Report and photos from Michael Corcoran at Fr. Barrett Park, Loughgiel
Saturday’s ‘Go Games’ blitz from the County was split over two venues, St. Enda’s, Glengormley and Loughgiel. Loughgiel set up both of their playing pitches in the Fr. Barrett complex according to the Go Games specification and with one eye on the weather, many sighed a relief when it proved to be dry and ‘almost’ warm if not for a steady breeze that kept everyone, for the most part, holding onto a top and hat.
The day was segmented into an under eight team parade of eleven teams throwing in at 10am, concluding with a medal presentation at 11:15am from County Chairperson, Úna Kelly. Likewise, nine under ten teams paraded at 11:45am, with matches throughout the day up until the medal presentation at 1:40pm, with County Development Officer, Clare Dowdall.
Both County officers gave a short talk to the girls lined out for their medals and the atmosphere was electric as teams energetically and synchronously screamed out their club names in a show of appreciation for the great day in Loughgiel.
Under eight camogs line up to receive their medals after a great day of Go Games
It was a full on morning and afternoon and our County officials thanked the players, mentors, families and Loughgiel for making this a great day for everyone.
Brídíní Óga mentor, Sheena Murphy swaps one handful for another at Saturday’s Go Games BlitzAhead of Saturday’s All Ireland Intermediate qualifying round, Lucia McNaughton pictured with Paul from St. John’s, takes a visit to Fr. Barrett Park to see what all the noise was about.
Under 8 teams present in Loughgiel
St. John’s, Belfast
Brídíní Óga
Loughgiel Shamrocks Red
Loughgiel Shamrocks White
Ballycastle
O’Donovan Rossa, Belfast
Patrick Sarsfield’s Green
Patrick Sarsfield’s White
St. Mary’s, Ahoghill Red
St. Mary’s, Ahoghill White
Tír na nÓg, Randalstown
St. Patrick’s, North Antrim
Photos from the Go Games under 8 blitz can be found here…
Both teams started this game with a handful of bad wide but loughgiel through a Liam McGarry goal and points from Cian Higgins and Caolan McCollum settled the nerves , these were followed by a series of excellent points from Man of match Contender Joe Deery to take Loughgiel into a HT lead of 1-10 to 0-4
Glenariffe started second half well and lead by main scorers Canice McIntosh and Oisin Gillan seem them storm back into the game and reduce margin to 5 points with 10mins played in second half and it looked like it was game on!
Two quick well worked team goals from Dylan O’ Boyle and Cian Higgins settled Loughgiel and they kicked on from them with subs Joe Casey and Cahir McErlain getting on scoreboard. Cian Higgins scored a good point followed by an excellent Caolan Mc Collum goal and one from Higgins. Despite scores from Christopher Leech and Conall Boyd Loughgiel ran out winners on a score of 6-20 to 0-13 to set up a final meeting with Dunloy next Fridays evening in Cushendall.
Glenariff starting 15 JP Delargy Nicholas Lowry Odhran Kerr Eoin McNaughton Conor Kerr Charlie Dunne Conall Boyd Canice McIntosh John Black Christopher Leech Daniel Butler Ben Duncan Dara Ward Oisin Gillan Cadhan Graham
Loughgiel
Codi McGarry Paudie McNulty Eunan Johnson JJ McGarry Liam Smyth Domhall McKay Corin McCulloch Joe MC Fadden Logan MC conville Joe Deery Liam McGarry Conor McCann Caolan McCollum Dylan O’Boyle
Hurling winners Bunscoil Phobal Feirste celebrate their victory.Camogie winners St Patrick’s Loughgiel celebrate after receiving their trophuies
Bunscoil Phobal Feirste won the hurling title at Friday’s Cumann na mBunscol county final at St Louis Grammar School in Ballymena. With wins over north Antrim champions St Patrick’s Loughgiel and South West winners St. Patrick’s Rasharkin, the Belfast boys registered wins in both games their excellent full back Cillian McDonald playing a vital role in both game and was deservedly awarded the Player of the Tournament award.
St. Patrick’s Primary School, Loughgiel, won the Camogie title after and epic battle with In a closely contested battle the Loughgiel girls drew their opening match with Holy Trinity Belfast, the game finishing 1-01 to 0-04. Holy Trinity went on to beat Rasharkin their second game of the round-robin section which meant it all came down to the last game between the Loughgiel and Rasharkin schools.
When the Rasharkin girls led by 1-00 to 0-01 at half time it appeared the Loughgiel chances were gone but they fought back in the second half and three goals from star midfielder Meabh McKinley swung their game in their favour and saw her team take the title by virtue of goals scored overall.
Holy Trinity’s midfielder Cadhla Stilges took to overall Camogie Player of the Tournament award.
The Boys Football finals will be played back at St Louis on Monday
Maebh McKinley who scored three second half goals to give St Patrick’s Loughgiel the title.Mr Duffin presents the Camogie Player of the Tournament award to Cadhla Stilges of Holy TrinityMr Duffin presents the Hurler of the Tournamemt award to Cillain McDonald of Bunscoil Phobal FeirsteMr Duffiin presents the Hurling Cup to Bunscoil Phobal Feirste joint captains Dualta Ó Duibhfhinn and Ciaran Brady after their team’s success.Holy Trininty CamogsSt Patrick’s rasharkin, CamogsSt Patrick’s Loughgiel HurlersSt Patrick’s Rasharkin HurlersMr Duffin presents the Camogie Cup to St Patrick’s Loughgiel captain Rioghnach Laverty
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Despite heading into this Senior Feis Cup quarter-final missing a good few regulars, Dunloy Cuchullains still carried the favourites tag, having handed Loughgiel a heavy defeat in the League just weeks ago. With the Cuchullains turning around to face a stiff breeze in the second half trailing by just three points, the smart money would have backed them to take the honours. However, after Dunloy drew level shortly after the restart, Loughgiel found another gear, hitting a rich vein of form and playing some good hurling to drive on to a five-point victory.
Loughgiel came out of the blocks sharpest, taking the game to Dunloy from the throw-in. James McNaughton opened the scoring in the 2nd minute, setting the tone for an impressive individual performance. Shan McGrath doubled the advantage on the four-minute mark, and a long-range free shortly after pushed the Shamrocks into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead by the 7th minute.
Loughgiel extended that to four before Dunloy finally registered their first score, courtesy of a close-range free from Francis McMullan. The Shamrocks’ response was immediate; winning the resulting puc-out, McNaughton regained possession and fired over a swift point to re-establish the cushion.
The highlight of the half arrived in the 16th minute when Ryan “Bubbles” McMullan capped off a sweeping 60-yard move down the left flank to make it 0-6 to 0-2. Dunloy kept themselves in touch, with Francis McMullan landing a superb point from out near the sideline in the 19th minute, but as the half-time whistle blew, Loughgiel held a deserved three-point lead at 0-9 to 0-6.
The second half began with high drama. James McNaughton burst through on goal with an early chance to kill the game, but Dunloy defender Ryan McGarry executed a crucial, goal-saving block to clear the danger.
That intervention sparked life into the Cuchullains and when goalkeeper Ryan Elliott launched a massive free from inside his own 45-metre line straight over the bar it reduced the gap to two. Francis McMullan struck another free to draw the sides level
With the momentum—and the wind—seemingly in Dunloy’s favour, Loughgiel needed a response. They found it through Roan McGarry, who split the posts with a fine effort from the corner to restore the lead. A tit-for-tat exchange ensued: Francis McMullan levelled again from a placed ball for Dunloy before a short free converted by McNaughton nudged the Shamrocks ahead 0-11 to 0-10.
Dunloy’s Ben O’Kane squared things up once more, and moments later, goalkeeper Ryan Elliott stepped up to send over another monstrous long-range free, putting Dunloy into the lead for the first time in the contest.
It was here that Loughgiel found their rhythm. Ben McGarry collected a smart pass from his brother Roan to fire an equalizer (0-12 to 0-12), igniting a dominant spell for the hosts. Rian McMullan restored the Loughgiel advantage with a well-taken score, and James McNaughton followed it up with a well struck 60-metre free. Rian McMullan struck again to stretch the gap to three and on 47 minutes, a strong Loughgiel move was halted illegally, and Roan McGarry comfortably tapped over the resulting free. Though Ciaran Elliott pulled one back for Dunloy a minute later, Roan McGarry was accurate again from close range to make it 0-17 to 0-13 heading into the final ten minutes.
Refusing to lie down, Ryan Elliott launched yet another spectacular free from well inside his own half to cut the deficit to three, but James McNaughton immediately cancelled it out with a brilliant point from play. Substitute Caolan Blair got his name on the scoresheet to extend the gap at four.
As the clock ticked down, Rian McMullan effectively sealed the tie in the 58th minute with a spectacular solo point from out on the left wing. Dunloy’s Ben O’Kane replied with a crisp strike from play, but fittingly, it was James McNaughton who had the final say for the hosts, knocking over a point from play to establish a 0-21 to 0-16 lead.
There was time for one last roll of the dice from Dunloy, who won a 20-metre free in the dying moments and opted to go for goal. However, Loughgiel shot-stopper Cormac McFadden was equal to the task, producing a good save to clear the lines just as the final whistle sounded, securing a hard-fought and deserved victory for the Shamrocks.
Loughgiel Shamrocks – 1 Cormac McFadden, 2 Rory McCloskey, 3 Enda Og McGarry, 4 Liam Glackin, 5 Badger McCormick, 6 Decky McCloskey, 7 Ben McGarry, 8 Betty McKee, 9 Rosie Fitzgerald, 10 Rian McMullan, 11 James McNaughton, 12 Pearce Patterson, 13 Roan McGarry, and 15 Shan McGrath.
Dunloy Cuchullains 1 Ryan Elliott, 2 Sean Óg Blaney, 3 Rian McGarry, 4 Reece Cunning, 5 Eamon Smyth, 6 Eoin McFerran, 7 Aodhan McGarry, 8 Padraig McGilligan, 9 Ben O’Kane, 10 Francis McMullan, 11 Paul Shiels, 12 Barry Scott, 13 Ciaran Elliott, 14 Oisin McCamphill, and 15 Nicky McKeague.
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Creggan representatives of Antrim’s All Ireland winning teams from last weekend brought the sikverware alon to the club’s juvenile training on Thursday evening Representing the u14 LGFA team was the energetic and bubbly Iona Maguire. Iona wrote her name in the Antrim history books by firstly scoring the equalising point before finishing the game off by hitting the winner a fantastic achievement that she has worked very hard to get.
Next up we had Antrim minor captain our own Shea Mc Lernon. Shea showed his worth through the whole game but even more so in the second half as he drove his team forward as a player and a leader.
Our other minor player Conall Wilson who was unavailable tonight as he was playing for the Clubs u16’s in a league match. This shows Conall’s worth to the Club that while still u16 he has won an All Ireland minor medal.
A massive congratulations from Kickhams GAC to both teams on winning their All Ireland titles
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