Above – Alex O’Boyle who scored 2-12 in Oisins win over St Enda’s at Hightown

Antrim Hurling League – Division 1

Naomh Eanna 2-13 Glenariffe 3-17

Newly promoted Glenariffe Oisins secured a massive lifeline in their fight for Antrim Hurling League Division 1 survival on Sunday, engineering a stunning second-half comeback to defeat St Enda’s at Hightown on a final scoreline of 3-17 to 2-13. Despite coming close in a couple of their other games this was only their second win of the league campaign, and though the season has a long way to go it is important for the Oisins to get points on the board. The game itself was a tight, tit-for-tat encounter in the first half, but after the break they turned things around to turn it into a commanding seven-point victory. The comeback was spearheaded by a virtuoso scoring display from Alex O’Boyle, who finished the afternoon with a staggering personal tally of 2-12.

It was St Enda’s who burst out of the traps early on. After Glenariffe hit two early wides, the home side punished them. Cormac Jennings opened the scoring in the fourth minute, and just sixty seconds later, Killian Jennings rattled the back of the net to give St Enda’s a dream 1-1 to 0-0 start. Glenariffe looked to their talisman to keep them in touch, with Alex O’Boyle converting two frees either side of a Manus Mullan point. By the 15th minute, St Enda’s held a four-point cushion. However, the Oisins eventually found their rhythm from open play. A quick-fire trio of points between the 18th and 20th minutes from Alex O’Boyle, Oliver Kearney, and Aaron Cosgrove dramatically narrowed the gap. Despite a strong finish to the half from St Enda’s—with Dara Maguire, Killian Jennings, and Manus Mullan all raising white flags—Alex O’Boyle’s dead-ball accuracy ensured the visitors were breathing down their necks at the interval, trailing slightly at 1-07 to 0-09.

The opening quarter of the second half was a tense, point-for-point shootout. St Enda’s kept their noses in front, largely through the frees of Luke O’Connor, while Glenariffe responded through Orrin O’Connor, Calum McIlwaine, and the relentless Alex O’Boyle. By the 15th minute, a score from open play by Cormac McCann had St Enda’s marginally ahead at 1-13 to 0-13, but the game was about to be flipped on its head. In the 18th minute, a Glenariffe free dropped short, and Oliver Kearney was on hand to force the ball to the net, giving the Oisins the lead for the first time in the match.

That crucial goal opened the floodgates. Oliver Kearney added a point, followed swiftly by one from Michael O’Boyle. From there, Alex O’Boyle completely took over the contest. In the 23rd minute, he found the net from play, pushing the visitors into a commanding lead. Just four minutes later, he struck for his second goal of the afternoon, effectively ending the contest as Glenariffe surged into a 3-16 to 1-13 advantage.

To their credit, St Enda’s kept fighting until the final whistle. Cormac McCann grabbed a consolation goal in the 28th minute, but the damage had already been done during Glenariffe’s devastating ten-minute scoring burst. Fittingly, Alex O’Boyle had the final say, tapping over a late free in the 35th minute to cap off a brilliant individual and team performance. For St Enda’s, it was a frustrating afternoon where an early lead evaporated under intense second-half pressure. For Glenariffe Oisins, this was an important victory. Grabbing their second win of the season away from home is a big boost for the club in the league campaign.

For the victorious Glenariffe Oisins, Alex O’Boyle led the scoring with an incredible 2-12, including nine frees. He was supported by Oliver Kearney who tallied 1-02, while Aaron Cosgrove, Orrin O’Connor, Calum McIlwaine, and Michael O’Boyle all contributed 0-01 each.

On the St Enda’s side, Killian Jennings and Cormac McCann both found the net to finish with 1-01 apiece. Luke O’Connor was their top point scorer with 0-05, including four frees. Cormac Jennings and Manus Mullan added 0-02 each, while Christopher Roberts chipped in with a point from a ’45 and Dara Maguire scored 0-01 from play.

Featured Image: Ben Christie who gave a masterclass for Bredagh

 (ACHL) Division 2

St. Brigid’s Cloughmills: 0-12 (12)

Bredagh: 1-22 (25)

Bredagh kick-started their league campaign in style on Sunday, producing a dominant display to brush aside St. Brigid’s Cloughmills. In a meeting between two sides hungry for points at the bottom of the table, the Belfast men’s superior firepower and clinical finishing saw them run out 1-22 to 0-12 winners.

Bredagh signalled their intent from the first whistle, racing into a 0-04 to 0-01 lead within the opening five minutes. They remained on top for the vast majority of the half, spearheaded by an exceptional performance from number 14 Ben Christie. Christie was the standout performer in the opening period, slotting over 0-05 and proving a constant thorn in the Cloughmills defence.

Mickey Devlin who was St. Brigid’s outstanding performer

While Bredagh dictated the tempo, Cloughmills stayed within touching distance thanks to the accuracy of Michael Devlin, who notched four points in the opening period. Further scores from Ruairi Laverty, James O’Boyle, and Conor Laverty kept the home side in the hunt, trailing by just three at the interval.

Half-Time Score: Bredagh 0-10, Cloughmills 0-07.

The second period saw Bredagh find another gear to completely pull away. Ben Christie continued his scoring master-class, adding a further 1-06 to his tally. The game’s only goal arrived in the 25th minute of the half, when Christie was set up by Sean McCollum to effectively end the contest.

Bredagh’s clinical edge was bolstered by scores from Tim Rankin (0-04), John Dougan (0-02), and  Luke Doran (0-04). 13 Frankie Ferguson (0-01) also chipped in to round out a comprehensive team performance. Cloughmills found it much harder to break through a disciplined Bredagh rear guard, anchored by Ian Galway in goal. Michael Devlin, Ruairi Laverty, Geoffery Og Laverty, James O’Boyle and Stephen Smyth provided the only second-half resistance for the “Biddies.” Who were missing a number of regulars but need to get some points on bosard sooner rather than later

Geoffery Og Laverty on the attack for Cloughmills

An Bhreadach CLG (Bredagh):
1 Ian Galway, 2 Odhran Morgan-Little, 3 Michael Woods, 4 Eoin Browne, 5 Sean Doyle, 6 Patrick McGarry, 7 Liam Hogan, 8 Tim Rankin, 9 Cormac Hughes, 10 John Dougan, 11 Eoin Kennedy, 12 Sean McCollum, 13 Frankie Ferguson, 14 Ben Christie, 15 Luke Doran, 16 Aaron Maguire, 17 Fintan McCollum, 18 Evin Maguire, 19 Mel Lavery, 20 Adam Rankin, 21 Conor O’Neill.

Naomh Bríd (St. Brigid’s Cloughmills):
1 Corey Blair, 2 Jack McDowall, 3 Sean McKendry, 4 Aaron McGuckian, 5 Johnny Duffin, 6 Ruairi Laverty, 9 Dara Watterson, 10 Ryan Mcfarline, 11 Michael Devlin, 12 Conor Laverty, 13 Stephen Smyth, 14 Shemus Duffin, 15 James O’Boyle, 16 Cathaoir McFerran, 17 James Doherty, 18 Dean Boyle, 19 Con chaber Mac Enri, 20 Michael Reid, 21 Ryan Watson, 22 Kevin O’Boyle, 27 Reece Watt.

Referee: Ciaran McCloskey (Loughgiel)

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Antrim Hurling League Division 1

St John’s 1-17 Rossa 0-15

Venue: Corrigan Park

The Antrim Division 1 League served up a classic West Belfast derby on Sunday as St. John’s hosted their arch-rivals, O’Donovan Rossa. Marking the first game back at Corrigan Park since recent pitch repairs, the fresh turf played host to a fiercely contested, hard-hitting encounter where absolutely no quarter was asked or given.

St. John’s capitalized on a stiff breeze in the opening period to build a six point lead, and despite a valiant second-half fightback from Rossa, which saw them close the gap to the minimum at one stage, a dramatic injury-time goal from Conor Johnston ultimately sealed the win for the home side.

St. John’s came out of the blocks flying. Seconds after the throw-in, Caoimhin Hanna split the posts to open the scoring, quickly followed by a point from their ever reliable free taker Oisín MacManus

Rossa settled into the game shortly after, with midfielder Liam McEnhill registering their first score. Moments later, after a driving break involving McEnhill and Corey Walsh scooped the ball over the bar to keep the visitors right in the mix.

However, St. John’s soon took control of the half. MacManus kept the scoreboard ticking over, while McEnhill continued a strong individual performance with his second point of the day. Diarmaid Rogan landed a superb long-range effort for Rossa on the 12-minute mark, but St. John’s responded emphatically. After MacManus converted a 50-meter free, the home side executed the move of the half: Goalkeeper Domhnall Nugent claimed a great catch and initiated a full-length of the field passing move that ended with Hanna grabbing his second point to make it 0-8 to 0-3.

Rossa fought back through the stick of Deaglan Murphy , who landed a free on 17 minutes, and a massive 60-metre point from the left flank by Aidan Orchin before Murphy added another 40-meter free shortly after.

Despite Rossa’s efforts, St. John’s finished the half incredibly strong. Ruairi Galbraith hit two beautiful scores, including a fine effort from the right corner, before Michael Bradley extended the lead from the left side. Deaglan Murphy and Oisín MacManus traded late frees, sending St. John’s into the dressing room with a comfortable six-point cushion.

Half-Time Score: St. John’s 0-13 – 0-07 Rossa

With the breeze now at their backs, Rossa emerged for the second half with renewed intensity. Gerard Walsh struck early with a long-range free, but St. John’s immediately answered through a great dead ball strike of their own from McManus and a towering point from midfielder Aaron Bradley .

Refusing to back down, Diarmaid Rogan provided a massive spark for Rossa. He slotted a point from the right wing, cleanly won the resulting puck-out, and fired over again in quick succession to narrow the deficit.

As the half wore on, the tension in Corrigan Park was palpable. A long free from deep inside St. John’s territory by McManus set up another score for the home side, but Rossa’s Deaglan Murphy began to punish St. John’s indiscretions as he nailed three crucial frees—two consecutively, and another on the 22-minute mark—to drag Rossa right back into the contest, reducing the gap to just two points.

Needing a response, Oisín McManus stepped up for St. John’s, cutting sharply to his left into space and floating over a vital point to make it 0-17 to 0-15.

Rossa threw everything forward in the dying minutes and managed to claw the gap back to a single, precarious point. But as the clock ticked into the second minute of injury time, St. John’s delivered the final, fatal blow when Conor Johnston carved through the Rossa defense and, while falling forward, managed to brilliantly bat the ball into the back of the net.

The injury-time goal proved to be the ultimate decider, quelling the Rossa comeback and ensuring the bragging rights—and the league points—remained at Corrigan Park.

St. John’s – 1 Domhnall Nugent, 2 Michael Darragh, 3 Cónall Morgan, 4 Lorcan McCallin, 5 James Wilson, 6 Enda McGurk, 7 Ronan Donnelly, 8 Caoimhin Hanna, 9 Aaron Bradley, 10 Shea Shannon, 11 Conor Johnston, 12 Michael Bradley, 13 Dónall Carson, 14 Oisin MacManus, and 15 Ruairi Galbraith.

Rossa – 1 Donal Armstrong, 2 Niall Crossan, 3 Ciarán Orchin, 4 Conor Boyle, 5 Declan McCartney, 6 Gerard Walsh, 7 Jack O’Loughlin, 8 Aidan Orchin, 9 Luca McCusker, 10 Liam McEnhill, 11 Eoin Trainor, 12 Diarmaid Rogan, 13 Corey Walsh, 14 Dáire Murphy, and 15 Deaglan Murphy.

Referee – Tarlach Conway

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