JHC B Semi-Final
Ardoyne 1-18 Loch Mor Dal gCais 0-16
This semi-final of the Junior B Hurling Championship will not live long in the memory of either players or spectators for its quality, but Ardoyne will gain some comfort from their second half turnaround. The heavy rainfall at the start of the game threatened to put a dampener on this semi-final clash.
Ardoyne did not look like the team that had recently lifted the Division 4 crown, starting incredibly slow to get off the mark. Loch Mór were first out of the blocks, with Aodhan Morgan registering the opening score from play.
Andrew Gilmore fired over a second before Turley stretched the lead further with a pointed free. The gap widened to four points as Jones converted another free, leaving a completely out-of-tune Ardoyne chasing shadows. It took until the ten-minute mark for Ardoyne to finally split the posts through a McGreevey free.
Turley responded quickly with two further pointed frees for Loch Mór to stretch the lead to five. McGreevey accurate free-taking kept Ardoyne within touching distance with his second point of the afternoon, but Paul Molloy kept the pressure firmly on the league champions with another fine point from play. The opening half came to a close with Turley sending over another point from a free.
Half-Time: Ciceam Ard Eoin 0-02 Loch Mór Dál gCais: 0-08
The persistent light rain finally died out over the closing stages of the first half. As the sliothar was thrown in to start proceedings for the second period, the emerging sunshine reflected a marked improvement in the standard of play from both sides. Ardoyne gave immediate notice that they were going to have a say in this game, racing into attack and winning a free that was duly pointed by McGreevey. A tense free-taking shootout ensued between McGreevey and Turley, with McGreevey taking the honours to drag Ardoyne back to within two points by the 50th minute.
The turning point in this game came on 55 minutes. Increasing pressure from the Ardoyne forward line resulted in a penalty, which was calmly converted by McGreevey. Though Ardoyne now held the upper hand, their growing dominance was temporarily threatened by two consecutive points from Loch Mór. It was nip and tuck for the next five minutes as the lead exchanged hands on several occasions.
Aaron Stewart began to exert a major influence on the game, landing a long range point from play for Ardoyne. When the final whistle blew for normal time, the sides could not be separated, locked at 1-13 to 0-16.
With Loch Mór reduced to 14 men and Ardoyne finally finding their rhythm, extra time belonged entirely to the home side. With Heaney providing his trademark high-energy game and sharpshooter McGreevey in lethal form, Ardoyne completely shut up shop, keeping Loch Mór scoreless throughout the entire period of extra time. Paul McGuigan’s tireless hard work throughout the afternoon was justly rewarded with a point from play to cap off the scoring.
While Ardoyne will find plenty of satisfaction in their resilient second-half display, they will know they were fortunate to end up on the winning side after such a lacklustre start. A much-improved, 60-minute performance will be demanded for the upcoming Final against close rivals All Saints, Ballymena.
Full-Time (After Extra Time): Ciceam Ard Eoin 1-18 Loch Mór Dál gCais: 0-16
Ciceam Ard Eoin: Jim Óg McAuley, Cahal Clarke, Paul Baker, Emmett Corey, Sean Searle(0-1), Paddy Heaney, Caolan Wallace, Paul McGuigan, Matthew Cromie, Diarmuid Martin, Cormac Barnes, Aran Stewart(0-2), Fiontain Lagain, Patric McGreevey(1-11, 1pen-10f), Jonathan larkin, Colum Lowry, Michael Lee-Murphy, Oilibhear Corey
Loch Mór Dál gCais: Martin Robb, Brogan Graham, Bailey Graham, James Duffy, Sean Burke, Martin Braniff (0-1), Matthew Jones (0-02), Darragh Turley (0-8, 6f), Declan Phillipps, Ferdia Crason, Aaron Monaghan, James Magorrian, Paul Molloy (0-2), Matthew Ward, Niall burke, Andrew Gilmore (0-1), Donncha O’Hare, Aodhran Morgan (0-1), Michael Morgan (0-1)
Referee: Ray Matthews
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