Senior Reserve Hurling
Shield Final
St Johns 2-22 Loughgiel 1-6
Wednesday 23 September
Brendan McTaggart reports from Dunsilly
St John’s produced a strong second half to take the reserve shield championship back to Corrigan Park on Wednesday evening. Just six points separated the sides at the interval, thanks largely to a Fintan McKinney goal towards the end of the half.
The Johnnies turned on the style after the interval however with Fearghal MacManus and Barry McFall excelling. Substitute Lorcan Heenan grabbed the Whiterock Road men’s second goal midway through the second half as St John’s dominated.
The Shamrocks were well in the game for long periods of the first half with Niall McFadden, Damien Quinn and Ryan O’Boyle prominent but once the Johnnies clicked into gear, they were relentless.
Neither side could find rhythm in the opening quarter with both registering some poor wides. Danny McAuley and Ryan O’Boyle fired over the opening two points of the final before St John’s finally got the scoreboard ticking with Ruairi Galbraith splitting the uprights in the 14th minute. MacManus followed suit moments later for his first of the night before Michael McGarry tested the reflexes of Simon Doherty between the sticks. The St John’s ‘keeper was equal to the shot however with Niall McFadden converting the resulting ’65 to give the Shamrocks a two point lead with 10 minutes of the half remaining.
The Johnnies finished the half superbly though with scores coming in quick succession from Adrian Downey, two from MacManus and James Wilson before Fintan McKinney’s goal came in the 29th minute. His speculative effort dropping short and Loughgiel ‘keeper Odhran McGrath misjudging the flight, the sliotar fell over the line.
Galbraith put six between the sides and made it 1-5 without reply in the space of seven minutes while Niall McFadden tested the nerve of the St John’s men on the line with a 21 yard free that he hammered towards goal but was well stopped just on the stroke of half time.
The Shamrocks needed half time with St John’s leading 1-7 to 0-4 and while both made a decent start to the second half, the Johnnies soon clicked into gear. Niall McFadden and Damien Quinn split the uprights in response to scores from James Wilson and MacManus.
Quinn’s point for the Shamrocks in the 42nd minute was their last point of the game however and before Loughgiel’s midfielder would score their only goal of the game eight minutes later, St John’s stretched their advantage.
Heenan’s goal came in the 43rd minute, showing a great first touch with speed and agility, Heenan went for goal and gave McGrath no chance between the sticks. Points followed from MacManus and Barry McFall to take the St John’s lead to 11 points with a quarter of the game remaining.
Simon Doherty produced a brilliant save to deny but three points in as many minutes from Fintan McKinney and McFall (2) all but put the game to bed.
Loughgiel finally beat Doherty in goals but once again he pulled off a brilliant double save from Connolly and Conan Johnston in quick succession before Quinn pulled to the back of the net.
St John’s finished the final in style however. Adding a further eight unanswered points with McFall, Wilson, David Robinson, Heenan and Dáire King all on target to add further gloss to the scoreline for the Johnnies.
TEAMS
St John’s Starting XV: Simon Doherty; Michael Darragh, Darragh McCallin, Caolan McCallin; Adrian Downey, Simon McCrory, Odhran Carleton; Conan McKinney, Fintan McKinney; James Wilson, Barry McFall, Dáire King; Alex Jennings, Fearghal MacManus, Ruairi Galbraith
- Scorers: F MacManus 0-5 (2f); B McFall 0-5; F McKinney 1-1; Lorcan Heenan 1-1; J Wilson 0-3; D King 0-2; David Robinson 0-2 (1’65); R Galbraith 0-2; A Downey 0-1
Loughgiel Starting XV: Odhran McGrath; Ronan McCloskey, Tony McCloskey, Tomás McCloskey; Patrick Bradley, Aodhan McFadden, Charley O’Hagan; Michael McGarry, John Francis Connolly, Niall McFadden; Conan Johnston, Cahir McGrath, Danny McAuley
- Scorers: D Quinn 1-1; N McFadden 0-2 (1’65, 1f); R O’Boyle 0-1, C McGrath 0-1, D McAuley 0-1
Referee: Sean Elliott (Lámh Dhearg)
TO SEE MORE OF BRENDAN’S PHOTOS FROM THE GAME, CLICK ON THE LINK….
https://myalbum.com/album/4iHF9PZTVaQz/?invite=c4df6d5a-d3d9-4d21-bd7f-b0fb5779de41
