Antrim Hurling League Division 1

Loughgiel 0-19 Cushendall 1-19

Five minutes before the end of Sunday’s Antrim Hurling League Division 1 game in Fr Healy Park Loughgiel appeared to have the points wrapped up, as they led by five points. However the home team failed to raise another flag in the five minutes, plus injury time, that remained and Cushendall slowly but surely clawed their way back. A Ryan McCambridge point two minutes into injury time tied the scores up at 0-19 apiece and it appeared the points would be shared, but there was still time for a winner and substitute Niall Cormick snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when he fired home the only goal of the game.

Loughgiel had started the game well and were 0-4 to 0-0 ahead after si minutes as Michael McGarry, Maol Connolly (2) and ‘Bickey’ McGarry fired over.

Mark Donaghy got Cushendall on the board by the seventh minute but Eddie McCloskey and Donal McKinley pointed for the Shamrocks to put them 0-6 to 0-1 clear. By the quarter hour mark it was 0-8 to 0-2 but five in a row from the visitors through Eoghan Cambell, Andrew Delargy, Paddy Burke, Scott Walsh and Fred McCurry cut the gap to a single point, before Eddie McCloskey came back with one in first half injury time to give the Shamrocks a two point cushion at the short whistle

Points from Eoghan Campbell and Paddy Burke in the first two minutes of the second half put Cushendall ahead for the first time, but the Shamrocks responded well and three from Eddie McCloskey and two from Maol Connolly swung the game back the home side’s favour.

Loughgiel held that lead for the next fifteen minutes and when they went five clear with the finish line in sight the smart money would have been on them. However when their back were to the wall the Ruairis showed their experience and points from Ryan Cambridge (2), Fred McCurry, Scott Walsh and Paddy Burke brought them level before Niall McCormick delivered the killer blow.  

Antrim Hurling League Division 1

St John’s 1-10 Cushendall 3-20

Cushendall travelled to Corrigan Park on Sunday and beat St John’s in Division 1 of the Antrim Hurling League. Leading by 2-6 to 0-4 at half time the Ruairis pushed on in the second half to win convincingly.

St John’s started with a Domhnal Nugent point but Cushendall were soon ahead as Dominic Delargy levelled soon afterwards, and they went ahead when full forward Sean McAfee got his team’s opening goal. Points from Michael Bradley and Dannan McKeough kept St John’s in touch but a goal and three points without reply pulled Cushendall clear, the goal coming from Cormac McClafferty after a fumble by the Johnnies goalkeeper.

2-6 to 0-4 ahead at half time there was no stopping the Cushendall men and two points from Scott Walsh, one from distance from Eoghan Campbell, and a second goal from Sean McAfee meant there was no way back for the Corrigan Park men.

An Aaron Bradley goal gave the home side some hope and he and big brother Michael kept battling away at midfield, adding four scores between them, but Cushendall were in fine form and two from Scott Walsh, two from Paddy Burke and one apiece from Mark Donaghy, Sean McAfee, Seamus McNaughton and Eoghan Campbell had them 16 clear by the end.

ST JOHN’S

Colum McFall, Odhran Carleton, Conal Bohill,  Louis Boyd, CJ McKenna, Padraig Nugent, Ciaran Johnston, Michael Bradley, Aaron Bradley, Michael Dudley, Domhnal Nugent, Dannan McKeough, David Robinson, Ruairi Galbraith, Luke Loughlin.

CUSHENDALL

Eoin Gillan, Liam Gillan, Aaron Graffin, Martin Burke, Mark Donaghy, Eoghan Campbell, Ronan McAteer, Scott Walsh, Fergus McCambridge, Dominic Delargy, Scott Walsh, Andrew Delargy, Fred McCurry, Sean McAfee, Cormac McClafferty.

Referee – Patrick Tumelty (Lamh Dhearg)

ACHL Division 1

Rossa 2-16 Ballycastle 0-19

Pics by Bert Trowlen

Goals from James Connolly midway through the opening half and another from Stephen Beatty 10 minutes into the second proved the deciding scores as Rossa overcame the considerable challenge of McQuillan’s Ballycastle at Shaw’s Road last night.

The home side led by a goal at half time, 1-10 to 0-10 but were pushed all the way in a tight contest but the visitors could not conjure up the goal that might have swung the balance of play in their favour.

Rossa led 0-3 to 0-1 after 8 minutes through Dara Rocks, Aodhan O’Brien and Seaghan Shannon from a long range effort and Ciaran Clarke replying from a free for the visitors. Ballycastle replied and Oisin McAuley and Ronan McAuley pointed but Rossa held the upper hand at this stage with Dara Rocks and Aodhan O’Brien replying with points for the home side.

Connolly then rose to flick a long delivery to the Ballycastle net and O’Brien followed with a great long range point as the home side appeared to be gaining control but the visitors came back strongly in the second quarter with Ciaran Clarke and Eoin McAlonan points at the other end.

Aodhan O’Brien responded with a point from a ‘65’ for the Shaw’s Road side but the ‘Castle’ finished the half strongly with Clarke, Ronan Laverty, Joe McToal and Tiernan Smyth to the fore and Seaghan Shannon and Thomas Morgan replying for Rossa to leave Connolly’s goal separating the sides at half time.

It was Ballycastle who were first on target at the start of the second half with Ciaran Clarke pointing but Dara Rocks replied immediately for the home side to keep their noses in front. McQuillan’s were starting to get a grip on proceedings however and they hit the next three points through Joe McToal Eoin McAlonan and a well struck long range free from Clarke to draw level and the momentum appeared to be swinging their way.

They suffered a severe blow however when a mistake in defence let Stephen Beatty in for Rossa’s second goal and it was this score that settled the home side and they were always able to keep a distance between the sides though the North Antrim side kept battling all the way to the whistle.

Feargal McKiernan, Ciaran Clarke 0-3 and Tiarnan Butler added points for the visitors, Clarke’s final score a massive point from inside his own half but Aodhan O’Brien 0-3 and Shannon kept the scoreboard ticking over for the home side to see them home with three to spare.

Rossa: 1 Donal Armstrong, 2 Conor Boyle, 3 Christopher McGuinness, 4 Niall Devlin, 5 Stephen Shannon, 6 Adrian Kennealy, 7 Eoin Trainor, 8 Ciaran Orchin, 9 Seaghan Shannon, 10 Dara Rocks, 11 Stephen Beatty, 12 Aodhan O’Brien, 13 Thomas Morgan, 14 James Connolly, 16 Phil Crean

Ballycastle: 1 Chris McAuley, 2 Oran Kearney, 3 Neal McAuley, 4 Dermot Donnelly, 5 Ciaran McKeague, 6 Conor Boyd, 7 Matthew Donnelly, 8 Ronan Laverty, 9 Ciaran Clarke, 10 Joe McToal, 11 Ciaran Butler, 12 Eoin McAlonan, 13 Tiernan Smyth, 14 Oisin McAuley, 15 Feargal McKiernan.

Referee: Kevin Park Parke (St. |Enda’s)

Antrim Hurling League Division 1

McQuillan, Ballycastle 2-19 Ballygalget 0-12

As so often Ciaran Clarke’s precise accuracy from a dead ball proved vital for the Town. With the wind assisting Ballygalget in the first half, this had all the hallmarks of a closely fought encounter, It was point for point for large parts of the first half ,the sides being level on four occasions, however a strong second half performance from the Town saw them run out with a well-deserved 13 point win.

Ciaran Clarke opened proceedings with a pointed free but the Down side were to respond with two points before James McLister levelled things up.

Points apiece from the wing three quarter men Seamus McAuley and Joe McToal, were answered by similar scores at the other end, before a Ciaran McKeague clearance found James McLister for the full forwards second point of the game.

Four further Ciaran Clarke points and a brace from Feargal McKiernan would round off the first half scoring for the Town, and at half-time the home side were more than happy to turnaround with a two point advantage 0-11 to 0-9.

Ballygalget opened the second half with two points but would only add another single point in the remainder of the half which would also see them seen them reduced to 14 men.

Ciaran Clarke knocked over a free before Conor Boyd picked out Seamus McAuley with a sublime pass to help re-establish the two-point advantage.

The award and conversion of a penalty finished the game as a contest as Ciaran Clarke rifled the sliothar low to the keeper’s right.  The goal tally was to double minutes later, when Seamus McAuley was on the end of a neat passing move involving Oisin McAuley and Ciaran Clarke to find the top corner of the net.

Further points from Clarke, McKiernan and Smyth would round off a good scoring day for the home side, but injuries to James McLister (concussion) and Seamus McAuley (broken wrist) would cast a cloud for the Ballycastle camp.

McQuillan: Críostaí McAuley, Jack McGowan, Neal McAuley, Dermot Donnelly, Ciaran McKeague, Conor Boyd, Matthew Donnelly, Ronan McCarry, Ronan Laverty , Seamus McAuley (1-3), James McLister (0-2), Joe McToal (0-1), Tiarnan Smyth (0-1), Feargal McKiernan (0-3), Ciaran Clarke (1-9 (1-0 pen 0-8 f).

Subs used: Oisín McAuley, Lorcan Donnelly, James Bakewell, Oran Kearney, Michael Dallat.

Antrim Hurling League – Division 1

Cushendall: 0-16 Rossa: 0-16

Cushendall and Rossa shared the points in Sunday’s All County Hurling League game at Paric Mhuir. For Rossa it was their first game back with their county players on board, while Cushendall had use of their county players for the second time, having played St Enda’s in a rearranged game on Wednesday evening.

Cushendall were on top during the first half and led by five at the break, but after the change of ends Rossa were much stronger, and with the wind at their backs they had much the better of things, and it took a point from Paddy Burke deep in injury time to earn the Ruairis a share of the points.

Two Paddy McGill points gave Cushendall an early lead but Rossa were level by the sixth minute as Stephen Beattie and James Connolly found the target at the other end for Rossa. Scott Walsh and Paddy Burke put the Ruairis two ahead again, and though Thomas Morgan cut the Rossa deficit to a single point, three in a row from Mark Donaghy, Dominic Delargy and Fred McIntyre gave Cushendall a four point cushion.

James Connolly pointed a free for Rossa to cut it back to three, but two more from McGill, one from play and one from a 65, had the home team five to the good by the 17^th minute. The scoring dried up a bit during the second quarter with only Connolly and McGill getting on the scoreboard with two points apiece, Connolly cutting it back to three with points in the 19^th and 21^st minutes, while McGill hit back with two for Cushendall to give them a 0-11 to 0-6 half time lead.

If Cushendall thought they were in control of the match they soon found out different as Rossa wiped out the deficit and went ahead with six points in a row all of them from play. Denis Rocks started the run, Gerard Walsh, Stephen Beaty, Stephen Shannon and Beaty again to draw level before James Connolly put them in front in the 40^th minute. Scott Walsh brought the home team level, but Walsh and Connolly put Rossa ahead again by the 45^th minute.

Two points by McGill in the 47^th and 51^st minute. It stayed that way as they game entered injury time, and when Michael Armstrong and Denis Rocks fired over points from play in the 62^nd minute it looked like the points were on their way to Shaw’s Road, until Paddy Burke’s late point earned Cushendall a share of the spoils.