Last year’s Junior Hurling Champions, St. Mary’s Rasharkin got this year’s division 3 campaign off to a promising start when they proved too good for St. Enda’s second string at Dreen on Sunday.
The South West side put themselves in a commanding position when they led 2-15 to 0-87 at the break, both goals coming from Donagh Quigg.
Quigg would go onto record 2-5 for the evening with free taker, Conor McKeever making a strong contribution as he finished with 1-11 and Conor McKillop 0-9 and Declan McKay 0-2 all on target for a well organised Rasharkin side.
After Last year’s Championship success, the emphasis this year for St. Mary’s will most likely be on promotion to division 2 and on Sunday’s performance they are quite capable of achieving that.
Last year’s captain, Donagh Quigg was again excellent for the men from Dreen with Conor McKeever and Conor McKillop others to catch the eye in a strong Rasharkin side.
RASHARKIN TEAM
Donagh Quigg who scored 2-5 in his side’s win over St. Enda’s and (featured image) Conor McKeever who registered 1-11
Some days you set off to cover a game with no great expectations. Sunday was one of those days but thank God I was appointed to cover Na Magha and Davitt’s at Dunsilly.
Division 3 survival was the prize for the Derry City side – promotion from division 4 was the prize for the men from West Belfast and what an entertaining hour’s hurling these two excellent combatants produced.
Na Magha made the early running at Dunsilly and for 13 minutes of the opening half looked like the side who had been playing their league hurling at a higher level as they sprayed the ball around with great accuracy.
They opened with points from Padhraig Nellis and Deaglan Foley but Davitt’s responded with a pointed free from Donn Whelan and another from play from Jay Maguire to draw level with five minutes gone.
Slowly though the greater accuracy of Na Magha began to tell and they would hit four on the bounce through Keelan Doherty 0-2, Aaron Campbell and a superb effort from Mark McCloskey.
At this stage the Derry side had hit half a dozen wides and it looked like those misses might come back to bite them as a dogged Davitt’s started to deny them space and time as they slowly clawed their way back into the game.
Free specialist, Donn Whelan began the comeback and Jay Maguire followed with another before Alan Grant in the Na Magha goals brought off a good save to deny Anthony Rowntree.
Whelan from another free and Marcas Toner closed the gap to two and the momentum had changed dramatically as Davitt’s began to get on top and a pointed ‘65’ from Whelan and two more from Jay Maguire saw the Falls Road side hit the front by the 24th minute.
Michael Davitt’s were now calling the shots as Grant again came to Na Magha’s rescue with another splendid stop to deny Anthony Rowntree as Na Magha continued to add to their wide count at the other end.
Deaglan Foley finally found the target with the Derry side’s first point in 15 minutes to level the contest but the final score of the half would fall to ace free taker, Whelan who edged his side to a 0-8 to 0-7 lead at half time with a superb effort from 70 yards.
Fifteen seconds into the second half Colm McKee brought a loud roar from the big Davitt’s followers who had made their way to Dunsilly and a Na Magha side who had disappeared looked badly in need of some inspiration.
The excellent Deaglan Foley got them up and running again from a free in the third minute and this score seemed to settle them as points from Mark McCloskey and Ryan Adams saw them retake the lead by the 7th minute.
Donn Whelan brought it level once more as he sent over from play at the other end but Na Magha had found their rhythm again as Padhraig Nellis and Tomas Gallagher split the posts.
Stephen McGivern closed the gap to one again and Foley and Whelan exchanged further points to leave just one in it with ten minutes remaining and it still looked anybody’s game.
The Derry City men found another gear at this stage however with the free taking of Deaglan Foley proving vital as they began to assert control. Foley converted three frees and Padhraig nellis and Keelan Doherty were all on target with Davitt’s only reply coming from a Donn Whelan free as Na Magha moved five ahead with six minutes remaining.
Davitt’s were still battling and Anthony Rowntree pointed before Alan Grant pulled off another good save to deny Cormac Maguire with Ryan Adams and Foley responding with another converted free to put the contest out of reach.
The Belfast men continued to battle to the end and were finally rewarded for their effort when Colm McKee finally found a way past the excellent Alan Grant but it will be Na Magha who will be playing their hurling again in Division 3 of the Antrim league next season while an excellent Davitt’s will reflect on what might have been..
Na Magha: 1 Alan Grant, 2 Odhran Clenaghan, 3 Conor Murphy, 4 Aaron Campbell, 5 Oisin Glass, 6 Daniel Doherty, 7 Mark McCloskey, 8 Padhraig Nellis, 9 Ruaidhri McLaughlin, 10 Adam Cutliffe, 11 Deaglan Foley, 12 Ryan Adams, 31 Keelan Doherty, 14 Timothy Rankin, 15 Tomas Gallagher.
Davitt’s: 1 Gearoid Cosgrove, 2 Jason Park, 3 Thomas Toland, 4 Caoinhin Rainey, 5 Peter Og Carelton, Caoimhin Heaney, 7 Deaglan Mooney, 8 Michael Og Rowntree, 9 Colm McKee, Marcas Toner, 11 Stephen McGivern, 12 Donn Whelan, 13 Jay Maguire, 14 Anthony Rowntree, 15 Christopher Gallagher.
A good win over St. Brigid’s Cloughmills at Dunsilly on Monday night sees Carryduff remain in division 2 of the Antrim ACFL for next season where they will be joined by neighbours and division 3 winners Bredagh.
The county Down men proved as elusive as the numbers they were playing in as they had just too much in the end for a St. Brigid’s side who failed to reach the level that they reached against Bredagh 11 days ago to finish in second place in division 2 and earn the right to a place in this play-off.
It was Carryduff who raced into an early 0-5 to 0-1 lead by the 9th minute with Donal Rooney opening the scoring before Eoin Dobbin replied for the Cloughmills’ side.
Two from Sean O’Callaghan and another two from the impressive Rooney moved the Co Down men four in front before Callum McKendry replied with the ‘Biddies’ second point in the 11th minute.
Carryduff were looking the sharper side with a good first touch and some precise striking as they hit another three on the bounce through James Woods, Conor McAlister and Oran Teague to lead 0-8 to 0-2 by the 20th minute.
McKendry struck his second and St. Brigid’s third point in reply but it brought another response from their opponents with James Lavery and Rory McArdle on target with Eoin Dobbin and Callum McKendry replying for the Antrim side.
It was Carryduff who continued to edge the exchanges however with some crisp, sharp hurling as Conor McAlister, Lorcan Cooney, James Lavery 0-2 and Donal Lavery completing the first half scoring with points for the men in Purple and Stephen Smyth getting a late point for Cloughmills.
Trailing by 9 at the short whistle, the North Antrim side needed a marked improvement if they were to turn this one around and they did start the second half brightly with point from Callum McKendry and Liam Kearns.
Carryduff replied through Donal Rooney and Conor McAlister to keep the gap at 9 and were always able to respond when St. Brigid’s scored.
Smyth had it briefly back to 8 before Rooney and Darragh Goodwin moved the division 2 side 10 clear by the 8th minute as Cloughmills introduced Conor Laverty and Conor Reid in an effort to add some momentum to their challenge.
A pointed free from Liam Kearns and a good point from play from Eoin Dobbin suggested that the substitutions had done just that but once again the County Down side made a decisive reply.
Sean O’Callaghan, James Lavery, Lorcan Cooney and Conor McAlister hit four without reply to put 14 between the sides by the 20th minute and it was going to take a miracle to overturn this lead.
To their credit St. Brigid’s kept battling to the end with Eoin Dobbin pointing before Liam Kearns challenge for a dipping delivery ending in the Carryduff net to put a much better look on the scoreline.
That would be as close as they got with Lorcan Cooney for Carryduff and Callum McKendry for Cloughmills exchanging late points to see the Down men secure division 2 hurling for next season.
It’s been a good season for St. Brigid’s however and they won’t have time to lick their wounds after this defeat as they travel to Feystown on Saturday evening to face high flying Glenarm in the opening game of the Intermediate Hurling Championship
Carryduff: 1 Conor McLornan, 2 Niall McArdle, 3 Conor Cassidy, 4 James Lavery, 5 Oran McMeel, 6 Donal Rooney, 7 Tiarnan McMeel, 8 Ciaran Rodgers, 9 Darragh Goodwin, 10 Ciaran O’Callaghan, 11 Lorcan McAuley, 12 Ciaran Goodwin, 13 Dominic Sharkey, 14 Conor O’Neill, 15 Owen Wyer, 16 Matthew Mooney, 17 Conor McAlister, 18 Michael Conway, 19 Donal Teague, 20 Lorcan Cooney, 22 Sean O’Callaghan, 23 Oran Teague, 24 Fearghal Casey, 25 James Woods, 26 Christopher McConville, 27 Rory McArdle, 28 Liam Lavery, 29 David Morrisey
St. Brigid’s: 1 Christopher McKernan, 2 Rian Dobbin, 3 Sean McKendry, 4 Johnny Duffin, 5 James Doherty, 6 Ruairi Laverty, 7 Geoffery Og Laverty, 8 Kevin O’Boyle, 9 Stephen Smyth, 10 Martin Dobbin, 11 Callum McKendry, 12 Eoin Dobbin, 13 James O’Boyle, 14 Corey Blair, 15 Liam Kearns
Subs: Reece Watt for kevin O’Boyle, Conor Laverty for James O’Boyle, Conor Reid for Corey Blair, Joe Smith
Referee: Tarlach Conway
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Already crowned Division 3 champions, Bredagh arrived in Cloughymills hoping to end their campaign with a perfect 11 wins from 11 starts but they came up against a St. Brigid’s side who had a place in the promotion-relegation play-offs up for grabs.
CCC Chairman, Sean O’Reilly presented the division 3 cup to joint captain, Mark Patterson and Michael Woods before throw-in, the county official was in for a busy evening as he then left for Cushendun to perform the honours again should Carey Faughs defeat the Emmet’s to take the division 2 title.
St. Brigid’s Corey Blair fires home the game’s opening goal
Any notions that the visitors to Cloughmills held that this was going to be an easy evening were quickly dismissed as the ‘Biddies’ came racing out of the starting blocks to show their intent and Corey Blair got them off to a perfect start as he fired to the net in the second minute.
Before Bredagh had a chance to recover Blair was in action again. This time his shot was saved by Bredagh keeper, Aaron Maguire but Ryan Watson was quickest to react to the rebound and batted the sliothar home from close range.
Bredagh began to settle with point from PJ Lavery and Rory McCamphill before Christopher McKernan in the St. Brigid’s goals pulled off a good save as the visitors began to gain a foothold.
Eoin Dobbin, who was to have a big influence on the final outcome, replied with a point from a ‘65’ before his opposite number, Donal Hughes fired home for the visitors at the end of a hectic opening 7 minutes to close the gap to two.
A great long range point from Joseph Hanrahan left just one in it but Cloughmills replied from a similar effort from Eoin Dobbin and another from Ryan Watson to move three ahead.
Cloughmill’s Rian Dobbin tridies up as Daniel Kinney moves in to challenge
Bredagh were trying to feed the ball into their inside forwards but too often they over hit their passes or they were being thwarted by a solid ‘Biddies’ rear guard who were getting out in front of their men to avert the danger..
Mel Lavery pulled one back for the Ravenhill Road side but St. Brigid’s were winning a lot of dirty ball and replied through Niall McNaughton and the excellent Eoin Dobbin 0-2 to keep their noses ahead.
Both sides added points in the period leading up to half time with Tiarnan Sheehan 0-2 on target for the visitors and the sweet striking Dobbin getting three, including a 70 meter free to leave the home side 2-8 to 1-7 ahead at the interval.
It was Bredagh who made the better start to the second half with Sheehan converting another free and Hughes adding another from play before the game deteriorated into a dogfight as the scores dried up for a time.
Tiarnan Curran, Bredagh and Sean McKendry, St. Brigid’s challenge for the ball
It would be 11 minutes before Cloughmills’ star man, Eoin Dobbin raised their first score of the second half but the excellent number 11 followed with two more to move his side five ahead with 21minutes gone.
Tiarnan Sheehan replied from a ‘65’ in the 24th minute but substitute, Liam Kerarns made quick reply with a point from play at the other end as the game became scrappy and foul ridden with referee, Fergus McAllister trying to keep a lid on matters.
The league champions made a push to salvage something from the contest in the closing stages with substitute Fintan McCollum and Sheehan closing the gap to two by the 29th minute but that was as close as they got.
A good win for Cloughmills who now look set to meet Carryduff in the play-offs with a place in division 2 next year up for grabs where the winners will be joined by tonight’s already crowned division 3 champions, Bredagh
St. Brigid’s: 1 Christopher McKernan, 2 Aaron McGuckian, 3 Sean McKendry, 4 Johnny Duffin, 5 Rian Dobbin, 6 Ruairi Laverty, 7 Geoffrey Og Laverty, 8 Kevin O’Boyle, 9 Stephen Smyth, 10 Reece Watt, 11 Eoin Dobbin, 12 Martin Dobbin, 13 Niall McNaughton, 14 Corey Blair, 15 Ryan Watson.
Subs: Liam Kearns for Reece Watt, James Doherty for Aaron McGuckian, James O’Boyle for Niall McNaughton, Ronnie Reid for Ryan Watson
Bredagh: 1 Aaron Maguire, 2 Tim Cunnane, 3 Lawrence Smyth, 4 PJ Lavery, 5 Evin Maguire, 6 Michael Woods, 7 Jake Carlin, 8 Joseph Hanrahan, 9 Mel Lavery, 10 Ciaran McMullan, 11 Donal Hughes, 12 Tiarnan Sheehan, 13 Liam Hogan, 14 Tiarnan Curran, 15 Rory McCamphill.
Subs: Dan Kinney for Tim Cunnane
Referee: Fergus McAlister
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Bredagh made a quick return to division 2 following their relegation to division 3 last year. The permutations were simple, defeat Lamh Dhearg at Cherryvale on Sunday and it would be all over with two still to play. Lose and St. Brigid’s Cloughmills, who they play next week, were still in with an outside chance of catching them.
In truth the outcome at Cherryvale was never in doubt as Lamh Dhearg travelled with a weakened side and while the Hannastown men gave it everything they were never a threat to a slick moving Bredagh who were on the front foot right from the throw in.
Substitute, Dan Kinney (22) fires past Rhys Camlin for Bredagh’s 7th goal as they clinched the ACHL Division 3 title at Cherryvale on Sunday
The Ravenhill Road side raced into a 0-7 to 0-1 lead with Tiarnan Sheehan 0-3, Mark Patterson 0-2, Rory McCamphill, Donal Hughes and Mel Lavery on target before Jarlath McCollum raced clear for his side’s opening goal in the 11th minute and even at this stage it looked as good as over.
The visitors lacked nothing in effort and produced some notable moments with their opening point from Michael McGarry coming after an excellent catch and further points from Aidan McGuigan, Donal Martin and a Dan Murray free contributing to their first half total.
Bredagh though were at a different level with Tiarnan Sheehan going on to add three further first half goals and Donal Hughes and Matthew Doran rattling the Lamh Dhearg net to leave the half time score 6-17 to 0-4.
Indeed the goal tally could have been greater had it not been for two excellent savers by visitor’s keeper, Rhys Camlin who came bravely of his line to deny Matthew Doran and Jarlath McCollum.
Rory McCamphill fires over a Bredagh point
It didn’t get a lot better for the Hannastown side on the restart though to their credit they continued to battle hard but it was the South Belfast side who continued to rack up the scores as Matthew Doran 0-3, Dan Kinney and Tiarnan Sheehan stretched their lead before Camlin in the Lamh Dhearg goals pulled off another incredible double save.
Camlin was helpless to deny Kinney who got through for their 7th goal at the end of the third quarter. The Cherryvale side emptied their bench and added points through Liam Hogan, Donal Hughes 0-2 and Sean McCollum before Rhys Camlin pulled of another amazing double save to save his side further punishment.
This win means that the division 2 title goes to Bredagh but it is disappointing that there was no one there to present them with the cup though I’m told it will be handed over on Wednesday night in Cloughmills when they take on second place St. Brigid’s.
Bredagh’s Mel Lavery gets his shot away despite the efforts of Lamh Dhearg’s Sean Paul Gibson
Bredagh: 1 Aaron Maguire, 2 Evin Maguire, 3 Lawrence Smyth, 4 PJ Lavery, 5 Jake Carlin, 6 Michael Woods, 7 Liam Hogan, 8 Mark Patterson, 9 Mel Lavery, 10 Chris Hobbs, 11 Donal Hughes, 12 Tiarnan Sheehan, 13 Jarlath McCollum, 14 Matthew Doran, 15 Rory McCamphill, 19 M Cumane, 20 Sean McCollum, 22 Dan Kinney, 23 J McParland.
Lamh Dhearg: 1 Rhys Camlin, 2 Niall McGarry, 3 Tiernan McKenna, 4 Fiachra Clenaghan, 5 Sean Paul Gibson, 6 Odhran Waldron, 7 Ryan Diamond, 8 Evan Stanley, 9 Dan Murray, 10 Donal Martin, 11 Aidan McGuigan, 12 Odhran Lee, 13 Aaron Ferris, 14 Michael McGarry, 15 Aidan McCague
Referee: Mark McDonald
Rhys Camlin, who was outstanding in the Lamh Dhearg goals denies Matthew Doran
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