Carey Faughs hed their annual awards dinner in the Marine Hotel on Saturday night when the main celebrations focused on the club winning the Division 2 title this season an subsequet promtion to next season’s Division 1
County secretary Frankie Quinn travelled down to Carey on Wednesday evening to present the division 2 Hurling League trophy to the Faughs team. The home team were to have played Creggan in a game Carey needed to win to get over the line, but with Creggan beginning the defence of their county senior football title on Sunday, which involves half the hurling team, they were unable to field.
 Nonetheless it as a night of celebration for the Carey club. After winning last season’s Intermediate Hurling Championship John McVeigh and his team set out at the start of the season to win promotion to the top division and now they have achieved that, with 13 wins out of their 16 games
They start the club’s first SHC campaign in many years when they travel to Belfast on August 6th to take on Rossa at Rossa Park, a historic game for the club.
In the meantime the young members of the club came along to celebrate the league success and have their photo taken with the league trophy. Sean Paul McKillop went along for the Saffron Gael to capture the celebrations
ACHL Division Two
Saturday 23rd July
Report by Niall Kelly
Glenariffe Oisin 1-11 Kickhams Creggan 3-19
A polished performance in the ‘Queen of the Glens’ from Creggan saw them emerge victorious in their penultimate league fixture at the expense of Glenariffe. Despite starting well, the hosts were powerless to halt the fluidity and prowess of the Creggan attack. A flurry of points and a goal apiece indicated that this one could well be a tight affair. However, after edging ahead on the tenth minute, the visitors would refuse to relinquish the lead and a dominant second half performance limited their hosts to only 3 points in the final thirty.
The game burst into life with two goals in the opening five minutes. Oisin’s Michael Gettens pounced on the Creggan defence as they tried to work their way out from the back and slotted the ball through for full forward Alex O’Boyle who finished to the net emphatically. O’Boyle was on hand to add to his tally, splitting the posts from range and Odhran Gillan added another in response to Ruairi McCann getting his team off the mark. Creggan began to shake the cobwebs off and responded with a goal of their own. After firing a point over from close range, Conor McCann was alert to dispossess the Glenariffe defence from the resulting puc out and fired the ball in from close range to level proceedings.
McCann (2) and Donal Kearney exchanged points before Creggan began to turn the screw as they took a stranglehold of affairs. Ruairi McCann was dictating things in midfield and was the fulcrum of attacks. His drilled ball through set through Sean Duffin who unleashed a thundering effort on goal only for Seanan McToal to deny him with an outstanding save. McToal however was powerless to stop the onrushing Morgan Nelson from drilling in the rebound off the ground low into the opposite corner.
A pointed free from Alex O’Boyle decreased the gap to three as the teams went tit for tat in an exchange of well despatched points with the pick of the bunch from Oisin’s midfield maestro Michael O’Boyle who pointed two superb efforts from range after selling a few delicious feints in the process. However, as the half approached its end, Creggan dealt a hammer blow to their opponents to which they never seemed to recover. Tenacious work from Tiarnan McLarnon paved the way for Morgan Nelson to expertly finish his second goal of the game just before the referee’s whistle to leave the score 1-08 to 3-09 in favour of the visitors.
The hosts had an uphill battle in the second half and couldn’t muster the same intensity and resilience as the first. Limited to only three points, they struggled to establish any rhythm and weren’t helped by the imperious form of the talismanic Conor McCann. It was McCann who got the scoring underway in the second half before firing over another with some dogged work. Alex O’Boyle respond with another accurately finished placed ball and after a slight injury delay, substitute Ron McDonnell made an instant impact firing over seconds after being introduced.
But Glenariffe would only register one more point, scored through the trusted hurl of O’Boyle, and Creggan began to seamlessly transition through the gears. The full complement of their forwards managed to get on the score sheet and the interplay between them will no doubt have pleased their management going into Championship. Oran and Ruairi McCann split the posts twice with Diarmuid Mulholland, Kevin Rice, Liam McCann and Aiden McKeown also opening their accounts. Conor McCann was typically in on the act as well adding to his tally as the half drew to a close.
I don’t think too many will argue that Creggan were worthy winners today. Nevertheless, with both teams having not much to play for in Division 2A, we shouldn’t focus too much on the result. It will certainly be interesting to see how both sides’ fortunes pan out in the upcoming Intermediate Championship. Both teams have been drawn in the same group and perhaps neither management team wished to play their hand too much with regard possible tactical tweaks and positional changes.
Also, a speedy recovery to Glenariffe’s number ten today, Shane O’Connor who suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder. Here’s hoping he’s back and at it for the curtain raiser against Sarsfields in a few weeks’ time.
Teams:
Glenariffe:
S McToal, M Haughey, N Murray, Daniel Kearney; Donal Kearney (0-01,) C Patterson, C Black; M O’Boyle (0-02,) O Kearney; S O’Connor, M Gettens, O Gillan (0-01;) C Farrell, A O’Boyle (1-05,) B O’Boyle (0-01)
Creggan:
B Prenter; D McCann, T McCann, J McAteer; A McKeown (0-01,) L McCann (0-01,) T McLarnon; K McCann, R McCann (0-02;) M Nelson (2-00) O McCann (0-02,) K Rice (0-02;) S Duffin (0-01,) C McCann (1-09,) D Mulholland (0-01)
On 13th July, St Galls welcomed Eoghan Ruadh Dungannon to Milltown for an ACHL div 2 game. This was the Tyrone men’s 1st game back since the untimely death of their Senior hurling icon Damian Casey (RIP).
St Galls Senior Hurling Panel and Management decided to do a collection among themselves in memory of Damian for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.
The collection was handed over by St Galls captain Jack Hopkins to Eoghan Ruadh players Padraig and Aodhan McHugh.
Before referee Brendan Toland threw the ball in, both teams, their respective management teams and the supporters in attendance paid their respects for Damian with an impeccably observed minutes silence.
Everyone from Naomh Gall wish Eoghan Ruadh Dungannon well for the rest of the season and ask that if anyone can, please support the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust with a donation as you never know when they may be needed.
The game itself was a great conest which the Tyrone men won by a single point on a scoreline of 0-18 to 2-11
Antrim All County Hurling League Division 2
Oisins 2-14 Carey Faughs 0-21
An injury time point by Fiachra McVeigh saw Carey Faughs snatch a late victory over Glenariffe on Wednesday evening in Waterfoot to keep his team’s promotion hopes alive. Five minutes from the end of normal time it appeared the Faughs’ hopes of victory were slipping away as the home team led by three points. However the Carey men kept plugging away and unanswered points from Conor McBride (2), and Conlith McKinley brought them level before McVeigh sealed the win with late score.
With both teams fielding without a host of regulars, due to injuries and holiday’s, the Oisins (whose full forward line had a combined age of 109) started strongly and a point from Alex O’Boyle and an early goal from Paul McDonnell put them four clear. With Conor McBride showing great accuracy from frees, and play, the Carey men hit eight of the next ten scores, six of them from Conor and one each from Daniel Martin and Colm McBride to open up a two point lead by the 19th minutes, but Glenariffe came back with five in a row through Alex McDonnell, Donall Kearney, Oliver Kearney and Seanan McToal.
McBride and O’Boye exchanged a couple of points each but the Oisin finished the half with a flourish and a goal from 42 year old Dan McKillop helped them to a 2-11 to 0-11 lead at the break.
The early minutes of the second half saw the Oisins maintain that six point gap, and when Alex O’Bpyle extended that to seven in the 38th minute it looked good for the home side. However they would raise just one more flag in the remaining 22 minutes of normal play as Carey started to chip away that the lead. McBride’s accuracy from placed balls was vital as he hit the next four without reply, three of them from frees. Alex O’Boyle ended a 13 minute scoreless spell for Glenariffe when he split the posts from a free to give his team a three point lead.
The home team were still three to the good with just four minutes to play as McBride missed two frees he would normally put over with ease, but he sorted out his radar to hit the target with his next two to cut the deficit to a single point. When Conlith McKinley brought the Faughs back on terms a minute into injury time it appeared the teams would share the points, but there was still time for a winner and after three Oisins players fluffed the lines, Fiachra McVeigh kept his cool to hit the target and send his team home with the points.
