Antrim Hurling League – Division 1

Loughgiel 0-24 Portaferry 1-15

A man of the match display by left half forward Shan McGrath helped Loughgiel to a six point win over Portaferry in Sunday’s Division 1 League game at Fr Healy Park, Loughgiel. McGrath was in fine scoring form for the Shamrocks, landing 13 of their 24 points, top class shooting in a difficult breeze. He hit seven of them in the first half when the Shamrocks had wind advantage, and five more after the break, four of those coming late in the game when the visitors looked as if they could close the gap.

There was five minutes on the board before either side raised a flag but when Ryan McMullan got the Shamrocks on the board McGrath hit three in a row and Betty McKee got another in reply to three from the visitors through Padraig Doran, Barry Trainor and Niall Fitzsimons and Niall Milligan got a couple back for Portaferry and seventeen minutes in they must have been happy to be just three points behind, considering the strength of the wind. However the second quarter saw Loughgiel hold the upper hand and they hit six of the last seven points of the opening half, McGtrath getting four of them and Jack McCloskey and Ronan Fitzgerald on apiece to go in at the break with a 0-14 to 0-05 advantage.

When Portaferry goalkeeper Pearce Smyth landed a monster free in the opening minute of the second half you wondered if the Ards men could claw back their deficit, but McGrath found a quick reply to restore the nine point advantage.  Milligan came back with a great score for the visitors, but once again McGrath had an answer, though Portaferry were starting to gain a lot more possession. Goalkeeper Smyth was just wide of the target with a massive strike from inside his own twenty metre line, but his team hit the next four points through Trainor, Fitzsimons, Milligan and Trainor again, and for a while it looked like the gap was bridgeable.

However the Shamrocks rallied and hit five of the next six points, McGrath getting four of them, to seal the win, despite conceding a bizarre own goal in the last minute.

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