O’Neill’s Sportswear Senior Hurling League Division 1

Dunloy 2-15 St John’s 1-19

Saturday 30 March

Brendan McTaggart reports from Pearse Park, Dunloy

As far as opening games to a league campaign goes, this one pretty much had it all.  Penalties, red cards, exquisite free taking, remarkable individual performances and a Lazarus like comeback that ultimately fell short in the end.

It’s great to have club hurling back.

The Johnnies were the victors at the end of the hour (and a wee bit more) but they were holding on in the end with Dunloy almost recovering from a 13 point half time deficit and had a chance to grab what would have been the unlikeliest of draws right on the final whistle.  It wasn’t to be but anything other than an away victory would have been a huge injustice given how Mickey Johnston’s men played.

St John’s came to Pearse Park on Saturday afternoon and played like a team who were midway through their league campaign in the first 30 minutes.  Brilliant in rucks, hungry in the tackle and some just downright outrageous point taking from ridiculous angles. 

The home side depleted with a host of absentees were chasing shadows and while the Cuchullains were far from their fluent best, the west Belfast side were playing some sublime hurling from the off.

It was a slow start to this one with the sides tied at two points apiece when St John’s clicked into another gear.  They scored 1-4 in the space of four minutes with Oisin MacManus, Conor Johnston and Aidan McMahon raising white flags before Domhnall Nugent’s major in the 11^th minute.  Plucking the sliotar out of the sky from a perfectly struck side line by Jack Bohill, Nugent caught everyone by surprise with a low drive from fully 25 yards out.  Dunloy ‘keeper Eoghan Richmond looked to have it covered but the green flag was raised.

A brace of frees from Aodhan McGarry followed to leave St John’s 1-6 to 0-4 ahead midway through the half but that would be the last time the Cuchullains would register a score in the half. 

Six St John’s points in just over seven minutes followed as they turned the screw.  MacManus with unnerving accuracy from placed ball while Ruairi Galbraith, Jack Bohill and Conor Johnston were all in on the act.

Dunloy looked to have derailed the Johnnies dominance when they were awarded a penalty in the 29^th minute.  Barry Scott superbly claiming the sliotar high in the square and with the goal at his mercy he was trailed to the ground.  Referee Ciaran McCloskey awarded a penalty where Paul Shiels stepped up but he fired the sliotar to the left hand side of the posts and wide.

Further scores from Conor Johnston and MacManus left the half time score 1-14 to 0-4 in favour of St John’s.

It’s fair to say it really was all one way traffic in the first half and while there was a substantial breeze among the early spring sunshine at Pearse Park, it certainly wasn’t a 13 point advantage. 

The home side started much better in the second half with McGarry firing over his fifth point of the game before Dunloy were awarded another penalty.  This time Anton McGrath was fouled and McGarry dispatched with aplomb.  Hopes of a herculean comeback were cut short however with the next puck out.  Ciaran Johnston gathered a short restart from Declan Cregan and was met with a hefty challenge by McGrath.  A foul and much to the dismay of the home management, a red card followed.

The numerical disadvantage did little to derail the Dunloy however.  The Cuchullains reorganised and with McGarry’s accuracy from frees, they began to eat into the St John’s lead.

Eight points separated the sides midway through the second half and with ten minutes remaining that lead was down to six.  A huge point from Eamon Smyth in the 52^nd minute, incredibly the Cuchullains first effort from play, was quickly followed by another McGarry point to leave four between the sides.

A super score from Conor Johnston, splitting the uprights under pressure got the scoreboard ticking again for St John’s while Galbraith had a sniff of a goal chance.  Aidan McMahon’s pointed effort coming back off the upright and Galbraith pulled on the rebound only for Eoghan Richmond to deny him superbly.

With the clock going into injury time, St John’s held a five point lead and Dunloy laid siege on Declan Cregan’s goal.  A driven Paul Shiels free looked to be heading for the top corner but just cleared the cross bar while but they had more joy with the next effort.  Shiels took the free quickly and found substitute Chrissy McMahon and he rifled to the back of the net.

There was enough time for one more attack and Dunloy looked to set up the shooter but Kevin McKeague’s long range effort drifted to the right of the posts and wide with Ciaran McCloskey blowing for full time.

A cracking end to a physical game of hurling where both sides tested each other and more.  Both sides have two weeks before their next game with Dunloy travelling to Ballycran while St John’s will welcome their noisy neighbours, Rossa to Corrigan Park.  Both matches to be played on 14 April.

TEAMS

Dunloy: Eoghan Richmond; Eamon Smyth, Karl O’Kane, Oran Quinn; Kevin McKeague, Kevin Molloy, Ronan Molloy; Nicky McKeague, Ciaran Elliott; Tom McFerran, Paul Shiels, Barry Scott; Aodhan McGarry, Anton McGrath, Gabriel McTaggart

Scorers: A McGarry 1-12 (1-00 pen, 12 fs); Chrissy McMahon 1-00; P Shiels 0-1 (free); E Smyth 0-1; K McKeague 0-1

St John’s: Declan Cregan; Odhran Carleton, Ciaran Johnston, Conor McEvoy; Darragh McGuinness, Ryan McNulty, Jack Bohill; Sean Wilson, Aidan McMahon; Oisin Donnelly, Domhnall Nugent, Conor Johnston; Ruairi Galbraith, Stephen Tierney, Oisin MacManus

Scorers: D Nugent 1-4 (3fs); O MacManus 0-6 (5fs); Conor Johnston 0-4; A McMahon 0-3; J Bohill 0-1; R Galbraith 0-1

Referee: Ciaran McCloskey (Loughgiel)

Brendan McTaggart gives his views on the Antrim hurling squad update announced this afternoon.

Green shoots have appeared from the Antrim hurling camp this afternoon with team manager Darren Gleeson issuing a press release on the team updates.

Given the horrific injury list that has blighted the Saffrons in 2024, there was welcome news on that front.  Conal Cunning and Rian McMullan both returned to training this week having missed the defeat to Tipperary while Conal Bohill, James McNaughton and Michael Bradley are back in full training.

If everything goes to plan; Paul Boyle, Ciaran Clarke, Gerard Walsh, Daniel McKernan, Caolan McKernan, Seamus McAuley and Stephen Rooney will be championship ready while Dubhaltach Wilson and Joe McLaughlin are back in the squad.

Daire mcMullan of Dunloy and Cormac McKeown from Con Magees join fellow Under 20 player Joseph McLaughlin of Ruairi Og

With those returning, Gleeson has also added Sean McKay of Cushendun , Cormac McKeown of Con Magees, Niall McGarel of Shane O’Neills’s Glenarm and Ruairi McCormick of Loughghiel Shamrocks all being promoted from the u20 squad with Dunloy duo Aodhan McGarry and Daire McMullan, but most notably, a quartet of Dunloy players have returned.  Keelan Molloy, Seaan, Nigel and Ryan Elliott all coming back into the squad having missed the entire National League campaign.

When leaving Corrigan Park last Saturday, drenched to the skin having watched Antrim come a distant second best to Tipperary, the thought of travelling to Nowlan Park for the opening round of the Leinster Championship was filling not only me with a sense of fear. 

There were rumours circling that the Dunloy players were going to come back and in fairness to Darren Gleeson, he’s been up front with the injury list and has maintained all along that he had high hopes that the vast majority of the injuries would be cleared up for the Championship.

Joining from the Under 20 squad are Loughgiel’s Ruairi McCormick (left) and Dunloy’s Aodhan McGarry (right) while Cushendun’s Sean McKay, who played for Ballymena Academy in Monday’s Schools Cup rugby final, also joins the panel

Antrim’s displays so far have been understandably under par in comparison to previous seasons under Gleeson’s tenure.  That’s the cold hard fact that the National League final table will tell.  But what the 2024 league campaign has done, is unearth the likes of Scott Walsh, Conor Boyd and Fred McCurry as intercounty standard players more than capable at that level.  Walsh and Boyd have been with the squad for a number of seasons while Fred’s run with Cushendall in the club championship has transferred to that in a Saffron shirt.

From wondering who’s going to be fit for the starting 15 in the league, Gleeson is now faced with a selection headache.  The joys of management.

There will be plenty who will look at the Dunloy quartet coming back with a hint of negativity.  ‘Ah they’re back in time for a trip to Portugal’.  I can hear the comments already before stepping out of the office.  Where were they when we travelled to Thurles to take on Limerick?  When we played Galway and Tipp in Corrigan.  They could have been the difference against Dublin and lost narrowly and gave us a better display against Westmeath.

The fact of the matter is that those lads needed a break.  Still in their mid-twenties, at the end of the club season they were showing serious signs of burnout.  Seasons running into seasons, with intercounty, senior club hurling, intermediate championship going deep and the run in the club senior football championship with next to no break in between, it had certainly took a toll.

Defensively, we have looked strong.  Our fullback line against Tipperary were immense but it was around the middle of the park where we looked out of our depth.  In seasons previous, we had the likes of Molloy and McNaughton showing fleet of foot to evade challenges and break the lines while Nigel Elliott was superb last year in Saffron.  Paul Boyle coming back to fitness is another huge bonus.  His display against Dunloy in the semi-final of the club championship last year was simply outstanding and he was starting to show a level of consistency with his performances that will certainly give Gleeson options.  To have the graft and guile of Bradley, the defensive nous of Conal Bohill along with the wizadry of the McKernan’s, it certainly promises to be a much more promising Championship than League.

Anyone who has watched Antrim during the league will know that it’s been sorely missed for the team’s display but also for the development of the younger players who have been thrown into the deep end this year.  They’ve been taught some harsh lessons in 2024 that will certainly stand by them but not what is required for their hurling development at this stage of their career.

Portugal beckons for the warm weather training camp that has been hugely successful in previous seasons while a date with The Cats waits on 21 April.  The rumour mill will churn and tongues will wag after this press release but one things for sure, Antrim needed this news.  We needed this news.

Aontroim Abu

Friday, 22 March 2024

Antrim Squad Update.

As our Senior panel have finished their National Hurling League campaign for the season, the management team have released the following information.

As preparation begins for the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, Darren Gleeson has added the following players to his panel. Sean McKay (Cushendun), Cormac McKeown (Glenravel), Keelan Molloy, Nigel Elliott, Seaan Elliott, Ryan Elliott, Daire McMullan, Aodhan McGarry (all Dunloy), Niall McGarel (Glenarm) and Ruairi McCormick (Loughgiel).

An update on the current injury situation is improving daily with the following updates.

Conal Cunning & Rian McMullan returned to training this week after missing the Tipperary game.

Dubhaltach Wilson (ankle) and Joseph McLaughlin (U20s & School tied) have returned to training.

Conal Bohill, James Mc Naughton Michael Bradley make a welcome return to full training after long layoffs.

Paul Boyle undergoes a procedure today with a quick return expected.

Ciaran Clarke, Gerard Walsh, Daniel McKernan, Seamus McAuley, Caolan McKernan and Stephen Rooney are all recovering from recent procedures and are in line for returns for Championship Hurling.

The team travel in early April for a warm weather training camp to Portugal with support from Antrim County Board.

The Senior Panel have always fundraised for such trips and would like to thank all sponsors and contributors both this season and over previous years for their continued support.

This year’s event will see the Senior Hurling Golf Classic on Friday 5th April 2024 at the DoubleTree

Belfast Templepatrick at the Kingfisher Country Estate.

A team of four players (four ball) can enter the Antrim Senior Hurling Golf Classic for £250, which will cover food on arrival, the round of golf, entry to win great prizes, and a fork buffet afterwards in the clubhouse restaurant.

The Senior Hurlers value the support of the hurling people of Antrim and would be delighted to have you or your business on board as a sponsor of the event. For a donation of £100, your name or business logo will be showcased on the first hole as players begin to play and get photos throughout the entire day.

Cash donations are acceptable, and please make any cheques payable to Antrim GAA.

Space is limited, call Stephen on 077 1045 9829 or email antrimseniorhurlers@gmail.com now to book.

This event has seen great success in the past, and we look forward to another exciting tournament this year.

Darren Gleeson

All Saints GAC bid a final farewell to one of its most famous hurling sons on Tuesday when Jock McKay was laid to rest following Requiem Mass in All Saints Parish church.

Jock began his hurling career in his native Cushendall before moving to Oisins Glenariffe. He moved to Ballymena after his marriage to his wife Kate and joined All Saints and is still regarded as one of the clubs greatest hurlers.

Jock was a prominent member of the All Saints side who defeated Ahoghill in the South West Junior Hurling final more than 40 years ago and was part of the team who lost to Ballycastle in the All County final, the same year.

He went on to manage the All Saints hurlers where his son Terry played while his wife Kate served as committee member, treasurer and physio for a number of years.

A superb exponent of the sideline cut, Jock would regularly send the sliotar between the uprights and he will be sadly missed by those who had the pleasure to hurl alongside him.

To his wife Kate, son Terry and the extended family circle we extend our deepest sympathy.

Ar Dheis De Go raibh a anam

Jock with fellow members of the All Saints Hurling team at the club dinner in 1992