Antrim U16A Hurling Semi-Final
Loughgiel Shamrocks 4-20 | O’Donovan Rossa 2-14
Venue: Father Healy Park, Loughgiel
A blistering second-half performance, capped off by a stunning hat-trick from Damian ‘Dee’ Laverty, propelled Loughgiel Shamrocks into the Antrim Under-16A Hurling Final after a hard-fought victory over O’Donovan Rossa at Father Healy Park.
The visitors travelled to Loughgiel with plenty of intent and were well worthy of being level at 0-09 apiece at the interval. However, after the change of ends, the Shamrocks truly caught fire, hitting a devastating purple patch that set up a mouth-watering final clash against old rivals Dunloy next week.
A Tightly Contested Opening Half
The game commenced at a frantic pace. Cahir McCloskey opened the scoring for Loughgiel in the second minute, but Rossa responded swiftly, with midfielder Gerard Delaney pointing to level the sides on four minutes. McCloskey was quickly on target again to edge Loughgiel 0-02 to 0-01 ahead, finishing off a move after the referee had played the advantage.
Thomas Traynor extended the Shamrocks’ lead on seven minutes, cutting inside on his left to strike a fine score. Rossa’s Cillian Carabine replied with a well-struck effort from 30 yards on the right, though he pulled another decent chance wide moments later.
Conor Stewart brought the city side level at 0-03 each with a brilliant effort from midfield, and on ten minutes. Rossa enjoyed a strong spell of possession but hit three consecutive wides before Cody McGarry temporarily restored Loughgiel’s lead. Stewart was on hand again to square things up at 0-04 to 0-04 from a long-range free just beyond midfield.
Approaching the end of the first quarter, McCloskey struck a superb left-sided point from 40 yards out. Cody McGarry then found his rhythm, clipping over a great score from the right wing and following it up with a free—brought forward for dissent—to give the hosts a 0-07 to 0-04 cushion.
Rossa clawed their way back. Carabine pointed a free, and on 23 minutes, Rossa goalkeeper Aidan Holbrook produced a fantastic save, rushing out to block a goal-bound effort from Dee Laverty out for a ‘65’. McGarry slotted the resulting set-piece, but Carabine answered with two quickfire points to close the gap to one (0-08 to 0-07).
After another McGarry ‘65’, Rossa had a goal disallowed for a square ball following a dangerous high delivery. Undeterred, Carabine hit two sensational long-range points in the dying moments of the half—the latter being the final poc of the half—to send the teams into the dressing rooms deadlocked at 0-09 apiece.
Loughgiel Catch Fire
Whatever was said in the Loughgiel huddle at half-time worked wonders. Cody McGarry exploded out of the blocks, hitting a point from the wing, racing through for another 30 seconds later, and tagging on a third to give Loughgiel immediate momentum.
On four minutes, the game saw its first goal when Joe Casey found the net to give the Shamrocks daylight. McCloskey added another point, and Dee Laverty registered his first score to push Loughgiel eight clear. Cillian Carabine managed to pull one back for Rossa, firing over the bar when a goal looked on the cards, but the tide had well and truly turned.
It was one-way traffic as the final quarter approached. Laverty and McGarry (free) kept the scoreboard ticking before Laverty struck again. Rossa kept battling and Carabine popped over another free, but Iarla Gillan responded for Loughgiel to establish a commanding 10-point lead (1-18 to 0-11).
Rossa kept fighting, registering a lovely over-the-shoulder point through Codhrán O Rourke on 16 minutes, but Joe Casey immediately answered at the other end.
The Dee Laverty Show
The final ten minutes belonged to Dee Laverty. On 19 minutes, he pulled on a breaking ball during a goalmouth scramble to grab Loughgiel’s second goal. Conor Connolly added a point from the left wing shortly after.
Rossa managed to breach the Loughgiel defence on 23 minutes when a long delivery from Conor Stewart dropped dangerously and went all the way to the net. Carabine followed this up with another free, but Loughgiel’s attacking machinery was relentless.
On 29 minutes, Laverty scored an excellent individual goal, running across the face of the goal before striking a left-sided bullet into the net. A minute later, a clever short free from Conor Stewart found one of the substitutes , who turned it into the net for Rossa’s second goal.
In the dying seconds of the contest, Laverty found himself through on goal once more. He swung one-handed, sending the ball to the net to complete a memorable hat-trick and seal a comprehensive victory for the Shamrocks.
Loughgiel Shamrocks: Ciarán Hennessey; Rónán McGarry, Lorcán Murtagh, Martin Maynes; Kevin og McGarry, Aaron Gillan, Liam McKee; Aidan Barr-Laverty, Dáire Kearney; Iarla Gillan, Cody McGarry, Cahir McCloskey; Thomas Traynor, Damian (Dee) Laverty, Conor Connolly.
Subs featured: Joe Casey, Cathaoir Casey.
O’Donovan Rossa: Aidan Holbrook; Eoin Sheridan, Addison Morris, Riley O Rourke; Damian Power, Jacob Bell, Codhrán O Rourke; Gerard Delaney, Gabriel Stitt; Conor Stewart, Cillian Carabine, Cormac Carabine, Paddy Short, Leo Weng.
Referee – Deaglan Carey
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