Ulster Junior Hurling Championship quarter-final at Ahoghill
St Brigid’s Cloughmills 2-9 Castleblaney 1-15
Cloughmills came within a strike of a ball of forcing extra time in Saturday’s Ulster Club Junior Hurling Championship opening round against Monaghan champions Castleblaney at Ahoghill on Saturday.
The Biddies appeared to be dead and buried when they trailed the Monaghan men by seven points with just two minutes of normal time left to play but late goals from Liam Kearns and Corey Blair gave them hope that they could still salvage the game. The Monaghan men hit back with two points to put three between the sides again deep into second half injury time, but with just seconds left of the five minutes extra time allocated by referee James Connors the ball broke to full forward Reece Watt, but his shot was closed down and the Castleblaney men survived.
It all looked too easy for the Blaney boys when they hit 1-5 without reply midway through the second half, the goal coming from right half back Declan Hughes who finished expertly to the bottom right hand corner after being put clear. Points followed in quick succession from Thomas Hughes (2), Leo Moloney (2) and Brian McGuigan and suddenly the gap was out to seven.
The Biddies looked dead and buried, but when Liam Kearns fired through a packed goalmouth to the back of the Blaney net it gave Cloughmills a bit of hope. Two minutes into the allotted five of injury time Corey Blair added another goal and suddenly the impossible now seemed possible. The Monaghan champions never panicked and well taken points from Mark Treanor and Niall Garland put them three clear again and though Watt had a late chance the Blaney defence saw off the danger to seal the win.
Cloughmills
C McKiernan, S McKendry, K O’Boyle, S Martin, C Laverty, G Og Laverty, J Duffin, M Dobbin (0-1), O McCurdy, E Dobbin (0-3), R Laverty, L Kearns (1-0), C Butler (0-1), M Devlin (0-2), J Doherty (0-1).
Subs – Corey Blair (1-0) for J Duffin; Reece Watt for M Devlin Stephen Smith (0-1) for Conaire Butler
Castleblaney
H Byrne, P Heavin, C Merrick, B Flanagan, D Hughes (1-1), P Treanor, C McNally, C McHugh, A Kenny (c), L Maloney (0-8 …8f), F Rafter, N Garland (0-2), B McGuigan (0-1), T Hughes (0-3), Patrick Finnegan.
Subs – Zack McArdle, Nathan Adair, Mark Treanor (0-1) for Patrick Finnegan
When Kickham’s Creggan finished their division 2 league campaign with only one win from 13 starts it would have been the most optimistic of punters whowould have given them a chance when the championship came around.
That dreadful league campaign didn’t tell the full story of Creggan hurling however. The club had been decimated by a long injury list that affected both their hurlers and footballers but come championship time those injuries were starting to abate.
The Kickham’s were drawn in Group 2 with Padraig Sarsfields, Glenariffe, St Paul’s and Glenravel in a difficult qualifying group but made people sit up and take notice when they travelled to Waterfoot and beat the Oisin’s 3-16 to 1-13 in their opening game.
Creggan celebrate their success over Sarsfields in the Antrim final
Perhaps they had caught a fancied Glenariffe off guard. That could have been the conclusion when Sarsfields visited the Staffordstown Road in round 2 and came away with a 1-10 to 0-10 win while Glenariffe recovered from the Creggan defeat to record a big win at St. Paul’s.
Creggan travelled to St. Paul’s in round three for what had become a ‘must win’ encounter and came away with a hard earned 0-17 to 0-15 victory over the Shaw’s Road side.
The improvement continued in round four when Con Magee’s travelled to Creggan with the home side emerging 1-23 to 1-17 winners in a solid if not spectacular win but it was obvious by this stage that the Kickham’s were gathering momentum.
On the same day Glenariffe travelled to the Bear Pit for a winner takes all encounter with Sarsfield’s and it was the home side who emerged with a late goal to join Creggan in the semi-finals.
And so it was that these two would meet again in the final after Sarsfield’s defeated a fancied Tir na nOg in Extra time and Creggan proved too good for pre-match favourites Cushendun in Glenravel.
Once again Creggan were handed the underdog tag when they faced up to a Niall McKenna led Sarsfield’s in the final in Dunsilly on Saturday the 14th October but they continued to defy all predictions as Tommy McCann’s unlikely lads finishing strongly to run out deserving winners in the end.
Action from Creggan v Bredagh in the league encounter back in April
Oran McCann’s 54th minute goal was pivotal in Creggan seeing off a determined Sarsfields side 1-16-0-14 in the decider. Creggan trailed at the break in an evenly contested final and regained the initiative through a Thomas McCann score 12 minutes from time.
There was never more than two-points between the sides until the 54th minute when McCann stretched the lead and then assisted in namesake Oran firing home the game’s only goal seconds later to seal their first Intermediate crown since 2015.
County player Conor McCann has made his return to the side after almost a year out with injury and has helped to steady the Creggan ship. McCann managed only one point from play against a determined Sarsfield’s but his accuracy from frees helped his side over the line.
Their defence was sound with Sam Maguire and Sean Duffin contributing points while Odhran McCann top scored with 1-2 and Morgan Nelson, Kevin Rice and Thomas McCann all contributed with scores.
Action from Creggan v Bredagh in the ACHL Division 2. The sides meet again in the Ulster Culb Championship in Pairc Esler on Sunday
What of Bredagh?
Sunday’s opponents Bredagh play their hurling in the Antrim ACHL Division 2 and like their opponents on Sunday, won only one of their 13 games but recorded two draws to finish two points ahead of the Kickham’s in the league.
That win was over Creggan on the Staffordstown Road away back in early April with a goal separating the sides in a thrilling game that ended 3-14 to 2-14 in favour of the Down Intermediate champions.
Bredagh began this year’s championship campaign in the Down Senior Championship where they lost heavily to Portaferry defeating Newry Shamrocks 1-18 to 0-16 in their second game.
They ran Ballygalget close in their final game and were thus relegated to the Intermediate Championship where the winners qualifies for the subsequent Ulster Intermediate Club Championship.
Bredagh emerged winners of that championship after defeating Carryduff by 2-19 to 0-09 in the 2023 final.
That league meeting between Sunday’s opponents back in April would suggest that Bredagh will go into Sunday’s game with confidence but fortunes have improved for both sides since then. Bredagh trailed the home side for 55 of the 60 minutes in that league encounter, only getting over the line with a goal at the game entered extra time.
Three minutes into the 2nd half Bredagh had turned the home side’s 9-point advantage with 2 goals in quick succession. The first of the 2 goals, scored by Liam Hogan, dropped over Tiernan McLarnon’s head to the back of the net. The 2nd goal, from Cormac Blaney, was unstoppable at close range.
Bredagh’s final game in the Down Senior Championship, where they lost by only three to Ballygalget and their subsequent Intermediate success over Carryduff would suggest they are running into form just at the right time.
Creggan have impressed throughout the Antrim championship however and I would expect the McCann and Rice clans, Sean Duffin, Morgan Nelson and Co. to have enough to see them avenge that early season league defeat and advance to the Ulster semi-final in Newry
Creggan v Sarsfield’s Antrim final: C Rice, A Maguire, A McKeown, J McAteer, S Maguire (0-01), K McCann, L McCann, S Duffin (0-01), R McCann, M Nelson (0-02), K Rice (0-02), O McCann (1-02), T McCann (0-02), C McCann (0-06, 0-05f), D Mulholland. Subs: T McLarnon for D Mulholland (46), L Johnston for O McCann (59), P McGuckian for S Maguire (60+2).
St. Brigid’s Cloughmills v Castleblaney Hurling Club
Ahoghill-Saturday 2-00pm
Antrim Junior Hurling champions, St. Brigid’s Cloughmills open their Ulster campaign this Saturday when they face Castleblaney Hurling Club in Clooney.
The Antrim champions will go into this one as favourites following an impressive championship campaign in Antrim which culminated with victory over neighbours, Glen Rovers, Armoy in the final in Glenariffe.
St. Brigid’s began their championship campaign with a 1-19 to 0-13 win over Gort na Mona at Enright Park in the opening round of their Group 2 qualifying section and followed that up with another victory over All Saints in Cloughmills.
Geoffery Og Laverty tidies up against Armoy in the Antrim final
Six points was the margin of victory in that one and up to that point their performances had been solid rather than spectacular and it was their namesakes, St. Brigid’s Belfast who felt the lash as the ‘Biddies’ found their scoring touch in the final group game.
The Musgrave Park ‘Biddies’ would feel the full lash of the Cloughmills’ scoring machine and the South West side recorded 6-24 against the minnows of Group 2 as they hit form just at the right time as they entered the knock-out stages.
By virtue of topping their group St. Brigid’s earned a semi-final place and they were drawn against a Lamh Dhearg side who appeared to be hitting form at the right time themselves when they defeated All Saints by 6-16 to 0-14 in the quarter-finals.
St. Brigid’s had home advantage for their meeting with the Hannastown side and after Mickey Devlin had given the home side the lead with an excellent long range point it was the Hannastown side who sprung to life to hit the next four points with Odhran Waldron, Adam Murray, Michael Herron and Murray again from a 7th minute free putting them three in front and looking good.
The visitors would only add one further first half point however as Cloughmills suddenly realised they had a game on their hands and a couple of superb side-line cuts from Michael Devlin, which sandwiched an Eoin Dobbin point from play had them back on level terms by the 13th minute.
The ‘Biddies’ celebrate their Antrim final success
The hosts went on to lead 0-11 to 0-5 at the break with Eoin Dobbin, Reece Watt, James Doherty and Mickey Devlin from a ‘65’all on target and would go on to win comfortably in the end with Dobbin in superb scoring form and substitute Odhran McCurdy put the contest to bed with a goal in the 25th minute.
On the other side of the draw it was Glen Rovers, who emerged as St. Brigid’s opponents for the final and the Armoy side had impressed themselves as they went through group 1 unbeaten before beating Gort na Mona in Armoy in the semi-final.
The final between these neighbours and keen rivals in Waterfoot didn’t disappoint and there was little between the sides throughout but the sending off of an Armoy player in the 31st minute of the first half, following an off the ball incident and a goal from Liam Kearns, 9 minutes into the second had a major influence on the eventual outcome.
Glen Rovers came back strongly with Rocky Dillon driving them forward with Eamonn McCaughan hitting three on the bounce and Eoin O’Boyle adding another to close the gap to one by the 16th minute.
They continued to press and Owen Kinney looked in for a goal but his effort was charged down before the ‘Biddies’ broke forward and Conor Laverty struck a fine point to relieve the siege.
Back came Armoy and Turlach McBride continued with his master class in long range free taking as he split the posts from 60 meters to leave just one in it again with two minutes of normal time remaining.
That was as close as they got however with the excellent Eoin Dobbin setting up substitute Reece Watt for the game’s final score to leave Cloughmills victorious by two points in the end.
St. Brigid’s, who stepped down from Intermediate at the start of the season, are a strong and experienced side. Chris McKiernan is a reliable keeper while Kevin O’Boyle, Geoffery Og Laverty and Johnny Duffin backbone a solid defence.
Joseph Smyth and Odhran McCurdy get through a power of work at mid-field while Eoin Dobbin has been a consistent scorer, both from frees and open play and is part of a sharp attack that includes Michael Devlin, Ruairi Laverty and Liam Kearns, all potential match winners on their day.
What of Castleblaney?
Monaghan teams are never easily beaten in Ulster competitions and Cloughmills would do well to treat Saturday’s opponents with the upmost respect. Castleblaney were beaten by Inniskeen in this years Monaghan final but by virtute enter the Ulster Junior Championship while their conquerors, Inniskeen take part in the Intermediate Championship
Inniskeen 1-11 Castleblayney 0-13
Inniskeen are Monaghan Senior Hurling Championship winners for 2023 after they thwarted Castleblayney’s seven-in-a-row bid in a dramatic finish in Clones.
Niall Arthur’s haul of 1-06 proved decisive as Inniskeen won their first county title since 2016, even though the Clare native spent the last quarter on the sidelines after being sent off immediately after netting the game’s only goal.
Eight points from Niall Garland kept Blayney in touch, but they were left to rue a tally of 15 wides as they saw their hopes of a seventh successive title ended by Inniskeen, with history repeating itself after the same had happened in the 2010 final.
Castleblayney had made much the brighter start, with a brace from Garland helping them take a four-point lead, but a Pauric Dowdall penalty save [denying his opposite number, Hugh Byrne] kept Inniskeen in touch and a string of fine scores from Arthur saw them grow into the contest.
Garland and Arthur both finished the first half with six points to their name as Blayney changed ends leading by the narrowest of margins at 0-08 to 0-07.
Inniskeen again took more than ten minutes to open their account in the second half, but after a Patrick Boyle point had brought them back within two, Arthur connected with Conor McHugh’s dangerous cross to edge them ahead.
Arthur was subsequently dismissed, but with Pádraig McGahon taking over free-taking duties, he hit three crucial scores late on.
Even though Blayney managed a point from substitute Fergal Rafter and a brace by Thomas Hughes, they missed a couple of chances to force extra-time and there were jubilant scenes for Inniskeen as they celebrated a famous win.
Castleblayney: Hugh Byrne; Paudie Heavin, Colin Merrick, Eoin Leonard; Pauric Malone (0-01), Declan Hughes (0-01), Cormac McNally; Aaron Kenny, Brian Flanagan; Thomas Hughes (0-03), Niall Garland (0-07, 4f, 1’65), Patrick Finnegan; Conall McHugh, Mark Treanor, Brian McGuigan.
Subs: Fergal Rafter (0-01) for McHugh (39); Peter Treanor for McNally (57).
Castleblaney have a good recordin Ulster competitions against Antrim teams, beating Glenravel in 2016 in the semi-final and two years latewr defeating Cushendun in the final at Owenbeg.
Ulster Junior Hurling Championships were annexed by Castleblaney in 2014 and 2018, with the seniors becoming the first team from Castleblayney to play in Croke Park when they closely contested the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Club Championship Final against Dunamaggin from Kilkenny.
St. Brigid’s need to be wary of Saturday’s opponents but at their best should have enough to see them negotiate a tough opening round and indeed the ‘Biddies’ have the personnel to give the Ulster competition a real lash but they would do well to treat the Monaghan champions with the greatest respect.
Above – Tony celebrates Dunloy’s win over Galway champions Sarsfields in last December’s All Ireland semi-final at Croke Park.
BRENDAN McTAGGART PAYS TRIBUTE TO DUNLOY AND ANTRIM LEGEND TONY McGRATH WHO PASSED AWAY LAST NIGHT
I got the word on Monday morning sitting at my cereal. I know I’m not the only one who’s heart will have sunk.
Tony McGrath, a Dunloy Cuchullain legend passed away on Sunday and it’s no exaggeration to say it that the world is a worse off place without him in it.
We all know of the stories of 1990 when Tony’s point got Dunloy the replay against Rossa in the county final, the rest of that is not only history but began the golden era in the north Antrim village. He did the same when the Cuchullains reached their first All-Ireland final against Offaly side, Birr. Pointing with his charismatic style and panache to give Dunloy another bite of the cherry. That replay didn’t go quite as well.
But both those scores epitomized Tony. Coolness personified, a calmness that belittled any situation and a style that just can’t be coached. Tony was a hero to many a young pup in the Village, I was one of them.
He rarely took his hand to coaching, knowing the man as I do now, it’s not really surprising but I was fortunate enough to have Tony as a coach for a year at u16 level. He was part of a management team with Tony McClements and Billy Elliott, coaching a side of would-be misfits to north Antrim titles and a crack at an All-County title against Rossa. That day didn’t work out just so well but Tony had that aura about him that made you feel 10 foot tall after listening to his pearls of wisdom. A quiet, unassuming giant of the game, Tony McGrath steered away from the limelight but when he spoke it was always worth listening to.
In the run up to the 2019 county final, I visited St Joseph’s Primary School where the kids were signing the song I had written. I tried my hand at getting an interview with Tony – I knew it was a big ask but if you don’t ask you’ll never know. “Sure why are looking a chat with me, Yeboah. I won a couple but the team got better when I retired.” That line has stuck with me since. He was doing himself a massive disservice, there’s no question of that but he deflected the interview with a kindness and a stereotypical calmness that characterized the man as a human.
He’s left a lasting legacy within Dunloy club with his exploits on the pitch and with his sons, Anton and Eoghan plying their trade at senior level now also. But he will be missed. You could count on one hand the number of games he missed along with Sally and he was always there for a yarn, giving his take on what had happened or was about to transpire. Strangely, I’ll miss those chats. His loss will be felt not only in the McGrath and McMullan households but across the whole of the Parish.
Good bye, Tony. May your gentle soul rest in peace.
