Senior Feis Cup Quarter-Final Venue: Fr Healy Park, Loughgiel
Loughgiel Shamrocks 0-21 – 0-16 Dunloy Cuchullains
Despite heading into this Senior Feis Cup quarter-final missing a good few regulars, Dunloy Cuchullains still carried the favourites tag, having handed Loughgiel a heavy defeat in the League just weeks ago. With the Cuchullains turning around to face a stiff breeze in the second half trailing by just three points, the smart money would have backed them to take the honours. However, after Dunloy drew level shortly after the restart, Loughgiel found another gear, hitting a rich vein of form and playing some good hurling to drive on to a five-point victory.
Loughgiel came out of the blocks sharpest, taking the game to Dunloy from the throw-in. James McNaughton opened the scoring in the 2nd minute, setting the tone for an impressive individual performance. Shan McGrath doubled the advantage on the four-minute mark, and a long-range free shortly after pushed the Shamrocks into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead by the 7th minute.
Loughgiel extended that to four before Dunloy finally registered their first score, courtesy of a close-range free from Francis McMullan. The Shamrocks’ response was immediate; winning the resulting puc-out, McNaughton regained possession and fired over a swift point to re-establish the cushion.
The highlight of the half arrived in the 16th minute when Ryan “Bubbles” McMullan capped off a sweeping 60-yard move down the left flank to make it 0-6 to 0-2. Dunloy kept themselves in touch, with Francis McMullan landing a superb point from out near the sideline in the 19th minute, but as the half-time whistle blew, Loughgiel held a deserved three-point lead at 0-9 to 0-6.
The second half began with high drama. James McNaughton burst through on goal with an early chance to kill the game, but Dunloy defender Ryan McGarry executed a crucial, goal-saving block to clear the danger.
That intervention sparked life into the Cuchullains and when goalkeeper Ryan Elliott launched a massive free from inside his own 45-metre line straight over the bar it reduced the gap to two. Francis McMullan struck another free to draw the sides level
With the momentum—and the wind—seemingly in Dunloy’s favour, Loughgiel needed a response. They found it through Roan McGarry, who split the posts with a fine effort from the corner to restore the lead. A tit-for-tat exchange ensued: Francis McMullan levelled again from a placed ball for Dunloy before a short free converted by McNaughton nudged the Shamrocks ahead 0-11 to 0-10.
Dunloy’s Ben O’Kane squared things up once more, and moments later, goalkeeper Ryan Elliott stepped up to send over another monstrous long-range free, putting Dunloy into the lead for the first time in the contest.
It was here that Loughgiel found their rhythm. Ben McGarry collected a smart pass from his brother Roan to fire an equalizer (0-12 to 0-12), igniting a dominant spell for the hosts. Rian McMullan restored the Loughgiel advantage with a well-taken score, and James McNaughton followed it up with a well struck 60-metre free. Rian McMullan struck again to stretch the gap to three and on 47 minutes, a strong Loughgiel move was halted illegally, and Roan McGarry comfortably tapped over the resulting free. Though Ciaran Elliott pulled one back for Dunloy a minute later, Roan McGarry was accurate again from close range to make it 0-17 to 0-13 heading into the final ten minutes.
Refusing to lie down, Ryan Elliott launched yet another spectacular free from well inside his own half to cut the deficit to three, but James McNaughton immediately cancelled it out with a brilliant point from play. Substitute Caolan Blair got his name on the scoresheet to extend the gap at four.
As the clock ticked down, Rian McMullan effectively sealed the tie in the 58th minute with a spectacular solo point from out on the left wing. Dunloy’s Ben O’Kane replied with a crisp strike from play, but fittingly, it was James McNaughton who had the final say for the hosts, knocking over a point from play to establish a 0-21 to 0-16 lead.
There was time for one last roll of the dice from Dunloy, who won a 20-metre free in the dying moments and opted to go for goal. However, Loughgiel shot-stopper Cormac McFadden was equal to the task, producing a good save to clear the lines just as the final whistle sounded, securing a hard-fought and deserved victory for the Shamrocks.
Loughgiel Shamrocks – 1 Cormac McFadden, 2 Rory McCloskey, 3 Enda Og McGarry, 4 Liam Glackin, 5 Badger McCormick, 6 Decky McCloskey, 7 Ben McGarry, 8 Betty McKee, 9 Rosie Fitzgerald, 10 Rian McMullan, 11 James McNaughton, 12 Pearce Patterson, 13 Roan McGarry, and 15 Shan McGrath.
Dunloy Cuchullains 1 Ryan Elliott, 2 Sean Óg Blaney, 3 Rian McGarry, 4 Reece Cunning, 5 Eamon Smyth, 6 Eoin McFerran, 7 Aodhan McGarry, 8 Padraig McGilligan, 9 Ben O’Kane, 10 Francis McMullan, 11 Paul Shiels, 12 Barry Scott, 13 Ciaran Elliott, 14 Oisin McCamphill, and 15 Nicky McKeague.
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