ACHL Division 3

Rasharkin 2-17 Cushendall 2^nd’s 2-9

A Donagh Quigg and Conor McKeever inspired Rasharkin got their ACHL Division 3 campaign up and running when they proved too good for Cushendall’s second string at a breezy Dreen on Sunday past.

The Blue and Amber Hoops didn’t have it all their own way against a Ruairi Ogs outfit led by experience campaigners, Chrissy McNaughton and Ciaran Neeson but in the end were worthy 8 point winners.

Quigg once again impressed for the men from Dreen and finished with 1-5 to his credit while full-forward McKeever was equally efficient, both from placed balls and from play.

McKeever converted five frees over the hour and added two more from play as the home side were always able to respond to whatever the visitors could throw at them and the Rasharkin management will be well pleased by their side’s overall performance.

Conor McKillop finished with 1-2 to his name for St. Mary’s while the hard working Brian Og O’Neill contributed 0-2 and their other score came from Tiernan O’Boyle.

Conor McKeever and Donagh Quigg who were prominent in Rasharkin’s win over Ruairi Og on Sunday

Ciaran Neeson contributed 1-2 for Ruairi Og while their other goal came from the man on the other corner, Cahir McCambridge. The visitors had a good spread of point scorers with Chrissy McNaughton 0-3, Fintan McKillop, Frankie McCormick and Paddy Sharpe all on target.

Rasharkin: 1 Liam Tunney, 2 Jason McGregor, 3 Aidan McKeever, 4 Daniel Hasson, 5 Connor Higgins, 6 Tiernan O’Boyle, 7 Connaire Donaghy, 8 Conan McMullan, 9 Ruairi O’Boyle, 10 Brian Og O’Neill, 11 Donagh Quigg, 12 Conor McFerran, 13 Conor McKillop, 14 Conor McKeever, 15 John Kelly

Ruairi Og: 1 Shane Coulter, 2 Killian McNaughton, 3 Daire Mort, 4 Michael Quinn, 5 Diarmuid McManus, 6 Aodhan Campbell, 7 Alex McCambridge, 8 Paddy Sharpe, 9 Fintan McKillop, 10 Matthew McCann, 11 Christy McNaughton, 12 Ryan McAuley, 13 Cahir McCambridge, 14 Frankie McCormick, 15 Ciaran Neeson

Referee: Ryan O’Reilly

Antrim Hurling League Division 3:

Michael Davitt’s 0-10 | Con Magees Glenravel 1-21

Con Magees Glenravel made the 40-mile journey to West Belfast’s Davitt Park well worth the trip, bringing home the two points after a dominant second-half display against Michael Davitt’s. While the first half was a tightly contested, point-for-point battle, the visitors found another gear after the break with the strong wind at their backs to secure a comprehensive 1-21 to 0-10 victory in Division 3 of the Antrim Hurling League.

The game started with high intensity, with Davitt’s drawing first blood through a point just two minutes in. Con Magees responded swiftly via Conor Laverty , before Davitt’s retook the lead thanks to a well-struck 40-meter point from Caoimhin Rainey and the 6th minute, Davitt’s Stephen Thompson had extended their lead.

Glenravel’s Joseph McKay quickly made his presence felt, knocking over consecutive points in the 9th and 12th minutes to reel the hosts back in before Conleth O’Loan found his rhythm for Con Magees, slotting three points in a rapid four-minute spell (including two frees) to swing the momentum.

However, the final ten minutes of the half belonged to Davitt’s Christopher Gallagher. Operating with pinpoint accuracy, Gallagher launched an aerial assault, scoring four massive long-range points between the 20th and 29th minutes—including one from a ’65. Just before the whistle, Darragh Donaghy managed to scrape a crucial equalizer for Con Magees, leaving the sides deadlocked at the interval.

The visitors came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. Joseph McKay hit an early free, though Davitt’s managed to stay in the fight with points from Cormac Maguire and Sean Og Smyth to keep the margins tight.

The turning point came around the 10-minute mark. Following a score from Fergus Donaghy Conleth O’Loan found the back of the net for the only goal of the game, breaking Davitt’s resistance.

From that moment, Con Magees dictated the terms. Fergus Donaghy immediately followed up the goal with another point, sparking an unrelenting scoring streak. Rian Lennon and Joseph McKay kept the scoreboard ticking, while Niall McKeown added his name to the scoresheet with a pair of well-taken points. Davitt’s scoring dried up completely in the final quarter as Glenravel’s attack pulled away, eventually sealing a commanding 14-point win.

Michael Davitt’s (Micheál Mac Daibhéid)

1. Gearoid Mac Oscar (Gearoid Cosgrove)
2. Peter Carleton
3. Tomás Ó Tuathaláin (Thomas Toland)
4. Michael Og O’Caorthanainn (Michael Og Rowntree)
5. Oskar Deevy Persson
6. Deagian Ó Maonaigh (Deagian Mooney)
7. Criostóir Ó Gallchobhair (Christopher Gallagher)
8. Stephen Mag Uidhrin (Stephen McGivern)
9. Cormac Mag Uidhir (Cormac Maguire)
10. Caoimhin Ó Rálne (Caoimhin Rainey)
11. Colm McKee
12. Stiofán Mac Tomáis (Stephen Thompson)
13. Pádraig Ó Fhinin (Padraig Keenan)
14. Sean Ó Ceallaigh
15. Seán Mac Gabhann (Sean Og Smyth)

Con Magees Glenravel (Conn Mag Aoidh)

1. Rónán Ó Donnghaile (Ronan Donnelly)
2. Stiofán Mac Aiclin (Stephen Atcheson)
3. James Duffin
4. Oisín MacEoghan (Oisin McKeown)
5. Harry Fyfe
6. Rian Lennon
7. Caolán Lennon
8. Fergus Donaghy
9. Céagán McAuley
10. Luke Loughlin
11. Ciarán Ó Laibheartaigh (Ciaran Laverty)
12. Darach Mac Donnchaidh (Darragh Donaghy)
13. Conchubhar Ó Laibheartaigh (Conor Laverty)
14. Connlaodh Oluain (Conleth O’Loan)
15. Joseph McKay

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ACHL Division Three 

Gort na Mona 0-12-0-8 Lámh Dhearg 

Kevin Herron reports from Enright Park 

Gort na Mona got their Division Three campaign up and running with a 0-12-0-8 win over Lámh Dhearg at a windswept Enright Park on Sunday afternoon. 

Any chance of a free-flowing hurling encounter taking place were dealt a blow by the blustery conditions on the foot of Black Mountain. 

The hosts were dominant in the opening stages and raced into a 0-4 lead with Dessie McClean converting two early frees in the space of 60-seconds, dropping over an angled score from play and Darron Boyd adding a further score inside of five-minutes. 

It took Lámh Dhearg 12-minutes to open their account, Daniel Mulholland was fouled and Adam Murray conveyed the resulting free to get his side up and running. 

Just after the midway point in the half, Gort na Mona conjured up three further scores without reply to extend their advantage. 

Darron Boyd swept a pass into the path of Neil Henry to pop over, McClean landed his second from play and registered a further free to make it 0-7-0-1. 

In response, Adam Murray clipped over an angled free, he then played a role in the next score with a slipped pass to Conor McConville to in turn find Daniel Mulholland to swing over a point, and Murray landed his third score from the placed ball to half the deficit at the interval. 

Gort na Mona should have found the net twice within the opening five minutes of the restart. The first opportunity came when talisman McClean got out in front to claim a fine pass and his close range shot was parried by Paddy Joe Herron in the Lámhs goal.

McClean dropped the resulting 65’ over and a few minutes later a fine passing move saw Ruairi O’Scollian through on goal, his low shot was somehow kept out by Herron and the loose ball was flicked wide. 

They instead had to settle for a O’Scollian point a few minutes later, with Conor McConville jnr replying and getting the Lámhs first score of the half. 

The hosts pressed ahead and McClean added another two frees to his increasing tally to make it 0-11-0-5 with a quarter of an hour remaining. 

Donal Martin dropped a high shot over and Daniel Mulholland doubled his account for the afternoon in his senior debut to ensure their side kept in touch with 10-minutes remaining. 

They were unable to make any further inroads in the remaining minutes however as free-takers McClean and Murray traded a further score before the afternoon was out and Gort na Mona ran out 0-12-0-8 winners at the conclusion. 

GORT NA MONA: C McCrory, C Connolly, M Rea, C Scullion, C McCusker, R McKenna, N Gibson, N Henry (0-1), P McCaffrey, T McCaffrey, M McMullan, T O’Cadhlaigh, R O’Scollian (0-1), D McClean (0-9, 0-1 65’, 0-6f), D Boyd (0-1). SUBS: D Hughes for C McCusker (38), MJ Austin for T O’Cadhlaigh (51). 

LÁMH DHEARG: PJ Herron, A Ferris, A McGuigan, F Clenaghan, SP GIbson, O Waldron, T McKenna, C Boyd, D Mulholland (0-2), C McConville (0-1), M McGarry, D Murray, A Perry, A Murray (0-4f), D Martin (0-1). SUBS: C Megraw for D Murray (12), O Kane for A Perry (43). 

REFEREE: Chris Brown (NAOMH POL)

Antrim Hurling League Division 3

Ballycastle 2nds 2-17 Dunloy 2nds 1-14

Ballycastle reserves wrapped up the Division 3 Hurling League title when they beat their nearest challengers Dunloy in Wednesday evening’s game at Pairc MacUillin. The win puts them two clear of the Cuchullains with both teams having one game each still to play. If the McQuillan’s men were to lose their final game against Gort na Móna and Dunloy win their the following week then they would be level on points, but Ballycastle would come out on top on the head to head between the two.

Despite falling behind to an early Gabriel McTaggart goal Ballycastle bounced back with three on the trot from James Bakewell, Lorcan Donnelly and Cathal Conor to draw level before Anthony Mullan gave them the lead with a well taken goal. Oisin McCamphill, who was to be the outstanding player on the night, pulled one back with his first point of the game, but Ballycastle were on top and a point from a Croisti McAuley  free was followed by a Lorcan Donnelly goal, following a long delivery from inside his own half by Oisin McAuley.

The rest of the half became a bit of a shoot-out between McAuley and McCallin, McAuley hitting four of his team seven points and McCallin hitting all seven for his side, in a superb display. However the most significant moment of the half came five minutes from time McCallin got in behind the Ballycastle defence and appeared to have a clear run on goal. However just as the left half forward was about to ‘pull the trigger’ Ballycastle full back Cormac Donnelly somehow managed to block the shot to deny what looked a certain goal.

McCallin ( who was to end the night on 12 points) got the first score of the second half to cut the gap back to four, but that was as close as they would get and three in a row from McAuley, Oisin Donnelly and Niall McClean pushed the lead out to seven. That was the biggest it was to be and each time McCallin reduced the gap McAuley was there to claw back the deficit. The deficit was down to just four with time almost up but late points from Croisti McAuley and substitute Conor Donnelly sealed the win for the Town.

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Antrim Hurling League Division 3

Armoy 2-22 Glenravel 2-14

If ever there was a game of two halves – this was it. Trailing by thirteen points at half time Glenravel came out a different team second half and closed the gap to two points but in the closing minutes the home side recorded a goal and three unanswered points to leave a comfortable enough gap of eight points in the end.

The first half was all one way traffic as Armoy were able to find there men with ease and with Tarlach McBride in hot form from placed balls they cruised to a half time lead of 1-15 to 0-05. Sean McKay being chief marksman for the visitors.

For the second half, Glenravel put Conleth O’Loan and Cormac McKeown in on the edge of the square and they certainly made good use of the space. In the opening minute of the second half Conleth had the sliothar in the net and the same player followed with two well taken points in quick succession before netting another major. That made 2-02 from O’Loan in the opening four minutes of the second half to reduce the gap to five points and the visitors well on top. Further points from Sean McKay, Declan Traynor, Fergus Donaghy, Cormac McKeown and Conleth O’Loan kept Glenravel within striking distance as their opponents could only manage scores from ace free taker McBride who recorded four in total. So with ten minutes remaining Armoy led by two points, 1-19 to 2-14. Then came the defining moment of the game when a long range effort from Armoy ended up in the net along with Glenravel keeper Chris Quinn That score knocked the stuffing out of the visitors and Armoy would go on to score three further points in the closing minutes and end up victorious by eight points

Glenravel will look back on this game and wonder what might have been had they got out of the traps a little quicker in the opening half and Armoy will just be glad to have got over the line when an upset certainly seemed on the cards. The win keeps Glen Rovers joint top on 11 points, though with an inferior points difference than both Dunloy and Ballycastle.

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