ACHL Division One

Dunloy 0-20 Rossa 3-20

Saturday 26 April

Brendan McTaggart reports from Pearse Park, Dunloy

Rossa made it three from three on Saturday evening as they inflicted Dunloy’s first league defeat of the season.  In an entertaining game, it was a strong first half and ability to score goals that proved to be the difference.

All of Rossa’s goals came in the first half, two from James Connolly with Thomas Morgan adding the third.  Both men contributed hugely throughout the hour with Morgan’s agility and pace causing problems while Connolly’s presence on the edge of the square gave the Dunloy defence their fill of it.

Deaglan Murphy gave an energetic display from the middle of the park but it was the back six that formed the basis for this victory.  Dunloy trailed by 11 points at half time and with the wind at their back, looked to make inwards into that lead and while they threatened to make a comeback, five points was as close as they got.  The Rossa defence soaked up the pressure, led superbly by Ciaran Orchin, Chris McGuinness and Daire Murphy.

Nicky McKeague continued his fine early season form, finishing top scorer for the Cuchullains with 11 white flags beside his name while Paudie Martin, Luke McFerran and Anton McGrath were always in the thick of things.

Tom McFerran put in a great shift in the middle of the pitch while Eamon Smyth and Deaglan Smith had good games in the half back line.  The Dunloy management will look at the three goals as being avoidable as they looked to come to terms with the aerial bombardment sent their way.  They created few clear cut goal scoring opportunities however as Rossa saw out the second half.

Despite Morgan opening the scoring, it was the home side who made the brighter start.  Three points in as many minutes from Luke McFerran, Martin and Tom McFerran had them two clear inside six minutes but it was their last score for 14 minutes as the visitors to Pearse Park took a stranglehold.  A run of 1-8 without reply, just two of those coming from placed ball and five different scorers.  Eoin Trainor, Deaglan Murphy, Morgan, and Aodhan O’Brien dissecting the posts while Connolly grabbed his first goal of the game in the 16^th minute.  The goal coming from a long ball which he won himself with a piece of individual brilliance before rifling home.  Indeed, it could have been better for the Shaw’s Road men but for O’Brien’s effort being saved by Eoghan Richmond between the sticks.  The Dunloy netminder had the presence of mind to deny the follow up with a superb piece of bravery.

Dunloy got the scoreboard ticking once again with McKeague’s first point from a placed ball.  He would follow up with another two in the space of five minutes along with Paudie Martin’s second of the game to leave five between the sides.

The home side had their own sight of goal amongst McKeague’s scoring spree, McGrath with a brilliant touch and burst of speed to evade the Rossa defence but his effort was well saved by Donal Armstrong between the sticks for Rossa.

Eoghan McMenamin extended the lead to six once again before Rossa added their second and third majors in the space of two first half minutes.  Connolly grabbed his and his teams second and almost a carbon copy his first goal.  Getting on the end of a long ball before finishing expertly while Morgan made the most of a mistake in the Dunloy full back line from close range for Rossa’s third.

Ryan Mort had the final say of the half as he fired over Dunloy’s eighth point to leave the half time score 3-10 to 0-8 in Rossa’s favour.

Dunloy had whatever wind was blowing at their backs for the second half and had added a further three points inside the opening minute of the second half.  Tom McFerran, Paudie Martin and McKeague all dissecting the uprights and when McKegaue and Ronan Molloy added further scores, it made it five without reply and the Rossa lead reduced to six inside six minutes of the second half.

The sides went toe to toe with Deaglan Murphy and James Connolly prominent for the visitors while McKeague and Luke McFerran were firing for the Cuchullains. 

Five points separated the sides with 10 minutes remaining but the visitors to Pearse Park finished strongly outscoring Dunloy five points to one with O’Brien, Connolly (two) and Deaglan Murphy (two) firing over with a McKeague free the solitary response for Dunloy.  The Cuchullains had a sniff of a major in the closing stages with Anton McGrath going close but he was denied by a diving save from Oisin McVicker who turned the sliotar away at full stretch.

The action continues next Sunday for the Cuchullains as they host Cushendall while Rossa take on old rivals, St John’s on the same afternoon.

TEAMS

Dunloy: Eoghan Richmond; Conor Kinsella, Daire McMullan, Oran Quinn; Paudie McGilligan, Eamon Smyth, Deaglan Smith; Ciaran Elliott, Tom McFerran; Ryan Mort, Nicky McKeague, Luke McFerran; Paudie Martin, Ronan Molloy, Anton McGrath

Subs: Jack Martin for C Elliott (38); Ben O’Kane for D McMullan (51)

Scorers: N McKeague 0-11 (7fs, 1’65); P Martin 0-3; T McFerran 0-2; L McFerran 0-2; R Mort 0-1; R Molloy 0-1

Rossa: Donal Armstrong; Oisin McVicker, Ciaran Orchin, Patrick Moyes; Declan McCartney, Chris McGuinness, Daire Murphy; Diarmuid Rogan, Deaglan Murphy; Eoin Trainor, Pearce Short, Thomas Morgan; Eoghan McMenamin, James Connolly, Aodhan O’Brien

Subs: Michael Armstrong for E McMenamin (54); Liam McEnhill for D Rogan (57); Owen May for T Morgan (60); Darrach Morriarity for J Connolly (60+2)

Scorers: J Connolly 2-3; Deaglan Murphy 0-8 (6fs); T Morgan 1-3; E Trainor 0-2; A O’Brien 0-2; Daire Murphy 0-1; E McMenamin 0-1

Referee: Darren McKeown (St Galls)

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ACHL Division 1

St. Enda’s 3-14 Ballygalget 2-10

Naomh Eanna picked up their first points in the present league campaign when they entertained Ballygalget at Hightown on Saturday evening.

The Down men started without their County contingent who were in action earlier but Pucci, McManus, Fisher and Taggart all arrived to take their place in the second half and bolster the Ballygalgert challenge.

At that stage Naomh Eanna had built up a 2-8 to 0-2 lead with Brendan Cormican and Rian Gillan getting the goals and at this juncture the Hightown side looked to be coasting to victory.

Ruairi Donaghy hit 0-4 during the opening half and Killian Jennings and Gillian were amongst the first point scorer and things certainly looked to be going to plan as the sides changed ends.

The arrival and introduction of the Down contingent for the second half saw Ballygalget start to reign in the St. Enda’s lead and the men from the Ards’ peninsula would add 2-8 to their meagre first half total.

St. Enda’s were in no mood to relinquish their hard earned lead and hit a further 1-6 of their own with Gillan getting his second goal and Luke O’Connor, Eddie O’Connor and Killian Jennings adding to their first half points total.

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Antrim Hurling League Division 1

Ballycastle 4-20 Portaferry 4-16

Ballycastle held off a second half rally by Portaferry at Pairc MacUilin on Saturday evening to win the league points in a high scoring game.

Eleven points up at the break (2-13 to 0-08) after playing with the aid of a stiff breeze it appeared to be plain sailing for the home side, but when man of the match Cahal Coleman hit back with a goal and two points in the first five minutes of the second half it was clear they were still very much in contention. Darragh Donnelly came back with a goal for Town to ease the pressure but when eighteen year old Coleman completed his hat-trick with goals in the 41^st and 43^rd minute the Ulster champions appeared to be on their way to the win.

However Ballycastle never gave up the fight and a goal by Darragh Donnelly, following great work by Seamus McAuley and Tiernan Smyth, gave them the breathing space to get them over the line.

Coleman made his mark early with two quick points, but a goal by Arden Kelly helped Ballycastle to a 1-03 to 0-02 lead after five minutes and a second goal on fifteen minutes by Conor Donnelly put them 2-06 to 0-05 in front. Coleman kept the Down men in touch with three of the next four points three points in two minutes in first half injury time from Conor Donnelly (2) and Darragh Donnelly sent them in at the break with a 2-13 to 0-08 lead.

The early goal from Coleman and two quick points showed that Portaferry were still in contention and Darrgh Donnelly’s goal from the home side helped settle the home side. However whenever Coleman came back with two more points before the three-quarter mark the gap was down to eight. Portaferry’s fourth goal by substitute Noah Rodgers was followed two more Coleman points and there was just four between the sides.

The visitors must have fancied their chances of taking both points at his stage, but Darragh Donnelly’s goal, gave the Town the upper hand again and they held on to win by four.

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O’Neills ACHL Division One 

Rossa 3-17-1-18 Loughgiel Shamrocks 

Kevin Herron reports from Paric Rossa 

Rossa hurlers maintained their winning start to the league campaign with a 3-17-1-18 win over Loughgiel on the Shaws Road on Saturday evening. 

The hosts asserted their authority quickly and quickfire Tiarnan Murphy points had them in the driving seat, Diarmaid Rogan extended his before the opening goal arrived inside of five minutes. 

Tiarnan Murphy cut out a sideline ball and tried to drop the ball over from inside the Loughgiel half, but it dropped out of the hand of Shea McDonnell and into the net. 

A further point followed by the older of the Murphy siblings- Deaglan, scoring the first of nine frees over the course of the evening. 

Loughgiel were eventually off the mark thanks to an angled Christy McGarry score, with Deaglan Murphy responding with a free. 

Shan McGrath was the source of many of the visitors’ scores, landing his sides second from a free- only for Deaglan Murphy to conjure his third score from the same scenario. 

Further points were traded between Caolan Blair and Murphy (free) before the Shamrocks hit a five-minute purple patch that yielded four scores unanswered. 

Donal McKinley popped over his first score of the half, McGrath clipped over his second free, Ronan McGarry tried to work a goal chance but his shot was diverted over and Christy McGarry doubled his tally with a shot from range that dropped over. 

Their hard work was undone however with Aodhan O’Brien opening his account for the evening and quickly doubling it with a goal. 

O’Brien cut out Enda Og McGarry’s crossfield pass and rifled low to the bottom corner to give his side a 2-8-0-7 lead. 

Deaglan Murphy made it four from four attempts in the aftermath, but Loughgiel finished the half strongly. 

Ronan McGarry doubled his tally with an impressive angled score, Shan McGrath helped himself to two further points from the placed ball and Rian McMullan popped over a nice point. 

Deaglan Murphy closed the half out with his fifth free as Rossa were 2-10-0-11 ahead at the midway point. 

Talisman Murphy landed his first point from play shortly after the restart- though Ronan McGarry saw a difficult angled shot sail between the posts. 

Frees were traded between McGrath and Murphy and points from play between Ronan McGarry and Aodhan O’Brien. 

The sides continued to cancel each other out with O’Brien and Rian McMullan trading further points and it wasn’t until the 42nd minute that Rossa had threatened to kill the game off with their third goal. 

Eoin Trainor took a pass from Daire Murphy and despite being caught on the arm on route to the target, he was able to pop a pass into the path of Aodhan O’Brien to lash home his second goal of the evening and make it 3-14-0-15. 

O’Brien would add a further point to his personal tally before departing- though things were far from settled as Rian McMullan flashed a shot to the net to make it 3-15-1-15 with more 12 minutes remaining. 

Rossa had to withstand a few late half chances with Conor Rocks parrying a further McMullan attempt and a Tiago McGarry shot was diverted to safety. 

Substitute also flashed a quickly taken free past the post – in between those chances a further Ronan McGarry point from play and a 65’ from Shan McGrath had saw the Shamrocks close the deficit to four. 

Deaglan Murphy eased any lingering nerves with an eighth conversion from the free and he would drop over 65’ to end his side’s scoring. 

A consolation point from McMullan didn’t alter the final outcome as Rossa made it three wins from three to join St Johns on the league summit at this early juncture. 

ACHL Division 1

St. Enda’s 0-14 St. John’s 3-15

St. John’s join neighbours Rossa at the top of the ACHL Division 1 after 2 rounds of games and after a good win over Cushendall on day one, they travelled to Hightown to face St. Enda’s on Sunday.

Donal Carson’s first half goal proved the difference between the sides at half time with Shea Shannon’s accuracy from the placed ball contributing to the majority of the St. John’s points.

The game was still in the balance at the halfway stage with the visitors leading 1-8 to 0-8 at the turnover with Ruairi Donaghy  in fine form for the home side and contributing 0-5 of his side’s first half total.

In the end goals would prove the difference as a slick ‘Johnnies’ added two more with Daragh McGuinness on target and Carson getting his second of the afternoon.

Donaghy would continue to lead the St. Enda’s charge with four second half points to bring his total for the afternoon to nine points but the Johnnies always had enough to keep their noses in front.

Its early days yet but St. John’s will be pleased with their start to the season and will hope to keep it going as the league progresses. They take on a Ballycastle side that had a good win over Loughgiel at Corrigan on Saturday and can extended their winning run to three though the McQuillan’s may have other ideas.

St. Enda’s have lost their two opening games but competed well for long periods in this one and face a difficult away trip to Poertaferry at the weekend.

St. Enda’s: 1 Niall McGivern, 2 Conor McAlister, 3 Diarmuid Maguire, 4 Ruairi Diamond, 5 Eoin Maguire, 6 Cormac Jennings, 7 Killian Jennings, 8 Oisin O’Cuinn, 9 Brendan Cormican, 10 Ruairi Donaghy, 11 Eoin Conlon, 12 Luke O’Connor, 13 Conor Bradley, 14 Ronan Eager, 15 Frank Kane

Scorers:

Ruairi Donaghy 0-9

Eoin Conlon 0-1

Frank Kane 0-1

Conor Bradley 0-1

St. John’s: 1 Simon Doherty, 2 Jack Bohill, 3 Conall Morgan, 4 Michael Napier, 5 Ryan McNulty, 6 Ciaran Johnston, 7 Enda McGurk, 8 Sean Wilson, 9 Michael Dudley, 10 Aaron Bradley, 11 Shea Shannon, 12 Daragh McGuinness, 13 Donall Carson, 14 Oisin McManus, 15 Ruairi Galbraith

Subs used: 

Michael Bradley 

Rónán Donnelly

Lorcan Heenan 

Caoimhin Hanna

James Wilson 

Scorers: 

Dónal Carson (2-0)

Daragh McGuinness (1-1)

Shea Shannon (0-4)

Oisin MacManus (0-3)

Aaron Bradley (0-3)

Michial Dudley (0-2)

Enda McGurk (0-1)

Michael Bradley (0-1)

Referee: Ray Matthews

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