Antrim Hurling League – Division 1
Portaferry: 2-11 (17) Ruairí Óg, Cushendall: 3-16 (25)
Ruairí Óg, Cushendall traveled down to the Ards Peninsula on Sunday and emerged with a hard-fought eight-point victory over Portaferry in Division 1 of the Antrim Hurling League. Despite a commanding first-half performance from the visitors, a blistering start to the second half by Portaferry made for a tense encounter before Cushendall eventually regained control and pulled away.
The opening thirty minutes were heavily dominated by Cushendall, who built a substantial lead thanks to early accuracy and two crucial goals. Neil McManus and Joseph McLaughlin kept the Ruairí Óg scoreboard ticking over efficiently from placed balls, while Portaferry relied primarily on frees from Cahal Coleman to keep their tally moving.
The decisive moments of the first period came when the Ruairí Óg forwards broke through the Portaferry defense to find the back of the net. Both Thomas McLaughlin and Sean McAfee raised green flags from play, putting Cushendall in a strong position, and by the time the half-time whistle blew, the visitors held a commanding 11-point advantage, leading 2-11 to 0-06.
Portaferry’s Resurgence
Whatever was said in the Portaferry dressing room at the break had an immediate and explosive impact. The home side burst out of the blocks upon the restart, completely shifting the momentum of the game within the opening two minutes.
Cahal Coleman, their standout threat from the first half, struck for two rapid-fire goals from play—the first just 51 seconds into the half, and the second less than a minute later. With their tails up, Portaferry continued to press hard. Points from play by Matthew Conlan and Shane Conlan quickly followed. In the blink of an eye, the 11-point half-time deficit had been slashed to just three points.
Just as the pressure reached its peak, Cushendall found the crucial response they needed to halt Portaferry’s momentum. In the 9th minute of the second half, Joseph McLaughlin found space to fire home Ruairí Óg’s third goal of the afternoon.
That strike proved to be the turning point, effectively bursting the Portaferry bubble and steadying the ship for the visitors. From there on out, Cushendall managed the remainder of the game with composure. While Cahal Coleman and Shane Conlan added a few more points for the home side, the gap proved too large to close again.
Cushendall’s bench also made a strong impact, with substitute Christy McNaughton slotting over two points (one from play and one from a free). Joseph McLaughlin continued his reliable free-taking, and Thomas McLaughlin capped off the afternoon with a late point from play in the 31st minute to seal the win.
Overall, Cushendall will be pleased to leave Portaferry with the points, having shown the resilience required to absorb a fierce second-half rally and finish the job.
Portaferry
1. Darragh Mallon, and 4. Ronan Smyth. 5. Cathal Moreland 6. Callum Smyth, 7. Ciaran Milligan, 8. Matthew Conlan, 9. Shane Conlan, 10. Conor Fay, 11. Deaglan Mallon, 12. Cahal Coleman, 13. Calum O’Neill, 14. Niall Milligan, and 15. Noah Rogers.
Cushendall
1. Conor McAlister, 2. Aodhán Campbell, 3. Martin Burke, 4. Conor McCann, 5. Scott Walsh, 6. Stephen Walsh, 7. Charlie McAuley, 8. Callagh Mooney, 9. Edward McQuillan, 10. Sean McAfee, 11. Joseph McNaughton, 12. Neil McManus, 13. Oisín Woodhouse, 14. Thomas McLaughlin, 15. Joseph McLaughlin.
Subs – Christy McNaughton