Antrim Hurling League Division 4

Ardoyne – 1-11 Davitt’s 0-12

This potential league decider between Ardoyne and Davitts was like the boxing match that coughed and spluttered until the final round when both contestants opened up with all they had got.  The victory for Ardoyne puts the destination of the league title into their own hands with only three games remaining.

It was a game littered with niggling fouls from the throw in. Ardoyne were first to take advantage, moving three points ahead through the accurate striking of Patrick McGreevy. It took Davitts a while to get focused on the game but in doing so they fired over three points of their own through Marcas Toner. A 65 from Toner pushed the Davitts side into a one pint lead.

McGreevy has settled well into this impressive Ardoyne side and went on to fire over two points from play. The first came when he collected a breaking ball to run through for a score, and shortly afterwards a great catch and lay off to McGreevy from the ageless Jim Og McAuley saw Ardoyne move into a one point lead. Just before a much needed water break in the sweltering heat, McGivern responded with a further point from play for Davitts to leave the sides level.

Davitts started the second quarter the stronger of the sides, with two quick frees coming from Toner. A beautiful long range point from Baker reduced the deficit but once again the stop start play saw Davitts rewarded with two further converted frees. Toner though showed his own touch of class with a beautiful over the shoulder strike that split the posts.

Half-time: Davitts 0-9 Ardoyne 0-8

As with the second quarter, Davitts started the second half with a strong push that threatened the Ardoyne goals. The full back line and Agnew in goals put up a sterling defence and rebutted the attack. This back line has been the foundation stone of Ardoyne’s success this season.

Jim Og McAuley was a man on a mission for Ardoyne as he set up McGreevy initially, and McKillen shortly afterwards, for points from play. Agnew kept Davitts in touch from frees, but Ardoyne gained the upper hand in the third quarter to bring the scores level at the second water break.

The game was coming more open in play and it was difficult to separate the sides. A beautiful goal from McVicker from 40 yards out was countered with three further points from Davitts to level the sides once again.

The final ten minutes saw the tension rise significantly, but it was the men from Ardoyne who pushed through with a pointed free from McVicker and a further point from the impressive McGreevy to leave the Northenders two points ahead at the final whistle.

Scenes following the final whistle were witness to the importance of this game in deciding the destination of the league title. Ardoyne deserved the victory and will no doubt be relishing the opportunity to bring a senior hurling title home to the district for the first time in almost 35 years.

Davitts: 1 Ruairi McIlroy 2 Odhran Gorman 3 Thomas Toland 4 Tomas Mac Carsain 5 Christopher Gallagher 6 Steven McGivern (0-2) 2f 7 Jamie McNally 8 Peter Og Carleton 9 Caoimhin Heaney 10 Cormac Maguire 11 Deaghlan Mooney (0-1) 12 Jay Maguire 13 Caoimhin Rainey (0-1) 14 Chris Cunningham 15 Marcas Toner (0-10) 9f

Ardoyne: 1 JP Agnew, 2 Pascal Clarke, 3 Paul Baker(0-2) 2f, 4 Cormac Curran, 5 Sean Searle, 6 Caolan Wallace, 7 Christopher McShane, 8 Oisin Mac An Bhiocaire(1-1), 9 Paul McGuigan 10 Daniel Moore (0-1) 11 Cahal Keown, 12 Pearse Hull, 13 Patrick McGreevy (0-7) 4f, 14 Jim Og McAuley 15 Kealan McCallan (0-1), Diarmuid Martin, Cormac Barnes, Paul O’Halloran, Joe McDowell, Piarais O’Neill, Conor Flannery, Stephen Hill, Eoghain Mac An tSearraig, Eamon Mac Lochlainn, Matthew Crommie, Padraig O Deorain Dean Goodall, Enda Slattery, Aran Stewart, Matt McKillen(0-1),

Under 19 Hurling League

Cushendall 5-20 Glenariffe- Glenravel 3-12

Cushendall beat neighbours Glenarife-Glenravel in a high scoring Under 19 Hurling League game at Pairc Mhuire on Monday evening in a match produced 8 goals and 32 points.

The first half saw both teams match each other score for score with and Orrin O’Connor goal getting Glenariffe-Glenravel ahead for the first time on eight minutes. Five minutes later Cushendall got back ahead when top scorer Joseph McLaughlin grabbed the first goal for the home team but Cormac McKeown hit back with the visitors second major to regain the upper hand.

From then until the 25^th minute it was score for score with the McLauglins Joseph and Thomas hitting the target regularly for the Dall, while McKeown and Brogan O’Connor added regularly to the Glenariffe-Glenravel score. With five minutes of the first half remaining the game was turned on its head when Cushendall got in for three goals in as many minutes, the first coming from Jospeh McLaughlin while McGarel, who had played all his juvenile hurling for Glenariffe, got the other two.

With such a deficit it was always going to be hard for the visitors to get back into the game, but when Orrin O’Connor grabbed a goal four minutes after the restart and his brother Brogan added a point there was a ray of hope. That didn’t last long however as from the poc-out Cushendall’s Joseph McLaughlin completed his hat trick with a neat finish, and three points in a row from Padraig McKillop, Oisin Woodhouse and McLaughlin ended any lingering doubts.

Glenariffe-Glenravel dis come back with four in a row of their own, with two points apiece from the O’Connor brothers, but the gap was just too big and by the end it was out to an emphatic 14 points.

Antrim Under 19 Hurling League

Ballycaste 1-16 Dunloy 0-19

A point from a free by full forward Crioistai McAuley three minutes into injury time earned Ballycastle a share of the spoils with visitors Dunloy in Monday evening’s Under 19 Hurling League game at Pairc MacUilin.

McAuley was to prove to be man of the match in an eventful evening which saw the home side start strongly, but fade away to trail by four at half time (0-9 to 0-13). The second half saw a marked improvement and a goal direct from a free by McAuley brought them back into the game. The drew level, but missed several chances to take the lead and looked set to pay the price as Dunloy free taker Aodhan McGarry hit a series of good points to put his team back ahead in injury time. However Ballycastle still and time to salvage something and McAuley saved the day as he split the Dunloy posts with the last poc of the game.

Ballycastle started like an express train and inside two minutes they had three points on the board, one of them from a McAuley free. Dunloy’s Daire McMullan and McAuley exchanged points to keep the gap at three, but Dunloy were getting on top throughout the field and McMullan and McGarry hit a series of points from frees to go 0-12 to 0-6 ahead with just minutes to go until half time.

Ballycastle were in trouble, but McAuley hit three points in the run in to half time, to cut the gap back to four at the short whistle. (0-9 to 0-13)

A point in the opening minute of the second half, which dropped in the Dunloy square and bounced high over the bar got the gap back to three, but Aodhan McGarry came back with one from a free at the other end to restore the four point cushion. Darragh Donnelly pointed for the Town to cut the gap back to three and when they were awarded a twenty metre free McAuley stepped up and drove it through a wall of players to the back of the net.

Ballycastle missed a three good chances to go ahead and as the tension grew it was Aodhan McGarry who his mark to put Dunloy back ahead. It was score for score between McAuley and McGarry for a while as both marksmen showed great accuracy but when Ballycastle’s Cormac Dallas cut in across the edge of the Ballycastle ‘square’ a goal seemed certain. However the half back hesitated slightly and a Dunloy defender got in a goal saving ‘hook. When Aodhan McGarry put Dunloy ahead again two minutes into injury time it looked like they had one enough t win the game, but ‘Bamba’ came to his team’s rescue as time ticked away and slotted