Andersonstown Social Club Intermediate Hurling Championship

With Gort na Móna ruled out at the minute because of the Covid 19 situation there are only two games down for decision in Sunday’s Intermediate Hurling Championship. The Gorts were supposed to travel to Glenariffe to take on the Oisins so that game goes by the wayside, though there may be some developments in the offing with regards to the Oisins.

Last week Carey Faughs travelled to Creggan and beat the Kickhams men by three points in what has to be regarded as the ‘group of death. With home advantage against the Paddies this week a win would secure them a semi-final spot, but anything less would leave the men from Ballyvoy sweating over the outcome of next Sunday’s meeting between Sarsfields and Creggan. With only three teams in each group the three who top the table are joined by the best runner-up and that situation is further complicated by the Gort na Móna situation. It might take more that calculators to work it out!

Carey beat the Paddies in last year’s semi-final at Rossa Park in a hard fought battle which went right down to the wire. The previous season Sarsfields beat the Faughs in the final in Armoy so these are two teams who are familiar with each other. Sarsfields had a bye last week and they were also the team to sit it out in the single round of league games at the start of this season’s campaign, so they are going into Sunday’s vital clash relatively untested. They have of course played a few challenge games but the white heat of championship is a different matter.

This promises to be another close fought battle that could go either way. A home win would give the Faughs that coveted semi-final spot, a draw would mean Sarsfields would need to beat Creggan by more than three points next weekend, while a Paddies win will leave them in the driving seat when they entertain Creggan at the Bear Pit on Sunday next. Of course a Creggan win in that game would leave everyone back where they started. Don’t rule out to toss of a coin deciding it all!

Over in Armoy the Glen Rovers have a home game against Tir na nÓg, knowing that a win is essential if their season is to continue. They were beaten by Cloughmills in last weekend’s game and have a deficit of three points, and it could have been worse had big Johnny McErlain not blasted a late free to the Biddies net. They simply need to win tomorrow and win well if they are to have any chance of claiming that best loser slot.

Tir na nÓg are coming into the game cold after sitting out last week, but they did have a good win over Gort na Móna in their one and only league game which was played on July 22^nd.  This may be a crazy way to play a championship but one thing for sure is every game matters.

Andersonstown Social Club IHC Group 1

Creggan 0-13 Carey Faughs 2-10

Carey came out on top of this exciting and hard-fought game, played in sweltering temperatures. James Black got Carey up and running with an early point, but by the first half water break Creggan had built up a 0-6 to 0-2 lead. Conor McCann their ‘ace marksman’ with 3 points while Thomas McCann, Small and Rice accounted for the other scores with ‘Doug’ McAuley picking up the second Carey point from a free.

A Conleth McKinley point was followed by a Conor McCann point, but the score which settled the Faughs arrived with 23 minutes gone. A long delivery was flicked to the Creggan net by Shea Hunter after a scramble in the square. Creggan’s cause was not helped when they had a man sideline with a straight red card and his absence was to prove a real burden as the game progressed. Kevin Small increased the Creggan lead to four points but the vistors closed the gap with points from Conor McBride and ‘Doug’ McAuley to trail by just two at the short whistle. 0-10 to 1-5.

Carey started the second half on the offensive and two ‘Doug’ McAuley points within three minutes left it all square. Carey were now getting the upper hand all over the pitch and a Conor McBride point gave them a lead which they were never to lose. A point from James Black and a goal from ‘Doug’ McAuley mid-way through the half gave them a 4-point cushion. Creggan were struggling to find the target and managed just three points during the second half, all of them from Conor McCann frees.

Carey scorers:
Cathal ‘Doug’ McAuley: 1-5; Conor ‘Bim’ McBride: 0-2; James ‘Rocket’ Black: 0-2; Conleth McKinley: 0-1; Shea Hunter: 1-0

Andersonstown Social Club Intermediate Hurling Championship

St Brigid’s Cloughmills 2-13 Glen Rovers Armoy 2-10

Cloughmills won their opening game in the Intermediate Hurling Championship when they beat North Antrim rivals Armoy at Cloughmills on Sunday. For most of the first half it appeared that the home team were going to cruise to victory when they opened up a 1-5 to 0-1 lead after 23 minutes, but an Eamon McCaughan goal lifted the Armoy men and they closed to within three by half time.

The Glen Rovers men got it back to within one point early in the second half but during the third quarter it was ‘nip and tuck’ but a Mickey Devlin goal from a penalty just after the second half water break proved the decisive score.

The Biddies dominated the early stages with points from Mickey Devlin and Stephen Smyth before Johnny McErlain opened the Armoy account on 12 minutes. Two points from Liam Kearns frees, one from play from Mickey Devlin, plus a goal from corner forward Eoin Dobbin opened a seven point gap for the home team, but a point from Johnny McErlain and a goal from centre forward Eamon McCaughan helped Armoy close to within three at the break. 1-7 to 1-4

When Johnny McErlain and Rocky Dillon grabbed points in the first two minutes of the second half it was ‘game-on’ and though Cloughmills eased the pressure with points from Liam Kearns and Mickey Devlin, Armoy kept in touch with points from Emmet O’Hara and McErlain. The decisive score came on 48 minutes when Cloughmills were awarded a twenty metre free and Mickey Devlin fired it to the back of the Armoy net. When substitute Jimmy Doherty added two fine points from play and Aaron Smiley hit a monster point from inside his own half the Biddies were home and dry, but Armoy kept battling to the last and big Johnny fired a free through a crowded Cloughmills goalmouth for a goal the gap was down to a three at the final whistle.

CLOUGHMILLS

Chris McKiernan, Geoffrey Og Laverty, John McGuckian, Sean McKendry, Aaron Smiley, Michael Morrison, Steven Martin, Conor Laverty, Marty Dobbin, Steven Smyth, Ruairi Laverty, Mickey Develin, Eoin Dobbin, Joseph Smyth, Liam Kearns.

Subs – James Doherty

ARMOY

Conor Devlin, Shane Devlin, John Dillon, Joe McBride, Liam Dillon, Thomas Burns, Callum Coyles, PJ McBride, Arthur Devlin, Emmet O’Hara, Eamon McCaughan, Conor Christie, Liam O’Hara, Johnny McErlain, Trevor Linton.   

Refereee – Tarlach Conway

Bathshack Antrim Senior Hurling Championship Group 2

Naomh Eánna 0-12 St Galls 2-17

St Galls pulled away late on to score a deserving victory at Hightown on day 1 of this year’s Bathshack sponsored Antrim senior hurling championship. The scoreline suggests that this may have been all one-way traffic but the result hung in the balance until a late scoring burst of 1-3 sealed the points for the West Belfast side. It was a frustrating senior debut for the Glengormley outfit. St Galls dominated the puck out from both keepers while their forward division were only able to contribute 0-4 from play.

St Galls on the other hand had match winners in every sector from Sean Burke in defence to CJ McGourty in attack, while in the middle third Niall O’Neill, Jackson McGreevy and Kieran McGourty would also have been contenders for man of the match. On the edge of the square Conor Burke looked threating every time he secured possession and but for a stunning point blank save in first half injury time from Naomh Eánna netminder Martin Curran, would’ve walked away from this game with a hattrick.

Afterwards St Galls manager Chris Dornan was full of praise for his side. “I think we were the better team over all. They had a wee purple patch first five, ten minutes, but I thought we really battled well and we had the match winners.” One player who was singled out for special praise was 1^st half replacement Marcus Donnelly. Donnelly, who Dornan described as “brilliant” came into the game in bizarre circumstances after Karl Stewart tangled with Mark Donaghy going for the games first ball. The St Galls stalwart fell awkwardly and had to be withdrawn with an ankle injury, but Donnelly came in and made his intentions clear that he wants to be in the starting 15 the next day out against Loughgiel.

Naomh Eánna started well and when Daniel Lowry knocked over a point on the ten-minute mark, the homeside lead 0-3 to 0-1, but when CJ McGourty converted a ‘65’ just before the water break, the sides were level at 0-4. But there were warning signs before the first break as both McGourty and Donnelly both got in behind the Naomh Eánna defence only for some last-ditch tackling preventing gilt edged goal chances.

On 24 minutes Sean Burke did find himself in such a position and his low shot to the net gave Curran no chance. Burke was put in the clear by a clever reverse pass from CJ McGourty which took out two home defenders. This gave the visitors a three-point advantage but Naomh Eánna responded well with scores from Cormac Ross and Cormac Jennings to go in at half time all square. Naomh Eánna 0-10 St Galls 1-07.

The second half belonged to the visitors as CJ McGourty added three points in the opening eight minutes, with brother Kieran assisting on the third after intercepting a Naomh Eánna puck out. St Galls dominated the midfield battle where Jackson McGreevy in particular shone. Darrach Cooper replied for Naomh Eánna as the home team tried to force their way back into the contest but three more McGourty frees gave St Galls a five-point cushion as the game slipped away from the hosts.

As the game ticked into injury time St Galls found another gear and went for the kill. Firstly, CJ McGourty brought his haul for the day to 0-10, and after proving provider for Mark Napier, Kieran McGourty capped an excellent performance with a score of his own before Burke got in behind the home defence to poke the ball under the advancing Curran.

Teams:

Naomh Eánna: Martin Curran, Manus Mullan, Niall O’Connor, Ruairi Diamond, Mark Donaghy, Cormac Ross (0-3 3f), Edward O’Connor, Joe Maskey (0-1), Eoin Conlon (0-2), Jason Higgins, Ruairi Donaghy (0-1), Cormac Jennings (0-3 2f), Daniel Lowry (0-1), Darrach Cooper (0-1), Killian Jennings.

Replacements: Oliver Breen for Jason Higgins HT, Aidan McGowan for Cormac Ross 51 minutes, Phillip Curran for Oliver Breen 54 minutes & Michael McGivern for Ruairi Diamond 58 minutes.

St Galls: Kurtis McGreevy, Liam McCluskey, Sean Burke, Jack Hopkins, Niall O’Neill, Aodhan Gallagher, Ryan Irvine, Anthony Healy, Jackson McGreevy (0-2), Karl Stewart, Kieran McGourty (0-1), Patrick Friel (0-2 1f), CJ McGourty (0-10, 7f, 1 ‘65’), Conor Burke (2-0), Mark Napier (0-2).

Replacements: Marcus Donnelly for Karl Stewart 1 minute & Gregory McGreevy for Anthony Healy 47 minutes.  

Referee: Mr Colin Murray.