Above – Antrim’s Oisin Donnelly punches the air in celebration after scoring his team’s opening goal in the first half of Saturday’s Joe McDonagh Cup win over Westmeath at Corrigan Park.
Joe McDonagh Cup
Round Four
Antrim 2-29 Westmeath 2-20
Saturday 16 May
Brendan McTaggart reports from Corrigan Park, Belfast
Antrim recorded back to back wins in the McDonagh Cup on Saturday afternoon having saw off the challenge of Westmeath. Nine points separated the sides, thanks largely to scoring bursts from the Saffrons at the end of each half. 1-5 without reply at the end of both halves put some gloss on the score-line from a match that Antrim looked to be in control of for long periods.
Ryan McCambridge was awarded player of the match, the Cushendall man recording five points in his 63 minutes and putting in a monumental shift in the middle third. He had plenty of support with Seaan Elliott and Oisin Donnelly also excelling. Donnelly would help himself to a goal in the opening half while substitute Joseph McLaughlin’s goal put daylight between the sides as the game went down the stretch.
Indeed, the substitutes all had a massive impact on the game with Ruairi McCormick’s brilliant run creating the chance for McLaughlin and helping to shore up a defence that was coming under pressure.
Seaan Elliott top scored for Davy Fitzgerald’s men, two of his seven points coming from open play before the Dunloy man had to come off with an injury. So too did James McNaughton who looked like he was starting to come back to something close to his usual high standards before coming off.
In David Williams, Westmeath had a magician of a player and his unerring accuracy from placed ball meant the visitors to Corrigan Park were always in the game. Darragh Smith excelled in defence along with Rory Keyes while Darragh McCormack gave the Saffrons defence plenty to think about over the 70 plus minutes but the Antrim attack were too hot to handle. 2-21 from open play and nine different scorers with 1-6 coming from the changes made, it all makes good reading for the Saffrons.
Antrim got off to a great start, firing over scores from McCambridge and Elliott in the opening exchanges.
With the rain falling on the new surface causing some underfoot problems, both sides were struggling with their touch in the opening quarter but the visitors and David Williams got underway with a trio of points from placed ball.
The sides were evenly matched with some excellent scores coming from Molloy and Eoin Keyes for the Lake County.
Eamon Cunneen and Darragh McCormack split the uprights before Oisin Donnelly tied the scores on 10 points apiece.
The opening goal came from the visitors with McCormack making no mistake when presented with the chance. It gave Westmeath a three point lead in the 32nd minute but Antrim finished the half superbly.
A trio of points from Elliott (frees) restored parity to the score line before Antrim scored their first goal of the game. Conal Cunning’s pointed effort came back off the upright and fell into space. Conal Bohill held off the challenge of John Fry to gather and got his shot away only for Sean Jackson to deny him with a heroic piece of goal keeping. The rebound fell to Donnelly and he pulled first time to the back of the net.
Points followed from McNaughton and Molloy in the little time that remained to give Antrim a 1-15 to 1-10 lead at the break.
Antrim continued to look the better side, and certainly the more efficient when James McNaughton opened the second-half scoring.
Antrim continued to look in control at the start of the second half and had a nine point lead by the 53rd minute. The visitors hit back however and began to get on top in the middle third. A run of 1-4 without reply pegged the Saffrons back, Eoin Keyes with the major to breathe life into the Westmeath challenge.
The minimum separated the sides going into the final five minutes but Antrim finished strongly. Points from Ruairi McCormick, Jack McCloskey and Ruairi Donaghy all complimented the cameo performance from Joseph McLaughlin. The young Cushendall flier scored 1-4 with his goal coming in the 69th minute after a brilliant run from McCormick while he took over the free taking responsibility when Elliott had to come off.
A performance that yielded the desired reward with the two points on offer and while Antrim weren’t exactly at their fluent best, they did play some seriously good passages of play at times. That lull in the second half will worry Davy Fitzgerald and his management team but it’s a morale boosting win for the Saffrons who welcome Carlow to the Whiterock next Sunday.
TEAMS
Antrim Starting XV: Cormac McFadden; Joe Maskey, Paddy Burke, Stephen Rooney; Oisin Donnelly, Niall O’Connor, Gerard Walsh; Ryan McCambridge, Paul Boyle; Keelan Molloy, Conall Bohill, James McNaughton; Jack McCloskey, Seán Elliot, Conal Cunning
Subs: Joseph McLaughlin for S Elliot (50’), Ruairi McCormick for O Donnelly, Ruairi Donaghy 0-1 for J McNaughton (61’), Cormac McKeown for R McCambridge (63’), Rory McCloskey for J Maskey (63’)
Scorers: S Elliott 0-7 (5f); J McLaughlin 1-4 (2f, 1’65); R McCambridge 0-5; K Molloy 0-4; O Donnelly 1-1; J McCloskey 0-3; J McNaughton 0-2; P Boyle 0-1; R McCormick 0-1; R Donaghy 0-1
Westmeath Starting XV: Sean Jackson; John Fry, Naoise McKenna, Darragh Smith; Jack Gillen, Rory Keyes, Adam Bate; Jack Kearney, Peter Murphy; Eamonn Cunneen, David Williams, Marc Cunningham; Darragh McCormack, Eoin Keyes, Josh Coll
Subs: Eoin Aughey on for S Jackson (HT), Darragh Egerton on for J Gillen (41’), Cian McCarthy for A Bate (45’), Josh Coll off for M Cunningham (59’).
Scorers: D Williams 0-10 (8f); D McCormack 1-3; E Keyes 1-1; J Coll 0-2; P Murphy 0-2; C McCarthy 0-1; M Cunningham 0-1
Referee: Alan Tierney (Tipperary)
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