Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship
St Gall’s 0-24 Cloughmills 1-13 at Milltown
St Gall’s secured their quarter-final spot in the Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship with a commanding 0-24 to 1-13 victory over Cloughmills in Round 3 at Milltown. Both sides entered the match knowing a win would guarantee progression, but St Gall’s demonstrated superior scoring depth across their forward line. Cloughmills relied heavily on the exceptional striking of centre-forward Michael Devlin, who kept them in contention throughout the first half.
St Gall’s asserted their dominance early, with Tomas O’Ciarain firing over two long-range points within the first two minutes. Cloughmills goalkeeper Christopher McKernan was forced into a brilliant point-blank save forty seconds in to deny an early breakthrough. Cloughmills quickly responded through a sideline cut from Mickey Devlin and a well-taken point from James Doherty. However, St Gall’s began to stretch the play; Mark Napier hit excellent scores from narrow angles and Dubhaltach Wilson found his range on the left wing.
Cloughmills struck a crucial blow at the 20-minute mark when Stephen Smyth found the net for the game’s only goal. Despite another impressive sideline cut from Devlin and a second outstanding point-blank save from McKernan, St Gall’s finished the half strongly to carry a 0-13 to 1-07 lead into the break.
The men from the Bog Meadows were on the front foot, at the start of the second half, with Mark Napier pointing from play just 15 seconds after the restart. Shortly after, and Aodhan Gallagher, introduced as a substitute for Daniel Churchill, added his name to the scoresheet. Cloughmills battled back with a massive free from his own 65-yard line by Devlin and another placed point from Doherty but Fergus Donnelly then concluded a well-worked St Gall’s move with a fine point from play.
The turning point arrived midway through the second half when Cloughmills’ player received a straight red card. Reduced to 14 men, Cloughmills struggled to keep pace. Dubhaltach Wilson and Mark Napier capitalized on the extra space, continuously converting both from play and frees under pressure. Cormac Sheehan chipped in with a late point to seal the comfortable eleven-point victory, putting the final score at 0-24 to 1-13 in favour of the Milltown men.
St Gall’s: 1 Sean McAreavey, 2 Eoghan McCurdy, 3 Ewan Rush, 4 Patrick Friel, 5 Gairech Mac Adhaimh, 6 Aodhan Gallagher, 8 Daniel Churchill, 9 Jack Hopkins, 10 Sean Burke, 11 Fergus Donnelly, 12 Ethan Walsh, 13 Mark Napier, 14 Tomas O’Ciarain, 15 Dubhaltach Wilson,
Subs – 17 Michael Marlow, 18 Oran McIlhatton, 19 Aaron Mackel, 20 Tom Ghee, 22 Anthony Healy, 23 Cormac Sheehan, 24 Stephen McIlhatton, 25 Aodhan McDonagh, 27 Simon Dowds, 28 Ségdae Mac Adhaimh, 29 Joshua Southern, 30 Niall Fallon.
Cloughmills: 1 Christopher McKernan, 2 Sean McKendry, 3 Corey Blair, 4 Rian Dobbin, 5 Kevin O Boyle, 6 Geoffrey Og Laverty, 7 Ruairi Laverty, 8 Ryan McFarlane, 9 Johnny Duffin, 10 James Doherty, 11 Michael Devlin, 12 Eoin Dobbin, 13 Ryan Watson, 14 Conor Laverty, 15 Stephen Smyth,
Subs – 16 Cathaoir McFerran, 17 Jack McDowall, 18 Aaron McGuckian, 19 Shemus Duffin, 20 James O’Boyle, 21 Reece Watt, 22 Dara Watterson, 23 Conor Mc Kendry, 24 Michael Reid, 29 Dean Boyle.
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