Antrim ACHL Division 1 – May 19th, 2024

Ballycastle 5-18 Loughgiel 2-25

Match report and photos – Michael Corcoran

Under a clear blue sky with temperatures heading towards 20°C, Páirc Mhic Uilín was a fitting venue for today’s ACHL league game between Ballycastle and Loughgiel. Spectators would witness a game of two halves as the Shamrock’s forged a lead in the first half from a considerable work rate, but Ballycastle had other ideas in the second half and their persistence would yield a clutch of goals that would halt Loughgiel in their tracks.

Lámh Dhearg’s Patrick Tumelty got proceedings underway and a very early attempt to point from Loughgiel’s Declan McCloskey would float wide, but the half back would soon make amends with an offload to Seamus Dobbin, subsequently passing to Eoin McGarry for the first point of the game.

The Shamrock’s took charge of the first fifteen minutes and consolidated six points before Christie McGarry struck at the heart of Ballycastle’s net, drilling the sliotar under the body of the keeper, giving Ryan McGarry little chance of a save.

Ballycastle had early chances but drifted three of these wide of the uprights. Loughgiel’s Caolan Blair rolled a pacey sliotar up onto his stick and offloaded to a calling Paul Boyle, who pointed the Shamrock’s ninth point of the game before Ballycastle’s Seamus McAuley pointed from winning a Loughgiel puck out. This would put ‘the Town’ in motion and after a series of back-to-back frees awarded from a high stick and tackles deemed heavy by referee Tumelty, Ballycastle slotted those over the bar to roll up another four points on the scoreboard, Ballycastle 0-05 Loughgiel 1-12.

The Town’s fortune would continue to change as Ronan McGarry picked up the sliotar around the 65m mark and from a solo run, found the back of Cormac McFadden’s net.

Loughgiel’s Christie McGarry would enter a very productive spell, slotting two frees, one from a slap on Jack McCloskey’s hand and the other a push on McGarry’s back. McGarry wasn’t finished there, surrounded by Ballycastle defenders as he advanced towards the goals, he made a long hand pass to McCloskey running towards Keeper McGarry’s domain, and McCloskey drilled the sliotar beyond a save and Loughgiel took their second goal.

Both sides would take the game up to the short whistle, with two frees going to Ballycastle, both successfully pointed by Neal McAuley and Lorcan Donnelly before Loughgiel’s Tiago McGarry intercepted a Ballycastle pass and pointed, then Dan McCloskey won a ball from a ruck, spotting and passing to Declan McCloskey who finished the first half with that point. Scores stood at Ballycastle 1-10 Loughgiel 2-17.

Loughgiel’s first half work rate and success in winning Ballycastle puck outs set the Shamrock’s up as favourites for the match, but the lads from the Town had other plans.

Minutes had only passed in the second half when a high ball into Loughgiel’s goal mouth was saved by keeper McFadden, but an alert James McShane rushed in and buried the sliotar into the back of the net. This second goal was met with indifference amongst the Town supporters who had not yet felt a change in the tide as Loughgiel continued to point from two more frees and two points from play from Maol Connelly.

Jack McCloskey would be the recipient of a deep pass into the forward line as Loughgiel turned around a Ballycastle attack. McCloskey wasted little time finding the uprights for a point that brought a roar amongst the Shamrock supporters.

Ballycastle would find new energy from three consecutive points, one came from a free as Loughgiel’s Dan McCloskey was boxed in for an over-carry and two from play before Lorcan Donnelly found Loughgiel’s net and now the Town supporters dared to hope. With a scoreline of Ballycastle 3-14 Loughgiel 2-22, the Shamrock’s didn’t panic with a five-point lead.

Both sides nudged up the score line three points apiece, but it was Christy McGarry’s towering point received from Declan McCloskey that got the Loughgiel supporters excited.

Ballycastle’s Ciaran Butler would put the cat amongst the pigeons with a fourth goal that seemed to come out of nowhere but again the Shamrock’s held their composure with a two-point lead and only a few minutes left on the clock.

Fortune struck the Town when Neal McAuley rolled the sliotar up onto the stick from a loose ball around the 20m mark and opted to drop the sliotar low and hard, just above the defender’s heads but with enough velocity to find the underside of Loughgiel’s bar for Ballycastle’s fifth and match winning goal.

Ballycastle’s Tiernan Smyth pointed in the dying seconds and put the match beyond saving for the Shamrock’s as Tumelty’s long whistle closed today’s proceedings, Ballycastle 5-18 Loughgiel 2-25.

Photo Album for today’s match can be found here…

https://myalbum.com/album/eHD9YUYAeEa7mR/?invite=62585cb1-b4a1-4c53-aa14-a28da2ccb0c3

Antrim ACHL Division 1 League

Loughgiel v St. Enda’s May 12^th 2024 at Fr Healy Park

Match report and photos by Michael Corcoran

St. Enda’s entered today’s game, one point ahead of Loughgiel in the ACHL league table, though the Shamrock’s have a match in hand against Ballygalget, that match having been postponed due to an unplayable venue in the Ards Peninsula. A win today for St. Enda’s would have secured their position in the table ahead of the Shamrock’s, even if Loughgiel had a win in Mitchell Park on Saturday 25^th May. Arguably, St. Enda’s had more pressure to bear on them for a win tonight.

Colum Cunning from Dunloy got the match underway and St. Enda’s were in a hurry to rattle the scoreboard into action, as Cormac Jennings found a gap to handpass to Luke O’Connor, finishing with a fine high ball over the Loughgiel bar. With a reasonable breeze running from the Lough Road end to the clubhouse, Glengormley’s Joe Maskey was able to launch a long puck from deep in his own half that split the uprights before Loughgiel’s Declan McCloskey replied with an opening point from the first free of the match.

Only minutes had elapsed in the game before St. Enda’s Cian O’Connor received a diagonal ball into the right side of the pitch under the scoreboard. Losing his marker, O’Connor struck hard and lodged St. Enda’s first goal of the evening.

Loughgiel kept tracking St. Enda’s efforts over the bar and after fourteen minutes, scores stood at Loughgiel 0-04 St. Enda’s 1-05.

The point for point status was punctuated when Loughgiel’s Jack McCloskey announced his forward presence and although his own solo attempt would end in a missed 65 opportunity, on his second attempt he was found by Rian McMullan running in from the 20m line. McCloskey fired the ball low but caught the leg of full back Dara Maguire and this was eventually cleared away

Eighteen minutes into the game tempers were fraying and referee Cunning had to issue two yellow cards to restore order. On resumption of play, Rian McMullan picked up where he left off and displaying great skill, took a catch, turn and released for a tidy point and a fifth for the Shamrock’s. Tit for tat scoring would take us to the break with everything to play for in the second half, Loughgiel 0-08 St. Enda’s 1-08.

With the second half underway, the Shamrock’s would have to contend with no advantage from the elements, as the wind dropped to almost nothing. St. Enda’s Ciaran McAllister found himself in a battle for possession and after a testing spell of ground hurling, broke free and delivered over the bar for his own well-made point.

Rian McMullan pulled that back with a searing rocket over Glengormley’s bar before St. Enda’s John McGoldrick rushed into the Shamrock’s danger zone and kicked the sliotar into the net for St. Enda’s second goal, raising hopes along the line of supporters.

St Enda’s would go through a patch of over carrying the ball and Loughgiel made good use of that opportunity to point their way back up the board, Loughgiel 0-13 St. Enda’s 2-10.

Tiago McGarry made a run up the right-hand side of the field just under the ‘Fridge Raiders’ scoreboard but his attempt to point was brilliantly blocked but his tenacity benefited the midfielder and regaining possession, secured a pass to Eoin McGarry who sent the sliotar over the bar.

The Shamrock’s continued to work at closing the gap and after twenty-four minutes, Loughgiel were only one point behind the boys from An Baile Bocht, Glengormley when Loughgiel’s Christy McGarry punctured any hope for St. Enda’s with a sliotar that rippled the roof of the net with less than a minute left on the clock. Referee Cunning would eventually draw the match to a conclusion, Loughgiel 1-18 St. Enda’s 2-12.

The Shamrock’s will now leapfrog St. Enda’s in the league table after tonight’s encounter, though there is still much for both sides to play for at just over the halfway mark.

Scorers for Loughgiel

Declan McCloskey 0-02f, Rian McMullan 0-04, 0-06f, Conall McCloskey 0-01, Maol Connolly 0-01, 0-02f, Cahal Hargan 0-01, Eoin McGarry 0-01, Christy McGarry 1-00

Scorers for St. Enda’s

Luke O’Connor 0-01, Joe Maskey 0-01, 0-01f, Cian O’Connor 1-0, Eoin Conlon 0-01, John McGoldrick 1-0, 0-05f, Cormac Jennings 0-01, Ciaran McAllister 0-02

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ACHL Division 1

St. Enda’s 0-17 Portaferry 0-15

St.Enda’s recorded their third win in five outings when they overcame the challenge of Portaferry in an entertaining encounter at Hightown on Sunday afternoon.

The home side slowly took control during the opening half and went on to lead 0-9 to 0-5 at the interval but were forced to withstand a strong second half comeback from the men from the ‘Ards’.

John McGoldrick led the Naomh Eanna first half assault with three points and Cormac Jennings 0-2, Brendan Cormican 0-2, Ollie Breen and Killian Jennings completed the first half scoring.

Eoghan Sands, Niall Milligan and Caolan Taggart were to the fore for Portaferry and it was clear at the halfway stage that this one was far from over.

After the break the visitors staged a strong come-back but resolute defending by the Glengormley men kept their noses in front and they were always able to break for vital scores.

Eoghan Sands, Niall Milligan, Tom McGrattan, Conor O’Prey and Beaglan Mallon led the Portaferry second half assault but St. Enda’s held their nerve and John McGoldrick added another 0-4 to his first half tally.

Ollie Breen, Luke O’Connor, Cormac Jennings and Joe Maskey all weighed in with vital second half points as St. Enda’s held on for a two point win and their third brace of points in five starts this season.

ACHL Division 1

O’Donovan Rossa v Loughgiel Shamrocks May 5^th, 2024

Rossa 5-15 Loughgiel 2-17

On a day when marathon fever descended on a bustling Belfast city, an on form Rossa side would make Loughgiel run their own marathon in Pairc Rossa as the Shamrocks tried to shake off a depleted squad hit by injury and other engagements.

Although Loughgiel would strike into the heart of Rossa’s goal mouth within seconds of referee Mark O’Neill rolling in the sliotar, Declan McClosky’s high dropping ball would be securely caught by Rossa’s keeper, Conor Rocks but it would be quickly turned around after the puck out, and McCloskey’s second attempt would find the ball net over the bar.

On an overcast day with hardly any breeze, no side would enjoy an advantage from the elements but as Loughgiel inched their way up the scoreboard with a free from Declan McCloskey and two points from Jack McCloskey and Tiago McGarry, Rossa would pull them back with a matching free from Pearce Short and two points in play from Thomas Morgan and Eoin Trainor.

Loughgiel went through a patch of sending the sliotar wide of the mark as they aimed towards the clubhouse end, and had they have been on target, they would have neutralised Rossa’s goal from Trainor as he found the space to deliver a piercing shot from close range.

As the scores stood, Rossa 1-04 Loughgiel 0-04, both sides would settle and trade points in a spell that would see Loughgiel’s Conor O’Mullan take a hard fall to the shoulder area twenty minutes into the game, resulting in a substitution.

Rossa continued to press forward and when Thomas Morgan scooped up the sliotar out wide of the 13 metre line, he managed to cut back towards the goalmouth and sensing the closing shape of Loughgiel’s Caolan Blair, drop kicked the sliotar into the net for a half time scoreline Rossa 2.08 Loughgiel 0-08.

As the second half got underway, Rossa’s Morgan collected a high ball in the Shamrock’s half back line and wasted no time in finding McMenamin who fired past keeper McFadden into the back of the net for first of his back-to-back goals of the game.

Rossa’s Eoghan McMenamin found himself breaking through the Shamrock’s defence after collecting a low pass up onto the stick and had enough space to take a full swing on the sliotar that would find Loughgiel’s net for goal number four. Loughgiel started to mobilise in Rossa’s half and would amass 6 points from a series of careless frees, much to the vocal annoyance of Rossa’s management.

Rossa though would keep their score ticking along with points from Diarmaid Rogan until Eoin Trainor found the underside of Loughgiel’s cross bar and the awkward ricochet left McFadden with no chance, securing Rossa’s fifth and final goal of the game.

In the latter stages of the game, Loughgiel had by now worked out how to penetrate Rossa’s defence and goals from Odhran McFadden and Finn Henry closed the gap but with a three-goal difference as the clock ticked down into injury time, Rossa had the buffer to enjoy a home win in front of a delighted group of supporters in Pairc Rossa. At the final whistle, O’Donovan Rossa would enjoy a 5-15 score to Loughgiel’s 2-17.

O’Donovan Rossa – Starting panel

Conor Rocks, Oisin McVicker, Ciarán Orchin, (0-01) Niall Crossan, Declan McCartney (0-01), Christopher McGuinness, Ben McAuley, Cónall Shannon, Diarmaid Rogan (0-03), Pearce Short (0-01, 1f), Thomas Morgan (1-03), Dara Rocks, Eoghan McMenamin (2-0), Eoin Trainor (2-01), Michael Armstrong (0-04)

Loughgiel Shamrocks – Starting panel

Cormac McFadden, Tiernan Coyle, Caolán Blair, Pearce Patterson, Seamus Dobbin, Declan McCloskey (0-01, 5f), Ruairi McCormick, Tiago McGarry (0-02), Donal McKinley (0-01), Odhran McFadden (1-01), Cahal Hargan (0-02), Conor O’Mullan, Eoin McGarry (3f), Maol Connelly, Jack McCloskey (0-01)

Finn Henry (1-01)

Antrim Hurling League Division 1

Ballycastle 3-24 Ballycran 2-17

Ballycastle got back to winning ways at Pairc MacUilin on Sunday when they beat Ballycran in a high scoring and entertaining game. The home side appeared to have it all wrapped up when they went in at half time with a thirteen point lead, but the men from the Ards came out in the second half and made a real fight of it. When they closed the gap to five midway through the second half there were a few among the home support who were starting to look a little concerned. However the home side steadied the ship with a series of good points and went on to win in the end by ten.

Wearing their change of strips, as is traditional in this fixture between these two who wear the famous black and amber stripes, the opening ten minutes was score for score and they were level on four points apiece Tiernan Smyth catching the eye for the Town and Paul Sheehan for Ballycran. The game looked as if it was going to be a tight affair, but all changed in a five minute spell when Ballycastle grabbed three goals inside five minutes. Seamus McAuley got the first one after breaking through from the half forward line, Neal McAuley go the second, after the Ballycran keeper Stephen Keith had pulled off a great save to deny Tiernan Smyth, and ball broke to Neal McAuley who fired home the rebound. Goal number three came soon afterwards when Smyth broke through again and was fouled in the ‘square’ by Keith and the corner forward drilled the resultant penalty to the net.

Trailing by 0-7 to 3-11 at the start of the second half Ballycran began to make a fight of it just after the restart when the excellent Paul Sheehan fired over a point in the opening minute and when he drove a penalty to the net nine minutes later, a bit of momentum began to build. With the giant Paul Miskimmin now operating on the edge of the Ballycastle square he soon showed there was more to his game than just power as he doubled one handed overhead on a dropping ball and sent it flying between the posts. When Phelim Savage drilled in goal number two and Sheehan added another point the gap was down to just five, and with fifteen minutes left to play the victory did not seem as secure as it had appeared to be at the break.

However Ballycastle started to find the target again and with man of the match Tiernan Smith picking off a variety of scores the gap began to widen again and were good value for the ten point margin that separated the sides in the end.