Senior Hurling League – Division One
St John’s 1-19 Dunloy 4-19
Sunday 29 June
Brendan McTaggart reports from Corrigan Park, Belfast
Dunloy proved too strong for St John’s on Sunday afternoon as they ran out comfortable nine point winners at the end of the hour. The Cuchullains ran in four goals, all in the first half when they cut through the St John’s defence at will. In truth, they could have had more but for the reflexes of Domhnall Nugent between the posts for the home side and the uprights on other occasions.
Dunloy had 10 different scorers throughout the hour with just three points coming from placed ball while Keelan Molloy top scored with seven points despite playing in a deeper role.
Donall Carson finished top of the scoring charts for St John’s, ending the hour with an impressive 1-5 – all his white flags coming in the first half while Shea Shannon’s accuracy from placed ball added five of his seven points overall. Conor Johnston and Aaron Bradley went through plenty of work but they were chasing shadows in a second half which Dunloy dictated.
The home side would finish the match with 14 men, substitute Daire King seeing red for a scuffle involving Phelim Duffin but it had no bearing on the result with the Cuchullains worthy of the size of victory.
St John’s actually started this contest superbly and after six minutes held a four point lead. Paul Shiels opened the scoring but five points in four minutes from Shannon, Johnston, Aaron Bradley and Carson (2) had the home side well in control.
They sustained their four point advantage with a brace of Shannon frees coming after white flags from Nicky McKeague but two goals in the space of a little over 60 seconds put Dunloy in the driving seat.
Luke McFerran with the first major, coming from a cross field pass from Shiels to McKeague. McKeague would find McFerran with the pass and while he had three St John’s defenders for attention, McFerran still found the back of the net.
The second Dunloy goal was something we’ve seen countless times from Nigel Elliott. Collecting loose ball in the middle third, Elliott burst through and found the bottom corner with the Johnnies trailing in his wake.
The home side replied to the Dunloy goals with three unanswered points from Danaan McKeogh, Aaron Bradley and Conor Johnston but the Cuchullains clicked into another gear in the final quarter.
The third goal came from another Nigel Elliott run from midfield but this time he found O’Neill in space. Despite the best efforts of Nugent in goals, ‘Sammy’ hit the back of the net.
Keelan Molloy and Conor Johnston swapped scores before Tom McFerran was denied another Dunloy major in the 20th minute, Nugent with a superb stop but Dunloy would score four of the next five points to extend their lead to five points. Scores coming from Shiels, Ryan McGarry, Seaan Elliott (free) and a trademark point from Keelan Molloy from wide on the right on the stand side – a solitary point from Shannon the response from the home side.
A brace of points from Carson reduced that lead to three points before a fourth Dunloy goal came in the 27th minute. Shiels and Luke McFerran both involved in the buildup before Nigel Elliott broke through and found the back of the net.
Scores from Carson and Keelan Molloy finished the scoring for the half with the half time score 4-9 to 0-15 in Dunloy’s favour.
After the scoring fireworks of the first half, the second half started slowly. Both sides registering a couple of wides each and O’Neill denied a second major with his effort coming back of the bottom of the post.
The visitors did score the opening three points of the half, Keelan Molloy, Seaan Elliott (’65) and McKeague extending the Dunloy lead and but for some last gasp defending from Ryan McNulty, Seaan Elliott would have added to Dunloy’s goal tally in the same period.
The lead was extended to 10 points going into the final six minutes when St John’s scored their goal. Donal Carson with the finish that owed much to his determination and perseverance despite the presence of the Dunloy defenders.
Four minutes remained when Daire King was sent off, much to the dismay of the home crowd but it had little effect on the outcome of the game. Dunloy finished with a flourish with Ryan Mort, McKeague and Keelan Molloy firing over with a Shannon ’65 the only response for the home side by the time referee Patrick Tumelty called time.
The hunt for league honours goes into the last round of matches with nothing decided yet. Dunloy will host Loughgiel on Friday evening while the Johnnies league is over and they turn their attention to the championship. They will hope for their long list of absentees to shorten before these two sides face each other in the championship.
TEAMS
St John’s: Domhnal Nugent; Odhran Carleton, Conall Morgan, Jack Bohill; Darragh McGuinness, Ryan McNulty, Enda McGurk; Shea Shannon, Caoimhin Hanna; Aaron Bradley, Conor Johnston, Danaan McKeogh; Donall Carson, Michael Bradley, Ruairi Galbraith
Subs: Adrian Downey for M Bradley (10); Michael Napier for D McKeogh (47); Daire King for R Galbraith (54)
Scorers: D Carson 1-5; S Shannon 0-7 (4fs 1 ’65); C Johnston 0-4; A Bradley 0-2; D McKeough 0-1
Dunloy: Ryan Elliott; Conor Kinsella, Eoin McFerran, Oran Quinn; Keelan Molloy, Ryan McGarry, Kevin Molloy; Nigel Elliott, Aodhan McGarry; Tom McFerran, Nicky McKeague, Luke McFerran; Eoin O’Neill, Seaan Elliott, Paul Shiels
Subs: Ryan Mort for P Shiels (38); Oisin McCallin for T McFerran (44); Phelim Duffin for C Kinsella (44); Deaglan Smith for L McFerran (50)
Scorers: Keelan Molloy 0-7; N Elliott 2-00; N McKeague 0-4; S Elliott 0-3 (2fs 1’65); L McFerran 1-00; E O’Neill 1-00; P Shiels 0-2; O Quinn 0-1; R McGarry 0-1; R Mort 0-1
Referee: Patrick Tumelty (Lámh Dhearg)
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