ACHL Division 2

St. Mary’s Ahoghill 4-24 St. Brigid’s Cloughmills 2-16

A clash of colours at Cloney on Sunday failed to disrupt the clash of the ash as Cloney Gaels overcame the challenge of St. Brigid’s Cloughmills in a high scoring and thoroughly entertaining game of hurling.

Referee Darren McKeown was quite happy to let the game go ahead as both sides took the field in very similar strips and the St. Gall’s official did a good job of identifying the players as the game got underway.

Playing with a strong wind in their favour it was the Ahoghill side who made the early running and points from Dan O’Neill 0-2, Ronan Graham 0-2 and Colla McDonnell in response to one from a Michael Devlin free had them 0-5 to 0-1 ahead after 12 minutes.

A great point from distance from Bernard Graham saw Stephen Smyth reply from an equally impressive effort but Ahoghill were enjoying the better of the exchanges and Dan O’Neill and Eoin Graham extended their lead before Rian Dobbin replied with the ‘Biddies’ third of the afternoon.

The Ahoghill pressure was beginning to tell however as Colla McDonnell fired to the net in the 19^th minute and points from Bernard Graham, McDonnell and O’Neill moved them 11 ahead.

Michael Devlin struck another good free into the wind for the visitors and then replied to two more from Dan O’Neill to keep his side’s challenge just about alive.

Cloney’s final score of the half came from the lively Dan O’Neill but two in reply from Kevin O’Boyle and Eoin Dobbin left it 1-15 to 0-8 ahead at the break and given the strength of the breeze, it didn’t look an insurmountable lead.

St. Brigid’s needed a good start to the second half if they were to claw back the Cloney lead but it was the Ahoghill side who made a blistering start to the second half with PJ O’Connell finishing to the net after 30 seconds.

Seamus Duffin replied with a point at the other end but Cloney Gaels continued to look dangerous and Christopher McKernan in the St. Brigid’s goals brought off a great save to deny Dan O’Neill.

The visitors were doing everything in their power to get themselves going and Eoin Dobbin struck a fine point from distance but it brought another decisive response from the Cloney side as PJ O’Connell finished to the net from close range.

O’Connell was making his first start for Ahoghill in more than a year and while he might not be as fast as he once was, he certainly hasn’t lost his instinctive poaching qualities as he got his second and his team’s third goal and it looked as good as over with 13 minutes remaining.

To their credit St. Brigid’s continued to battle with Stephen Smyth pointing and then getting in for a goal as they began to enjoy a wee bit of success.

A second goal by James O’Boyle had the gap back to seven but the ‘Gaels’ continued to find their range with Patrick Graham, PJ O’Connell and Eoin Graham splitting the posts.

Substitute Rian McFarlane and the sweet striking Mickey Devlin add points for the ‘Biddies’ but O’Connell completed his hat-trick for the home side with time almost up and his return to the Cloney side will provide them with a massive boost as the season progresses.

Ahoghill: 1 Aiden Graham, 2 Shea Neeson, 3 James Magee, 4 Harry O’Donnell, 5 Fionnbar O’Neill, 6 Diarmaid Graham, 7 Bernard Graham, 18 Eamonn Brady, 9 Ryan McPeake, 10 Patrick Graham, 11 Patrick Dougan, 12 Eoin Graham, 17 PJ O’Connell, 13 Colla McDonnell, 14 Ronan Graham, 15 Dan O’Neill.

Subs: Jack McFall

Cloughmills: 1 Christopher McKernan, 2 Jack McDowall, 3 Sean McKendry, 4 Aaron McGuckian, 5 Johnny Duffin, 6 James Doherty, 7 Dara Watterson, 8 Geoffery Og Laverty, 9 Eoin Dobbin, 10 Michael Devlin, 11 Kevin O’Boyle, 12 Rian Dobbin, 13 James O’Boyle, 14 Seamus Duffin, 15 Stephen Smyth

Subs: Rian McFarlane, Ryan Watson, Corey Blair

Referee: Darren McKeown (St. Gall’s)

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Antrim Hurling League – Division 1

Venue: Páirc MacUílín, Ballycastle

Final Score: Ballycastle 1-16 | St. John’s 1-15

Ballycastle withstood a late rally by visitors St John’s to securea hard-fought 1-16 to 1-15 victory over the county champions in a tightly contested All County Hurling League Division One clash, to record their second consecutive win of the campaign.

The game began with high energy as Ballycastle’s Niall McClean opened the scoring. St. John’s were quick to respond, with their sharpshooter Oisin MacManus immediately leveling the game. The early stages were a tight affair, with Ballycastle’s Seamus McAuley trading points with the St. John’s attack to keep the sides deadlocked at 0-2 apiece.

Ballycastle began to find their rhythm as McAuley capitalized on a series of frees to build a lead. The pivotal moment of the first half came following a strong, flowing team move that culminated in a crucial goal from Tiernan Smyth. Smyth quickly followed up with a point from play, putting St. John’s on the back foot.

However, the county champions showed their resilience. MacManus kept St. John’s well within striking distance, punishing Ballycastle’s indiscretions with multiple successful frees, cutting the deficit to a single point at various stages. However late first-half points from Conor Donnelly and Niall McAuley gave Ballycastle some breathing room, sending them into the halftime break with a 1-9 to 0-9 advantage.

Ballycastle started the second half exactly as they finished the first. Seamus McAuley fired over two quick points to set the tone, and another well-worked move allowed Tiernan Smyth to add to his tally. When Niall McAuley raised another white flag, Ballycastle had stretched their lead to six points (1-13 to 0-10) and looked firmly in control.

St. John’s, however, refused to lie down. Oisin MacManus continued his masterclass from dead balls, methodically chipping away at the Ballycastle lead. In response, Diarmaid McShane and the ever-reliable Seamus McAuley landed crucial scores to keep the hosts ahead as the game entered its twilight.

The momentum violently swung back to the visitors in the 31st minute when St. John’s were awarded and converted a vital penalty goal, Shea Shannon stepping up to the mark to fire home, and when McManus followed it with yet another free, suddenly bringing the deficit down to the bare minimum.

Despite intense late pressure from the champions, the Ballycastle defense held firm in the dying moments. The final whistle sounded to the relief of the home crowd, sealing a dramatic one-point victory for Mac Uilín CLG and making it two wins from two starts.

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Teams

#	Ballycastle McQuillans	St. John’s
1	Eamonn Elliott	Simon Doherty
2	Oran Kearney	Michael Dudley
3	Eoin McAlonan	Ciaran Johnston
4	Conal Colgan	Sean Boyle
5	Ardan Kelly	Ronan Donnelly
6	Conor Boal	Enda McGurk
7	Cathair Donnelly	Lorcan McCallin
8	Niall McClean	Sean Wilson
9	Reuben McClean	Caomhan Mooney
10	Darragh Kelly	Michael Bradley
11	Seamus McAuley	Shea Shannon
12	Niall McAuley	Oisin MacManus
13	Conor Donnelly	Donall Carson
14	Tiernan Smyth	Aaron Bradley
15	Diarmaid McShane	Ruairi Galbraith

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