McAuley Cup Senior Hurling Tournament
Loughgiel 0-17 Ballycastle 0-11
Loughgiel set up a semi-final meeting with Cushendall when they beat Ballycastle in Sunday’s quarter final of the McAuley Cup at Armoy. The Shamrocks were on top throughout and led by 0-5 to 0-1 after eight minutes, two of them coming from Shan McGrath, two from Donal McKinley and one e from Ryan ‘Bubbles’ McMullan, while Lorcan Donnelly got the Town point.
As it turned out Donnelly was the only Ballycastle man to score in the game, all eleven coming from placed balls, ten from frees and one from a penalty. McGrath and McMullan kept picking off the points for the remainder of the first half while Donnelly got two more for Ballycastle to leave the half time score 0-11 to 0-03 in the Shamrocks favour.
With the breeze behind them in the second half Ballycastle fared a bit better and after McGrath (2) and McMullan increased the Loughgiel lead Lorcan Donnelly went on a run of scoring where he hit six in a row to get Ballycastle back into the game. At the other end Shan McGrath’s radar was surprisingly off and the left half forward was off target with a few, something we seldom see from the Loughgiel man.
When Ballycastle were awarded a penalty they must have felt it was a chance to really stage a comeback, but Donnelly’s shot flashed over the bar and the chance was gone. McGrath did get back on track with a well take point from a free to wrap up the scoring and secure that semi-final place.
Glenariffe Oisins 3-22 Michael Davitt’s Swatragh 0-8
Glenariffe made their first appearance in the McAuley Cup when they beat Michael Davitt’s of Swatragh in the opening game of the day at Armoy. With the Derry Intermediate champions short a good few the Oisins, who weren’t at full strength themselves, held the upper hand for most of the game.
Team captain Conor Patterson was the hero of the hour, scoring all his team’s three goals, two in the first half as they opened up a 2-14 to 0-04 lead, and one in the second.
Centre back Mark Kirkpatrick and former Cloney Gael’s star PJ O’Connell, now a Swatragh resident, did the scoring for the Derry men.
The win earns Glenariffe a semi-final pairing with Dunloy
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