Northern Properties Antrim Camogie Senior Championship 12th October 2025
Loughgiel 4-11 Dunloy 1-17
Match report and photos from Michael Corcoran in O’Cahan Park, Portglenone.
It took every minute of the Northern Property Antrim Camogie Senior Championship to sift out the 2025 winner. Dunloy came to Ó’Cahan Park, Portglenone, with their ace game that had Loughgiel pushed to the wire and had to work hard for their 12th consecutive county win. A glorious autumnal afternoon with warm sunshine and not a breath bundled with the exceptional condition of Portglenone’s pitch helped to set up one of the most memorable finals for the large crowd attending.
Referee, Owen Elliott’s throw-in away from the town side of Ó’Cahan Park set the game in motion as Dunloy took the sunny side from the clubhouse on their back, after winning the toss. Almost two minutes would pass before Eobha McAllister would shake off her marker for a super opening point, quickly followed by team mate , Katie Molloy as she ducked and dived her way out of trouble and when Aine Magill dropped over a third, Dunloy were looking lively and sharp.
Two forty fives from Nicole McAtamney, as a result of Dunloy pushing up hard, quickly had Dunloy drifting away with five points to no reply from Loughgiel and one of those forty fives came as a result of a super save from Loughgiel’s Emma McAllister as Aine Magill received a fine pass from Katie Molloy into the edge of the small box, but on the tenth minute, the Shamrock’s young left-full forward, Marie Laverty, would get Loughgiel’s account opened with her point over Dunloy’s bar as she recycled Loughgiel’s first attempt at a goal from Annie Lynn, that attempt well read by Dunloy’s keeper, Clodagh O’Kane.
The next ten minutes of play had both sides swapping points as McAtamney dropped over a free resulting from a challenge on an advancing Katie Molloy and Loughgiel’s Marie Laverty would return to claim another point from a clever crossed ball from Annie Lynn, before Eobha McAllister sent a high soaring sliotar over Loughgiel’s bar to bring scores to Loughgiel 0-02 Dunloy 0-07.
With five points the difference at twenty gone on the clock, Loughgiel were now pressing into the left forward zone and as Caitrin Dobbin slipped in past the Dunloy defence, the Shamrock’s had a miss at close quarters as Dobbin struck the sliotar from an angle resulting in a touch from keeper, O’Kane for a forty five that McCormick dropped over with some ease.
Dunloy inched their score by a point from McAtamney from a blown foul on Aine Magill as she fell to the ground from a push coming out of a ruck but Loughgiel would dramatically pull back three points as Roisin McCormick ran out from a ruck with the spoils, offloading to Laverty finding Lynn for the first goal in the senior championship with seven minutes left in the first half of ordinary time. But a back to back goal from Lynn, two minutes later would send Loughgiel fans into raptures, Roisin McCormick having won a foul as she was pulled to ground and setting up a gentle tap to an unmarked Lynn.
Loughgiel’s fortunes were on the turn and a Megan McGarry puck out from a previous Cassie McArthur point had Loughgiel’s Katie McKillop win the bouncing sliotar and a piercing solo run ended with a green flag raised, sending out a sign that the Shamrock’s were grasping the game back.
Loughgiel’s scoring ace, McCormick added to her tally from a free taken from the town side dugouts to close the Shamrock’s first half and McAtamney would do similar for Dunloy from another foul and a forty five deflected over the line as Aine Magill tested Loughgiel’s alertness to hear the short whistle at Loughgiel 3:04 Dunloy 0-12, a point the difference.
With everything to play for in the second half, Dunloy levelled up the game at twelve points each with a fine opening point from Eobha McAllister before Loughgiel hit a purple run of four successive points, three of those frees from McCormick and a point from play from Katie McKillop after a hand pass from a hard working Clare McKillop dragging herself out of a ruck and winning a previous foul after driving deep into Dunloy’s danger zone.
With a four point drift away from Dunloy, and enjoying the bright sunshine on their backs, the Shamrock’s looked steady and composed until Aine Magill broke loose at short quarters to test Emma McAllister again, the Shamrock diffusing the danger but not for long, as a delicate lobbed pass from Dunloy’s Molloy into Aine Magill enjoying a clash of Loughgiel defenders to create dangerous space and a simple pull had McAllister beat for Dunloy’s goal…suddenly the game was back to just one point the difference and only eight minutes gone in the second half.
Between Dunloy’s McAtamney’s subsequent three set points and Loughgiels two replies from an eventual ‘hat trick Annie Lynn’, scores stood even at the seventeen minute mark and would remain that way for all of maybe ten minutes as the deadly accurate scoring from McCormick deserted the Shamrock on multiple free taking scenarios. It would be close to twenty eight minutes gone in the second half before Loughgiel applied serious pressure to Dunloy as Amy Boyle went on a searing solo run, colliding with a Dunloy player and dropping to the ground, fired in an audacious pass on her knees to a running and free Annie Lynn. Lynn’s shot from close range was marginally deflected by keeper O’Kane but into the net it rifled and the game swung in their sponsors name – favour. Marie Laverty would close out the Shamrock’s account with a fine point as Lucia McNaughton flicked in a tidy pass to the edge of the box.
Goals win championships, that’s what they say and despite a late point from a Eobha McAllister pass into Mary McArthur, Loughgiel players from the dugout swamped the pitch with supporters as Elliott’s long whistle signalled the end of the game and placed the Shamrock’s deep into the history books by winning twelve County titles in a row and Dunloy made them win it the hard way, with a level of play that demonstrated the immense quality of camogie in Antrim of recent times. Portglenone’s scoreboard stood at Loughgiel 4-11 Dunloy 1:17
Dunloy’s Eimear Johnston picked up Player of the Match and Loughgiel’s Roísín McCormick was awarded the ‘B Creative’ top scorer throughout the Northern Property Antrim Camogie Senior Championship.
Loughgiel will now go onto defend their Ulster title early November in a semi final game against Derry County champions, Slaughtneil.
You can see more photos from the Senior final by clicking on the following link…
https://myalbum.com/album/sv4nhpuQU6F8zX/?invite=c39dd2d1-2268-4270-84c9-6f0d0fe8b230
