St John’s 0-13 Dunloy 3-21

ACHL Division 1

Photographs: Bert Trowlen

A sensational second-half blitz saw 14-man Dunloy Cuchullain’s run out convincing 18-point winners over St John’s in an absorbing Antrim (ACHL) Division 1 clash at Corrigan Park on Sunday. Despite losing a player to a straight red card in the 14th minute, Dunloy produced a tactical master class after the interval. Tom McFerran took the headlines with a magnificent hat-trick, while Chrissie McMahon was prominent throughout, pulling the strings during a second half where Dunloy outscored their hosts by 2-12 to 0-4.

The contest opened at a frantic pace, and St John’s goalkeeper Domhnall Nugent was forced into a brilliant double save just two minutes in to deny an early Dunloy breakthrough. From the resulting clearance, the Johnnies won a free which Oisin McManus converted to open the scoring. McManus was in lethal form early on, doubling his tally from play a minute later before Dunloy wing-back Eamon Smith replied with a fine long-range effort.

The sides traded blow for blow in the opening ten minutes. McManus hit two more spectacular points—including a massive long-range effort—but his clinical accuracy was matched by Nigel Elliott and Nicky McKeague, who kept the Cuchullain’s firmly in touch. When Luke McFerran clipped over a neat point in the 12th minute, Dunloy took the lead for the first time.

A minute later, the game exploded into life. A high ball into the St John’s square caused chaos, and under heavy pressure from the home defence, Tom McFerran scrambled the sliotar into the net. However, the joy was short-lived. Directly from the puck-out, a Dunloy player was involved in an off-the-ball incident and was shown a straight red card, leaving Cuchullain’s a man down for the remaining 46 minutes.

St John’s immediately looked to exploit their numerical advantage, hitting back through Shea Shannon and Ruairi Galbraith. Dunloy dug deep, relying on massive defensive efforts and long-range scores from Smith and a McKeague free. McManus kept the hosts breathing down Dunloy’s necks, clipping over a late free before striking a spectacular point over his shoulder on the run. Despite the numerical deficit, Dunloy held a narrow 1-8 to 0-9 lead at the break.

Whatever structural changes Dunloy implemented at halftime worked to perfection. They completely dominated the restarts and choked the St John’s attack. Nicky McKeague set the tone with two early frees, and when Aaron Crawford burst forward to score, the gap began to widen. St John’s introduced David Robinson in midfield to stem the tide, while Dunloy brought on the experienced Paul Shiels to anchor their side.

Ryan McGarry found the target from play before the definitive blow landed in the 20th minute of the half. An error in the St John’s defence allowed Tom McFerran to pounce on a loose ball, and he ruthlessly blasted it home for his second goal, making it 2-14 to 0-11.

St John’s rallied briefly with points from full-back Conall Morgan and Shea Shannon, but it would prove to be their final stand. Dunloy finished the match with an exhibition of hurling. McKeague and centre-back Eoin McFerran drilled over monstrous long-range points before Tom McFerran capped an unforgettable individual performance by carving through the defence to complete his hat-trick in the 32nd minute. Rian Elliott ensured a clean sheet at the other end with a spectacular late save, before Eamon Smith fired over the final point to seal an emphatic 18-point victory for the 14-man Cuchullain’s.

St. John’s: Domhnall Nugent; Michael Darragh, Conall Morgan, Lorcan McCallin; James Wilson, Ryan McNulty, Caolan Wilson; Caomhin Hanna, Ciaran Johnston; Shea Shannon, Conor Johnston, Oisin McManus; Donal Carson, Aaron Bradley, Ruairi Galbraith.
Subs used: Fearghal McManus, David Robinson.

Dunloy: Rian Elliott; Sean Og Blaney, Daire McMullan, Oran Quinn; Eamon Smith, Eoin McFerran, Padraig Magilligan; Ryan McGarry, Aaron Crawford; Nigel Elliott, Nicky McKeague, Tom McFerran; Ciaran Elliott, Luke McFerran, Chrissie McMahon.
Subs used: Paul Shiels, Barry Scott.

Referee: Patrick Tumelty (Lamh Dhearg)

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