October 22, 2023October 22, 2023 by thesaffrongael

O’Connor’s penalty goal ends Ballycastle’s challenge

Under 19 A Hurling Final

Glenariffe-Glenravel 1-16 Ballycastle 0-11

Glenariffe-Glenravel won the Under 19 A Hurling final when they beat Ballycastle in a hard fought decider in perfect conditions at Cushendun on Sunday. Trailing by 0-9 to 0-4 at half time Ballycastle closed to within two five minutes after the restart, but Glenariffe-Glenravel were always able to find a reply and kept their noses in front right through the third quarter. The key score came on 53 minutes when Glenariffe-Glenravel substitute Niall Hynds was rugby tackled in the large square and Brogan O’Connor fired home the resultant penalty to give his team some breathing space and they pushed on from there to win by eight in the end.

***Glenariffe-Glenravel’s Orrin O’Connor sends over a point***

Playing towards the sea end in the opening half the winners were on top from the start and midfielder Odhran Gillan put them in front in the first minute. They had chances to increase their lead but man of the match Orrin O’Connor was off target with a couple of frees, and it was a further five minutes before left half forward Cormac McKeown got their second score, a fine point on the run, and when he repeated the dose three minutes later thing looked more promising. Ballycastle opened their account when centre forward Conor Donnelly hit a great point from out in the left corner in the tenth minute and the gap was down to one when Criostia McAuley sent one over from a free.

***Criostia McAuley who led the scoring for Ballycastle***

Peadar McDonnell came back with a point from play for Glenariffe-Glenravel as his team started to get on top, and though Orrin O’Connor was off target again from a free he found his touch by the 20^th minute and added two from frees and one from a 65 as they pushed on to lead by 0-9 to 0-5 at half time.

A Conor Donnelly point in the first minute of the second half was the tonic Ballycastle needed and when Crioistai ‘Bamba’ McAuley added two from frees soon afterwards the gap was down to two. The gap went from two to three on three different occasions in the next ten minutes as McAuley’s scores in the 39^th, 45^th and 50^th minutes were answered by Cormac McKeown, Orrin O’Connor and Brogan O’Connor as the winners just kept their noses in front.

***Cormac McKeown solos towards the Ballycastle goal***

A great score by James Bakewell got it back two again going down the home straight and the game was in the balance, but when second half substitute Niall Hynds won a great high ball in the Ballycastle square he was dragged down from behind and referee Brendan Toland pointed to the spot. Brogan O’Connor and drilled the ball low to the corner of the net, and the shot had to be good as he Castle netminder Anthony Mullan came within an inch of saving it with a spectacular dive.

Cormac Donnelly came back with a long range point for Ballycastle, but the goal had given the Glenariffe-Glenravel side a bit of breathing space and Orrin O’Connor tacked on another point after Cormac McKeown had been pulled back going through. ‘Bamba’ McAuley hit his seventh point of the game with two minutes left to play but Orrin O’Connor had the final say for the winners as he raised his ninth white flag to seal the win.

GLENARIFFE-GLENRAVEL

Phelim Ward, Cathan Graham, Cailian Devlin, Niall Magee, Ronan Leeech, Colla Ward, Callum McIlwaine, Odhran Gillan, Patrick McIlwaine, Peadar McDonnell, Cormac McKeown, Daniel Kearney, Brogan Abram, Caolan Lennon, Orrin O’Connor.

Subs– Eamonn Ward, Connor Duffin, Niall Hynds

BALLYCASTLE

Anthony Mullan, Patrick McAlonan, Cian Baudant, Colm Kelly, James Bakewell, Orran Donnelly, Jack Colgan, Darragh Kelly, Cathair Donnelly, Conor Donnelly, Tiernan Heggarty, Niall McClean, Criostia McAuley, Gavin McToal.

Referee – Brendan Toland (Lamh Dhearg)

Ballycastle goalkeeper Adam Mullan gets across to try and block Brogan O’Connor’s penalty shot, but O’Connor’s shot hopped off the ground and over Mullan’s hurl to end up in the back of the net

October 21, 2023October 23, 2023 by thesaffrongael

Stars shine at a “Night With St. Louis at The Tullyglass House Hotel”

A sell-out crowd packed into the Tullyglass on Friday for a memorable night of insightful conversation and storytelling with seven greats of the GAA.

The event run by Friends of St Louis centred on the theme ‘The Student Athlete to the Elite Athlete.’ Compere extraordinaire Shane Elliot probed the guests on their experiences of playing and coaching football and hurling at second, third level & beyond. The Dunloy man also branched out his questioning to broader issues in the modern game of Hurling & Gaelic Football drawing fascinating insights from the panel.

First up was Gaelic Football with Peter Canavan, Dr Paul McFlynn and Paddy Tally taking to the stage. Wasting no time, Shane opened the discussion on the topic on everyone lips of late – the appointment of Mickey Harte as Derry Senior Football Manager. A lively & diplomatic discussion ensued between the two Tyrone legends one who played under Mickey and one coached with him & with the Derry man Paul, who will be a member of Harte’s backroom team for the incoming season.

The three men went onto contribute their thoughts on the state of modern football and its defensive set up and the challenges facing underage teams in an age of ultra-competitiveness.

After an interval where guests enjoyed a delicious buffet and the music of St Louis Traditional Group, there was a presentation to the school’s All Ireland winning Camogie team.

***The full panel of guests with St Louis principal Mrs O’Neill***

The second half of the night centred on Hurling & Camogie, the impressive panel consisted of Martin Fogarty, Ursula Jacob, Neil McManus and Lucia McNaughton. Discussion centred on the challenges facing young athletes in an age of social media. Ursula Jacob shared her own story of dealing with Twitter trolls when she talked about enough being enough and loving her role with RTE.

Neil, fresh from Cushendall’s win last weekend, issued a plea for Ulster GAA to step up their efforts for the small ball in the North.

***St Louis All Ireland winning Camogie team who were presented with their medals by Ursual Jacob and Lucia McNaughton***

Martin discussed how ego can impact not just the players, but everyone involved with a team.

And finally Lucia, a past pupil of St. Louis, spoke about her love for the game, the friendships made and continually striving to be the best every time she goes out onto the pitch.

The crowd were treated to an abundance of craic and stories and plans are already in place for a return next year.

**Ursual Jacob with former St Louis student Lucia McNaughton and the school’s PE teacher Chloe Drain**

**St Louis traditional group who played during the interval**

October 19, 2023October 19, 2023 by thesaffrongael

Devenish All Star hurling nominations

Get voting for who you think deserves an All-Star right here: thedevenishallstars.com

October 19, 2023October 19, 2023 by thesaffrongael

St Killians secure semi-final place

Danske Bank Mageean Cup

St Killian’s Garron Tower 4-15 St Patrick’s Maghera 1-8

LAST year’s beaten finalists St Killian’s Garron Tower have qualified for next month’s Danske Bank Mageean Cup semi-final after their second high-scoring victory in Group A yesterday afternoon.

Maghera’s took an early lead and a Jack McCloy goal on 15 minutes, which the left half forward flicked overhead to the the net, had them six clear. The Tower eventually got going and goals from Cormac McKeown, playing on his home pitch, and Oran McCambridge sent St Killian’s in with an interval lead of 2-6 to 1-5, despite having played against the strong wind.

Joseph McLaughlin, who hit three points in Cushendall’s Volunteer Cup success on Sunday, was introduced at half time and he opeed his account by pointing three of the first four points on the re-start before a goal from Oisin Mort gave them a bit of breating space. Mort added a fourth goal quickly after to put the game beyond the Derry school while Maghera’s only scores of the second half came from Odhrán McElhinney and a Conor Downey free

As well as sending St Killian’s through to the semi-finals, today’s result means that St Mary’s CBGS Belfast will play St Louis Ballymena in one of the two quarter-finals.

However Maghera will have to wait until Tuesday’s final game in Group B to discover their quarter-final opponents. They will play whoever loses between Ol&SP Knock and CPC Ballycastle with the winner of that game joining St Killian’s in the semi-finals.

St Killian’s: C McKeown 2-1, O McCambridge 1-3, O Mort 1-2, J McLaughlin 0-6, 5 frees, O O’Connor 0-2, 1 free, C Mooney 0-1

St Patrick’s: J McCloy 1-0, O McElhinney 0-2, F McEldowney 0-2, C McKaigue 0-2, S Boyd 0-1, C Downey 0-1 free.

October 19, 2023October 19, 2023 by thesaffrongael

Allianz Antrim Cumann na mBunscoil at Tir na nOg and Cucullian’s

The first event of the South West Antrim Cumman na Mbunscoil calendar took place this week, held at the superb indoor facilities of Tir na Nog Randalstown and Cuchullians Dunloy, the camogs and hurlers from a number of local schools got to display their talents.

Teams at each venue consisted of a number of players from each school participating, so as well as getting to hurl, new friendships were forged. The standard of hurling and camogie throughout was excellent. Well done to all the boys and girls involved.