Antrim Senior Hurling League – Division One

Dunloy 4-16 Glenariffe 0-17

Sunday 12 April

Brendan McTaggart reports from Pearse Park, Dunloy

Dunloy continued their winning start to the 2026 league campaign with an 11 point win over Glenariffe.  Two goals in either half proved to be the difference with a fast start by the home side laying the foundation for the victory.

Despite going nine points down after just over 10 minutes, Glenariffe hit six points unanswered to find their footing in the game but they never looked like they were going to add to their opening day victory.

Oisin McCallin added to his burgeoning reputation with a final tally of 1-6 while Aaron Crawford, Ciaran Elliott and Eamon Smyth all found the back of the net.  Aodhan McGarry had another busy performance while Ryan McGarry excelled at full back.

The Oisín’s were best served by Niall Magee, Orrin O’Connor and Alex O’Boyle – O’Boyle finishing top of their scoring charts with 0-6 while O’Connor and Oliver Kearney shared six points between them.  Despite the result, it was a strong performance from the Waterfoot men who showed they are well able for Division One hurling.

With the wind blowing towards the Academy, it favoured Glenariffe in the first half.  Despite this, the Cuchullains started superbly.  Ciaran Elliott’s goal with the home sides first attack coming via a super delivery into space from Ryan McGarry.  Elliott rounded his man and hammered home from close range to give Dunloy the perfect start.  McCallin and Nicky McKeague raised white flags either side of O’Connor’s first point of the game before Aaron Crawford fired in the second goal.  The home side cutting through the Glenariffe defence before Nigel Elliott’s reverse pass found Crawford in space.  The Dunloy man made no mistake from close range.

Scores from McCallin (free) and Aodhan McGarry followed but the home side wouldn’t register another score for 15 minutes as the Oisin’s found their feet in the game.  Four points from Alex O’Boyle along with scores from O’Connor and Michael O’Boyle brought Glenariffe to within three points with five minutes of the half remaining.

Dunloy responded with scores from McCallin, Smyth and Tom McFerran before Alex O’Boyle’s fifth white flag of the half left Dunloy 2-8 to 0-8 ahead at the interval.

Dunloy started the second half brightly with points coming from Smyth, Aodhan McGarry, McCallin and McKeague – Alex O’Boyle with the solitary response for Glenariffe in that opening 10 minute spell.

Points followed for the visitors from substitute Oisin Gillan and Oliver Kearney to keep Glenariffe within touching distance.  The home side responded with McCallin firing over either side of McKeague’s third white flag of the match and while Daniel Kearney left nine points between the sides going into the final 10 minutes, the home side scored their third goal of the game to all but end the hopes of a Glenariffe win.  Daire McMullan sent a free into the path of Ciaran Elliott who found Smyth running through the middle.  The half back had work to do but he finished superbly to put the difference into double digits.

Glenariffe responded well with three unanswered points in as many minutes – Gillan, Michael O’Boyle and Oliver Kearney with the scores.  Kearney bringing the best out of Ryan Elliott in the Dunloy goals with the Cuchullains ‘keeper deflecting his goal bound effort over the bar.

Substitute Chrissy McMahon dissected the uprights and while Glenariffe responded with points from O’Connor (free) and Oliver Kearney’s third of the match, Dunloy and McCallin had the final say.  McMahon this time with the assist as he unselfishly passed to McCallin who was unmarked to fire home from close range.

The Cuchullains are on their travels for their next game, heading to Ballygalget next Sunday while Glenariffe make a first trip to the City when they face Rossa on the same afternoon.

TEAMS

DUNLOY: Ryan Elliott; Conor Kinsella, Ryan McGarry, Sean Og Blaney; Eamon Smyth, Paul Shiels, Daire McMullan; Aaron Crawford, Paudie McGilligan; Nigel Elliott, Nicky McKeague, Aodhan McGarry; Ciaran Elliott, Oisin McCallin, Tom McFerran

Subs: Ben O’Kane for C Kinsella (42); Chrissy McMahon for N Elliott (42); Oisin McCamphill for N McKeague (47); Jack Martin for P McGilligan (52); Francis McMullan for A Crawford (56)

Scorers: O McCallin 1-6 (3fs); E Smyth 1-2; N McKeague 0-3; A Crawford 1-00; C Elliott 1-00; A McGarry 0-2; R McGarry 0-1; T McFerran 0-1; C McMahon 0-1

GLENARIFFE: Paul McMullan; Odhran Gillen, Colla Ward, Conor Patterson; Niall Magee, Daniel Kearney, James Kearney; Calum McIlwaine, Donall Kearney; Orrin O’Connor, Phelim Ward, Michael O’Boyle; Seanie McIntosh, Oliver Kearney, Alex O’Boyle

Subs: Oisin Gillan for P Ward (24); Cailin Devlin for D Kearney (40); Canice McIntosh for S McIntosh (54)

Scorers: A O’Boyle 0-6 (3fs, 2’65s); O O’Connor 0-3 (1f); O Kearney 0-3; M O’Boyle 0-2 (1’65); O Gillan 0-2; D Kearney 0-1

REFEREE: Declan McGarry (Loughgiel)

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Antrim Hurling League – Division 2

Carey 0-08 St Gall’s 3-14

Three first half goals set up St Gall’s for victory over Carey Faughs in Sunday’s Division 2 League game at Ballyvoy. The home side, who were short a few regulars, had a day to forget, scoring only one point from play in the whole game and only one point overall in the second half.

The excellent free taking of corner forward Conor McBride kept Carey in the contest in the early stages but the visitors had a wide range of score takers throughout the game. Jackson McGreevey, Patrick Friel and Tomas O’Ciaran hit the target early on as they fired over points but when full forward Tomas O’Ciaran grabbed his team’s first goal from close range it was clear the boys from the Bog Meadows were going to be hard to contain. A second goal followed soon after from Niall Fallon and when Fergus Donnelly soloed through to grab the third it was clear it was going to take a specia effort from the Faughs to deny the boys in blue.

Conor McBride hit a series of great frees for the home side and midfielder Patrick Butler grabbed one from play but by half time St Gall’s led by 3-04 to 0-07, despite playing against the stiff breeze.

With wind advantage in the second half stretched their advantage by the minute as Mark Napier, Fergus Donnelly and Jackson McGreevy stretched their team’s advantage. Napier added three more and McGreevy two to widen the gap even further, while Carey’s only score of the second half came from Patrick Butler late in the game.

Carey Faughs

No.	Player Name
1	Conlith McKinley
2	Eoin Hill
3	Sean McBride
4	Adam Hughes
5	Michael McVeigh
6	Conall McGlynn
7	Peadar McVeigh
8	Cathair Brogan
9	Patrick Butler
10	Brendan McQuaid
11	Shea Hunter
12	Ryan McQuaid
13	Patrick Gillan
14	Fiachra McVeigh
16	Jimmy Joe Burns (GK)

---

St. Gall’s (Naomh Gall)

No.	Player Name
1	Kurtis McGreevy
2	Gregory McGreevy
3	Daniel Churchill
4	Eoghan McCready (Handwritten)
5	Ewan Rush
6	Gairech Mac Adhaimh
7	Michael Marlow
8	Patrick Friel
9	Jack Hopkins
10	Fergus Donnelly
11	Oran McIlhatton
12	Niall Fallon
13	Jackson McGreevy
15	Mark Napier

Carey Faughs assistant treasurer Anne McBride presents a cheque for £500 to the Saffron Gael before Sunday’s league game with St Gall’s. Pic by Stevie McAfee

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Abbey Shield – Junior Hurling

Rasharkin 0-13    Glenravel 1-16

Aodh O’Loan reports from Dreen

Glenravel hurlers have the honour of being the first winners of The Abbey Shield when they outgunned  rivals Rasharkin on a 1-16 to 0-13  scoreline. Played on a dry sod in Dreen with no rain or wind this was a strange combination for both teams given that inclement weather we all have had to contend with recently. A freak injury to Glenravel’s keeper Ronan Donnelly after twenty minutes led to a long delay as he was patched  up and sped off to hospital. We wish Ronan a speedy recovery and commend the Rasharkin player  who contacted him post game to wish him well. The spirit of hurling is alive and well in South West Antrim. In truth Glenravel played the better hurling over the hour and were deserved winners in the end.

From the start Glenravel’s forwards looked sharp and Joe McKay pounced on a couple of loose balls to put them two up in as many minutes from the throw in. Connor McKeever got one back for the home side from a free but then the visitors went into overdrive with five unanswered points from Conleth OLoan, Joe McKay and Declan McAuley to open up a six point gap. Oisin Doherty and Donald Quigg kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Dreen men but Fergus Donaghy put Glenravel back in front by five points before Connor McKeever again reduced the deficit to four. A high ball into the Glenravel defence saw keeper and attacker come together – both totally focussed on the ball but unfortunately Ronan Donnelly, Glenravel’s  keeper, came off worse in the tackle which was accidental and ended up spending several hours in A&E. The men in Green and White needed to shuffle the deck and solid defender Michael McDonnell  took up net minding duties and performed admirably in his new role with several high fetches and clever puck outs making it look like he was “to the manor born”. After the restart Rian Lennon treated us to the score of the game when he shook off several challenges and pointed from distance under pressure.  Donagh Quigg reduced the deficit to four points form a free but it was the visitors who ended the half stronger with three unanswered points from Joe McKay and Luke Loughlin to put Glenravel ahead at the interval 0-12 to 0-05.

Rasharkin would have hoped for a good start to the second half but it was their opponents who registered the first score from Niall McKeown to stretch the lead to eight points. But at this stage the locals enjoyed their best spell with four consecutive points from Connor McKeever and Connor Higgins who was starting to wield some influence around the middle of the park. Joe McKay steadied the Glenravel ship to restore a five point lead and with fourteen minutes gone in the second half Luke Loughlin put the final nail in the Rasharkin coffin when he goaled to put the visitors eight points ahead with only a quarter of the game remaining. To their credit, Rasharkin were certainly not considering reaching for the white towel and went on to score a further four points in that final quarter with Glenravel replying with two scores to leave it  1-16 to 0-13 in favour of the men in green and white.

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Leinster U20 Hurling Championship – Tier 2

Antrim 2-21 Down 1-13

Antrim’s U20 hurlers secured a hard-fought victory over old rivals Down at the Dub in Belfast, though the final scoreline masked a significantly more competitive encounter than their previous meeting with Down. While the Saffrons had cruised to an 18-point victory in the Ulster final just weeks ago, this Leinster Tier 2 clash proved to be a much sterner test of their resolve. Down were in contention until the final five minutes, before a late surge of 2-02 from the hosts finally broke their resistance and gave the result a somewhat flattering appearance.

The visitors enjoyed a dream start when a failure in the Antrim defense allowed late addition John Dougan to find his range and blast a shot into the top corner of the net in the fifth minute. Antrim were slow to find their rhythm, hampered by early complacency and a greasy surface, but they eventually settled through the efforts of their excellent midfield duo of Charlie McAuley and Callagh Mooney. Despite the clinical free-taking of Cahal Colman, who remained a constant threat for Down throughout the evening, Antrim managed to claw back the early deficit. A late free from Oisin McCallin ensured the home side held a narrow one point lead at the interval.

The second half continued in a similar fashion, with stop-start play allowing Down to stay within touching distance. Cahal Coleman continued to punish Antrim’s indiscretions from placed balls, keeping the gap to just five points midway through the half. Mickey McShane was forced to look to his bench for fresh energy, and the introduction of substitutes helped wrestle back control. Liam McEnhill broke a long scoring drought with a crucial strike to keep the scoreboard moving, while Oisin McCallin matched his counterpart’s accuracy to maintain the Saffron lead as Down hunted for a goal to swing the momentum.

The decisive moment arrived with five minutes remaining when Jay McAlonan’s parried strike fell into the path of Cadhan Crawford, who instinctively finished to the net. This goal finally sapped the energy from the Down challenge, and the victory was sealed shortly after when Oisin McCallin capped a fine individual performance with a solo run and a sharp finish into the top corner. Although the margin of victory eventually grew to double digits, it was a far more grueling battle than their previous provincial meeting. Antrim now advance to face Kerry with a spot in the Tier 2 Leinster final at stake.

ANTRIM: S Óg McLaren; C Donnelly, L Glackin, C McCann; N Magee, C McIlwaine 0-1, C McIntosh; C McAuley 0-2, C Mooney 0-5; L McEnhill 0-1, R Fitzgerald 0-1, C Donnelly, C Crawford 1-4, O McCallin 1-5 (0-3f), R McGarry 0-1

Subs: T McLaughlin 0-1, J McAlonan, O McCamphill

DOWN: C Clarke; P McGarry, B Teggart, L Morgan; M Gilmore, S Pucci, C O’Neill; R Breen 0-1, S McCollum; C Coleman 0-11 (0-9f), F Ferguson 0-1, S McCarthy; C Monan, D Rogers, J Dougan 1-0

Subs: D Pucci, D McGrath 

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ACFL Division 1

Casements 2 – 14  Cargin1 – 16

Despite being reduced to 13 players for the last ten minutes of this round three league encounter at O Ceallaigh Park, gutsy Casements held on by their fingertips to record their first victory against Cargin since May 2009.

Both clubs were missing an equal quota of established performers, but despite that a large and lively crowd has assembled to assess early season progress from clubs that will both have their eye firmly fixed on a bigger prize later in the season.

When Paddy Tumelty got the game underway it was impressive minor star Tom Duffin who opened the scoring from an acute angle, his first contribution of what would turn out to be another highly satisfying individual display. His minor counterpart Odhran Doherty chipped in with a couple of fine long-range efforts as well, but it was the experienced Tomas McCann pulling strings for the visitors that saw them edge slowly and surely ahead as the first half settled down.

McCanns free taking was exemplary, from single- and double-point opportunities. He also had good fortune on his side when another long range free looked to be dropping into Kevin Mullans hands but ended up blindsiding the Casements keeper in the morning sun as the ball trickled into his net.

 A superb double point from distance from Benen Kelly kept the scoreboard ticking over nicely for the men in green. Casements rallied though and a fine catch by Niall McKeever set Dermot McAleese off on a charge before picking out Paddy Graffin junior who made no mistake in blasting it to the roof of the Cargin net to keep the hosts in the contest. A long-range effort from Ronan Kelly further reduced the gap, but Casements could not get into a rhythm, and when they did some wayward finishing was letting them down.

Cargin were more economical in that department and extended their lead to eight points almost on half time when their impressive youngster Jack O’Neill finished off the best move of the half with a confident dispatch between the posts.

The wind would be to the host’s advantage on the restart and it was obvious that this contest had the potential to go right to the wire.

That was how it turned out.

Coming off the back of a game nine-point comeback on their previous outing at Hannahstown, Casements began the half on the front foot, overturning an early opening Cargin point from Eunan Quinn to record the next four scores of the game.

Mattie McGleenan added Ruiari Hagan and Paddy Kelly to the fray, Ryan Devlin introducing experienced stalwarts Marty Kane and Paul McCann in reply.

Big Ronan Kelly kick started Casements comeback with two points from long range, sparking off a period of dominance from the hosts that would see them level things up on the scoreboard in an impressive twelve-minute spell. A few minutes later a high ball was fielded by Niall McKeever who laid off to Paddy Kelly who wasted no time signalling his introduction with a two pointer of his own.

Minor Odhran Doherty used the benefit of the wind to fire over from fifty metres to close the gap, but Cargin bounced back impressively, Tomas McCann, David Johnston and Tom Shivers keeping the flag attendant busy at the road end to maintain a gap in Cargin’s favour.

A superb move started in defence by Daniel McNicholl’s interception and involving three Casements players ended up in the arms of Tom Duffin, the minor star headed off on a mazy solo before coolly slotting home for a goal that changed the complexion of the match.

Neither team asking or receiving any favours and there were a few stoppages as the exchanges became more physical. Referee Paddy Tumelty was letting most things go but brandished a red and a few yellows as the game edged towards its conclusion – resulting in Casements being two players down for the last six minutes of the game.

With Cargin still a point to the good, Casements defence stood tall and against the odds somehow found a way to win a free outside the arc. Ronan Kellys trusty left foot dispatched high into the graveyard end to give his team a slender one-point lead with just a few minutes remaining.

Cargin threw the proverbial kitchen sink into their final charge, and had several changes to win it at the death, a last second effort from stalwart James Laverty rolled right of the posts and wide. Within seconds Paddy Tumelty blew for full time and to the relief of their supporters a long wait had finally ended for a positive outcome against a formidable opponent.

Cargin won’t lose any sleep over the outcome. Their management will have seen plenty to be encouraged about from many of the young players they are blending and have several experienced campaigners to return in due course. Eunan Quinn, Tom Shivers, Benen Kelly, Conan Johnston, Jack O`Neill, James Laverty and Tomas McCann all had fine games.

Casements will take a brief moment to enjoy a victory which has been a long time coming, as Mattie McGleenan continues to develop a Casements side that should be firmly in the mix come the business end of the season. Amongst their excellent performers on the day were Kevin Mullan whose kickouts were superb throughout, the high fetching Niall McKeever, the scoring feet of Tom Duffin, Ronan Kelly and Odhran Doherty, and the industry of Michael Kelly, Conor McGhee and Paddy Graffin. Casements waited a long time to break the stranglehold Cargin have had over them, and the fact that minors Tom Duffin and Odhran Doherty have never lost a game to Cargin suggest this contest might be the start of a promising senior career for both players.