Feis Na nGleann
Senior Hurling Final
Cushendall 1-23 Loughgiel 0-18
Sunday 5 July
Brendan McTaggart reports from Pearse Park, Dunloy
Cushendall rounded off a fine weekend for the Ruairi’s by taking the senior honours against Loughgiel. Eight points was the difference after the hour and while it was probably a fair reflection given Cushendall’s dominance in the second half, they were indebted to the brilliance of Conor McAllister between the sticks.
The Ruairi Og netminder produced four top saves, the second in the first half one of the best you’ll see, with McAllister taking man of the match. While not many would argue that fact, Fiontan Bradley will probably be wondering what more he would have to do to collect that honour. The Cushendall forward finishing the contest with 1-14, 1-7 from open play in a quite remarkable performance.
Their defensive organisation held Loughgiel to just three points in 20 minutes of the second half, effectively the winning of the contest. Oistin Birt, Scott Walsh, Connor McCann and substitute Eoghan Campbell all pivotal.
Loughgiel were well in this game at the half way mark. Rian McMullan and Roan McGarry were giving the Cushendall defence their fill of it while Paul Boyle was always a threat. They can potentially rue their luck at coming up against McAllister and a performance for the ages but they struggled to curtail the Cushendall onslaught at the start of the second half.
Roan McGarry finished top of the Shamrocks scoring charts, six of his seven points coming from placed ball while Rian ‘Bubbles’ McMullan’s 0-5 all came from various angles. Rian ‘Betty’ McKee and Ronan ‘Rosey’ Fitzgerald were always busy in midfield while Cormac McFadden produced a number of top saves throughout but Cushendall were too hot to handle in that second half.
The sides were tied on one point apiece with scores from Rian McMullan and Fiontan Bradley when Bradley scored the only goal of the game in the sixth minute. The Cushendall man looked to be short of options at the end of a strong run but he swung his hurl one handed and found the back of the net despite the best efforts of Cormac McFadden in the Loughgiel goals. That goal gave Cushendall the lead and one they wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the game.
Loughgiel were looking sharp, Paul Boyle in particular but they hit four wides in succession and couldn’t build any early momentum. Rian McMullan and Boyle split the uprights either side of a super point from Nicholas McNaughton before Bradley’s first from play left three between the sides at the midway point of the half.
Loughgiel had their first glance of McAllister’s goal moments later, Paul Boyle passing to Shane O’Boyle but his effort was saved by a diving Cushendall ‘keeper.
The sides went score for score with Roan McGarry (2) firing over for the Shamrocks while Sean McAfee and Bradley (free) found the target for Cushendall. Another point from Rian McMullan reduced the deficit to two points before Cushendall had another chance for a major. Ryan McCambridge making a trademark run through the heart of the Loughgiel defence but his effort was well saved from McFadden.
Bradley and McMullan traded white flags before McAllister produced a wonder save to keep Loughgiel at bay. Dan McCloskey and Paul Boyle combining and with the goal at his mercy, Boyle was faced by a diving McAllister who put his body on the line and took a sliotar to the side of his head from point blank range for good measure. The Ruairi Og ‘keeper reacted superbly and was on hand to deny McCloskey with the rebound to somehow deny the Shamrocks a certain goal.
McFadden was called into action at the other end of the pitch, denying Sean McAfee but the sides finished the half evenly. Roan McGarry (2) and James McNaughton splitting the uprights for Loughgiel while Bradley (free) and Nicholas McLaughlin did the same for the Ruairi’s to leave the half time score 1-8 to 0-10 in Cushendall’s favour.
Ronan Fitzgerald and Paul Boyle fired over points either side of scores from Charlie McAuley and Eoghan Campbell before the Ruairi’s hit the first real scoring burst of the contest. Five points in as many minutes, four from Bradley (one free) and one from Thomas McLaughlin put some daylight between the sides.
Rian McMullan scored his fourth and fifth points of the game either sides of a brace of points from Bradley while McFadden denied McAfee with a brilliant save in the same period of time.
That opening quarter to the second half proved to be the winning of the game. That fact was compounded when Loughgiel and Roan McGarry saw their penalty saved by McAllister in the 47th minute.
With seven points between the sides in the final 10 minutes, Cushendall saw out the contest expertly. Bradley (2), Ed McQuillan (2), and McAfee all raising white flags and while it felt like Loughgiel always needed a major to get back into the contest, they added to their score with points from Cormac McFadden (free), Roan McGarry (two frees) and Dan McCloskey.
Both sides will have their eyes on the U21 championship in the coming weeks and with the race for the Volunteer Cup not long after, you would expect both sides to be stronger later in the summer. The win rounded off an excellent weekend for the Cushendall club as they won the three matches on Feis Sunday.
TEAMS
Cushendall starting XV: Conor McAllister; Connor McCann, Liam Gillan, Fred McCurry; Scott Walsh, Oistin Birt, Charlie McAuley; Ryan McCambridge, Callagh Mooney; Nicholas McLaughlin, Ed McQuillan, Sean McAfee; Thomas McLaughlin, Fiontan Bradley, Oisin Woodhouse
- Subs: Eoghan Campbell for L Gillan (HT), Alex McCambridge for F McCurry (HT); Joseph McNaughton for N McLaughlin (51)
- Scorers: F Bradley 1-14 (5fs, 2’65s); N McLaughlin 0-2; E McQuillan 0-2; S McAfee 0-2; T McLaughlin 0-1; C McAuley 0-1; E Campbell 0-1
Loughgiel starting XV: Cormac McFadden; Ruairi McCormick, Enda Og McGarry, Pearce Patterson; Eddie Smyth, Declan McCloskey, Caolan Blair; Rian McKee, Ronan Fitzgerald; Rian McMullan, Dan McCloskey, Roan McGarry; James McNaughton, Paul Boyle, Shane O’Boyle
- Subs: Ryan O’Boyle for E Smyth (39), Liam McGarry for S O’Boyle (44), Ashton McGarry for P Patterson (45), Conor O’Mullan for J McNaughton (50)
- Scorers: R McGarry 0-7 (4fs, 2’65s); R McMullan 0-5; P Boyle 0-2; J McNaughton 0-1; D McCloskey 0-1; R Fitzgerald 0-1; C McFadden 0-1 (1f)
Referee: Tarlach Conway (Rasharkin)
To see more of Brendan’s photos from the final, follow this link….
https://myalbum.com/album/ezA3xiPTa7fKTs/?invite=7046e72e-8393-4eba-91b7-d1c114bc068d