Ulster JHC Club quarter-Final
Breffni Park 1-00pm Saturday
Cootehill Celtic Cavan v Sarsfield’s Antrim
Antrim Champions Patrick Sarsfield’s make the long journey to Breffni Park, Cavan this Saturday where they will face Cavan Champions, Cootehill Celtic.
Sarsfields have had an excellent season in 2026. After making the drop from division 2 they have made a fast return to the higher grade after a strong league winning division 3 campaign, winning 11 and losing only 2 in a season where the emphasis was on rebuilding.
One of those 2 defeats came at the hands of Lamh Dhearg with the Red Hands recording a surprise 3-18 to 2-15 win over the ‘Paddies’ at the bear Pit and it would be the men from Hannastown who would again provide the opposition in the Antrim Junior Hurling Championship final.
Sarsfields had fairly comfortable wins over St. Brigid’s and All Saints in the group stage of this year’s championship before going on to beat Davitt’s in the quarter-final at the Bear Pit.
A Friday night semi-final against Gort na Mona under the lights at Dunsilly would provide a much stiffer test for the Stewartstown Road side.
For the majority of this junior hurling championship semi-final, it looked like there was a shock on the cards. Gort na Mona had come to Dunsilly to make a mockery of the pre-championship tag adorned on Sarsfields and were in pole position to book a final place.
Leading by three with a little over 10 minutes remaining, Turf Lodge’s finest would only register one more score and the Paddies found an edge in the closing stages.
Donal McKernan split the uprights from distance before Cormac Mulligan left the minimum between the sides with seven minutes remaining. Frees from Kevin McKernan and Caolan McKernan gave the Paddies the lead but McClean replied for the Gort’s with one minute of the hour remaining.
With all thoughts turning towards the potential of extra time, the Paddies pressure increased and Gort na Mona’s defence struggled. A brace of frees from Smyth in injury time ensured the Paddies would take the honours.
And so it was onto the final and an opportunity for Sarsfields to avenge that league defeat against Lamh Dhearg at Davitt’s Park and they did just that in what turned out to be a battle of attrition.
Sarsfields had too much for Lámh Dhearg and clinched the Casement Social Club Antrim Junior Hurling Championship with a 4-14-2-12 win.
Kevin Barry McArdle’s strike on the stroke of half time gave the Paddies a 1-10-2-4 lead at the break, and in the final quarter they landed another three majors.
Youngster, McArdle added his second and Fionn Jemfry Cormac Mulligan as the ‘Paddies’ pulled away in the second half and the emergence of this young talent has been important in this year’s success.
It could be the experience of the final ‘Man of the Match, Donal McKernan, Enda McCartan, Kevin McKernan, Niall McAlea and Co. that will prove the difference at Breffni on Saturday as Sarsfield’s take the first steps in what they hope will be a successful Ulster campaign.
WHAT ABOUT COOTEHILL CELTIC?
Cootehill Celtic captured their fifth Cavan senior hurling championship title in six years thanks to an emphatic 3-23 to 3-8 victory over East Cavan Gaels at Kingspan Breffni in the Cavan final.
After getting off to a great start and an early 0-9 to 0-2 lead, the Celts would cancel out a Daire Leddy’s goal on 15 minutes with a major of their own eight minutes later via joint captain Lonan McKenna.
East Cavan Gaels netted again through a Ciaran English free to trim their deficit to five, but four more points from the holders left the scoreboard reading 1-15 to 2-3 at the break.
Mark Moffett and Rory Farrell swapped goals during the game’s third quarter and a point from Farrell would see the margin between the teams back to 10 points.
Connor Shalvey and Moffett kept the scores coming for the holders though and they’d seal the deal with Rian Delaney’s goal in the 55th minute ahead of Diarmaid Carney’s point rounding off the victors’ tally.
Captain Leona McCarthy, Connor Shalvey, Mark Moffett and Diarmaid Carney are the men that Sarsdfield’s will need to keep a tight rein on but the Stewartstown Avenue side should have enough to get their Ulster campaign up and running.