Connell, Danny and Fionnbar O’Neill, James Magee, Diarmuid Graham, Eoin Graham and Eamonn Brady will lead the Cloney challenge.
Intermediate Hurling Championship semi-final
Oisin Glenariffe v Tir na nOg Randalstown
Ballymena 1-00pm Sunday
Once again the Intermediate Hurling championship delivers what promises to be a blockbuster as Oisin Glenariffe face Tir na nOg at Slemish Park with both sides harbouring serious ambitions of collecting this year’s title.
Oisin’s set the pace in the early stages of their Group 1 qualifiers with an away win over St. Gall’s at Milltown where they registered 5-18 in a free scoring performance that marked them down as serious championship challengers.
Their free scoring continued and on day two when Shane O’Neill’s Glenarm were on the wrong side of a 4-18 scoring blitz and Cloughmills would suffer similar punishment when the Waterfoot men posted 3-22 on day 3.
With qualification already secured, Glenariffe entertained Carey in their final group game and fielded without a number of their minor players who would be in action against Dunloy in the county final the following weekend.
They introduced all four, Calum McIlwaine and Niall Magee at half time and when Orrin O’Connor and Phelim Ward were introduced later in the half things began to change.
O’Connor batted the sliothar to the Carey net with nine minutes remaining and game that looked out of reach suddenly changed with the gap down to two.
Carey held on to gain the win they needed to qualify but the decision to withhold their minor players was justified when Glenariffe-|Glenravel collected the minor title a week later.
Tir na nOg opened their campaign with a resounding 8-14 to 1-12 win over Glenravel and that impressive form continued when they travelled to Robert Emmet’s on day two and recorded a good win over the Cushendun men.
The wheels threatened to come of the Whitehill wagon on day three when Patrick Sarsfield’s came away with a 1-18 to 0-19 win in Ahoghill but the Randalstown side recovered with wins over Cloney Gaels and St. Paul’s to top the group.
The afore mentioned quartet of Minors will lend legs and pace to the Oisin’s cause while Alex O’Boyle Seanie Tosh, Oliver Kearney, Niall Murray, Odhran Gillan, Dan McKillop and Ronan Leech will carry the hopes of Glenariffe on Sunday.
Tir na nOg will provide the Waterfoot side with a serious challenge and Kevin and Christy Sheerin, Aaron McNeilly, Sean and Colm Duffin, Josh Higgins, Emmet Murray and Eamonn Og McAllister will spearhead the Whitehill challenge in a game that looks too close to call.