Category / Hurling

by thesaffrongael

Cuchullains cruise past the Town

Bathshack Senior Hurling Championship

Ballycastle 1-16 Dunloy 2-29

Saturday August 6

Brendan McTaggart reports from Pairc Mac Uilin, Ballycastle

Dunloy got the defence of their senior hurling crown off to a winning start on Saturday evening with a resounding victory over Ballycastle.  It was a commanding performance from the Cuchullains who had 11 different scorers over the hour and an impressive 2-22 coming from open play.

The home side set up defensively to deal with the attacking movement of Dunloy but they found the task of keeping them quiet too much on the day with all six starting forwards and two midfielders in green and gold getting their name on the list of scorers just after half time.

Anton McGrath scores his team’s first goal

Ballycastle showed plenty of spirit and despite a slow start they found their way back into the game in the second quarter, thanks largely to Diarmuid McShane’s goal but Dunloy tagged points over at will and second half majors from Anton McGrath and Conal Cunning allowed them to control the game at their own terms.

The Cuchullains opening to both halves proved to be the defining periods of this contest.  Nine of their opening 10 points came from open play by the 17th minute while they scored 1-8 in less time after half time.  1-7 of which coming from open play.  Dunloy were at times in irresistible form and playing like a side who wanted to avoid a potential banana skin result in Ballycastle.

Ciaran Clarke top scored for The Town with 0-7 beside his name, four of those coming from placed ball while Seamus McAuley and Conor Boyd also showed well for the black and amber.  They played direct ball into Tiarnan Butler on the edge of the Dunloy square and looked to live of the breaks but the Dunloy full back line were immense throughout and the majority of scores Ballycastle gained came from further out the field.

With 10 points on board in the opening quarter, Dunloy looked like they were going to run away with the opening half but Ballycastle found their rhythm in the second quarter and their goal giving them a timely boost before half time.  Joe McToal collecting the sliotar and driving at the Dunloy defence.  He passed square to take Ryan Elliott out of the game and McShane deflected the sliotar into the Dunloy net.  

Despite Dunloy’s overall dominance in the first half, their lead was reduced to four points at the short whistle, 0-15 to 1-8.

The Cuchullains regained their free scoring touch at the start of the second half, outscoring Ballycastle 0-8 to 0-4 before Anton McGrath’s goal in the 45th minute.  Ronan Molloy and Conal Cunning combining to release McGrath in front of Ryan McGarry’s goal.

Ballycastle had goal chances of their own, Tiernan Butler going close and bringing an excellent reflex save from Dunloy ‘keeper Elliott but any Ballycastle scores were answered in kind at the other end of the pitch, Dunloy dictating the game and Ballycastle running out of time in their search for answers.

Dunloy’s lead stood at 10 points when Cunning bagged Dunloy’s second major.  A piece of individual brilliance with the Dunloy man collecting the sliotar in the middle third and showing great pace to get clear of the Ballycastle tackles and sending the sliotar to the back of the net.  

The Town continued to look for goals and created an opening for Clarke but Elliott denied him at full stretch in the last minute of the hour.

An impressive opening day win for the Cuchullains who turn their attention to Carey at Loughgiel in two weeks time while Ballycastle entertain Rossa at Dunsilly on the same day.

Ciaran Clarke sends over a Ballycastle point

TEAMS

Ballycastle: Ryan McGarry; Mark McClean, Neal McAuley, Oisin McAuley; James McLister, Conor Boyd, Matthew Donnelly; Ronan Laverty, Seamus McAuley; Joe McToal, Cathal Connor, Diarmuid McShane; Tiernan Smith, Tiarnan Butler, Ciaran Clarke

Subs: Michael Dallet for C Connor (45); Lorcan Donnelly for D McShane (45)

Scorers: C Clarke 0-7 (4 f’s); D McShane 1-1; S McAuley 0-3; J McToal 0-2; T Butler 0-2; T Smith 0-1

Dunloy: Ryan Elliott; Oran Quinn, Ryan McGarry, Phelim Duffin; Aaron Crawford, Kevin Molloy, Eamon Smyth; Nicky McKeague, Deaglan Smith; Eoin McFerran, Gabriel McTaggart, Nigel Elliott; Chrissy McMahon, Conal Cunning, Anton McGrath

Subs: Ronan Molloy for C McMahon (8); Ciaran Elliott for E McFerran (50); Ryan McFarline for N McKeague (57); Paul Shiels for D Smith (57); Oisin Elliott for C Cunning (60)

Scorers: C Cunning 1-9 (6 f’s); A McGrath 1-1; E Smyth 0-3; D Smith 0-3; G McTaggart 0-3; N Elliott 0-3; N McKeague 0-2; E McFerran 0-2; A Crawford 0-1; C McMahon 0-1; P Shiels 0-1 (1f)

Referee: Patrick Tumelty (Lamh Dhearg)

by thesaffrongael

Antrim Camogs train at Kelly Park, Portglenone

Antrim Junior Camogs held their final training session at Kelly Park, Portglenone on Thursday evening, ahead of Sunday’s All Ireland final against Armagh in Croke Park. The girls were given a guard of honour by local junenile teams as the arrived on the pitch and spents some time signing autographs and getting photos taken before getting into the training session.

Dick McKeague presens a cheque on behalf of the Antrim Business Forum to the Antrim team ahead of the All Ireland final with Armagh at Croke Park on Sunday
by thesaffrongael

Rowntree double edges Davitt’s home

Casement’s SC JHC Group 1

St. Brigid’s 1-15 Davitt’s 3-10

Only a point separated these well matched sides in this Casement’s Social Club JHC round 1 opener last night with 2 second half goals from Anthony Rowntree for the visitors proving the difference in the end but the Musgrave Park side were perhaps unfortunate not to get something from the game.

It was a somewhat fortuitous opening goal from Caoimhin O’hEanna that sailed from distance all the way to the St. Brigid’s net late in the opening half and points from a Donn Whelan ‘65’ and another from play by the same player that saw the visitors claw back a five point deficit to draw level at 1-8 each at the short whistle.

The lower Falls side enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges and raced into a 3-1 lead with Conor John Sullivan and Marcas Toner 0-2 the men on target and the St. Brigid’s point coming from Oisin McDonnell.

The home side began to settle and hit four unanswered points through Niall Duffy, Gerard Henvey, Joseph McCarney and an Oisin McDonnell free and began to take control and when John McGuckian doubled on a loose ball to send a screamer to the net and put the division 4 side in a strong position.

That long range goal from Davitt’s late in the half brought the visitors right back into it and set the scene for a great second half with the result in the melting pot right up to the final whistle.

It was Davitt’s who built on their late first half flurry to move ahead through Donn Whelan before Anthony Rowntree struck with his first goal to move his side four ahead and when the same player got in for his second and his side’s third after 12 minutes it looked a long way back for the home side.

St. Brigid’s looked in serious trouble but they came back strongly with points from Brian McGurk, Phelim Lennon 0-2, Oisin McDonnell and Niall Duffy to close the gap to the minimum as they produced a storming finish but the equaliser just would not come as Davitt’s held on for an opening day victory

Davitt’s are at home to All Saints on the 19th August while St. Brigid’s travel to Rasharkin on the same night and the Junior B champions need something from that game if they are to stand any chance of qualifying from the group while the Ballymena side are in a similar position having lost to Rasharkin in Ballymena last night.

Anthony Rowntree who’s 2 goals edged davitt’s to victory over St. Brigid’s at Musgrave Park last night

St. Brigid’s: 1 Chris Lundy, 2 Conor Leonard, 5 Brian mcGurk, 6 Cathal Conway, 7 Gerard Henvey, 8 Joseph McCarney, 9 Niall Murtagh, 10 Fergal Layden, 11 Rory Flanagan, 12 Keevan Grieve, 13 Oisin McDonnell, 14 John McGuckian, 15 Niall Duffy, 16 Mark Sidebottom, 17 Garet7 Gileece, 18 Declan Lawn, 19 Oliver Leggett, 20 Phelim Lennon, 22 Eoghan O’Mainnin, 23 Tod Engman, 24 Chris Quinn

Davitt’s: 1 Thomas Maguire, 2 Odhran Gorman, 3 Michael Rowntree, 4 Ruairi McIlroy, 5 Colm McKee, 6 Caoimhin O’hEanna, 7 Antoin McLaughlin, 8 Peter Og Carlton, 9 Deaglan Mooney, 11 Stephen McGivern, 12 Marcas Toner, 13 Cormac Maguire, 14 Anthony Rowntree, 15 Conor John Sullivan, 20 Donn Whelan

Referee: Aidan Kelly (St. John’s)

by thesaffrongael

McManus leads from the front as Cushendall cruise through

Bathshack Senior Hurling Championship – Group 2

ST Enda’s 0-8 Cushendall 2-30

All in a day’s work for Neill McManus. Helped save a man’s life on the way to work in the morning, scored 1-15 for his club Ruairi Og in the evening. The years may be ticking over but the big Cushendall man doesn’t appear to be slowing down as he gave another incredible man of the match performance as the Ruairi’s had too much in the tank for Naomh Eanna at Hightown. He scored 0-8 in the first half and 1-7 in the second to help his team to a runaway 2-30 to 0-8 victory. The Glengormly men were in the game for the first twenty minutes and showed great fight and determination, but Cushendall put their foot to the pedal and were eight clear by the break. 0-13 to 0-5. After the change of ends they upped their level even more as a demoralised St Enda’s side just couldn’t cope. The didn’t score during the first 21 minutes of the second half by which time Cusehndall had added a further 1-14, the goal coming from McManus, and by the end they were 28 in arrears. They have a two week break before facing St John’s in round 2 and they know they have a lot of work to do if they are to keep their season alive.

St Enda’s Philly Curran in action against Cushendall’s Alex Delargy

St Enda’s opened the scoring on four minutes with a long range point from right half back Cormack Ross, and after McManus came back with two at the other end, Ross hit another brilliant point from inside his own 45 metre line. Three more from McManus plus points apiece from Aidan McNaughton and ‘Fred’ McCurry stretched the Ruairis lead to five, but a pointed free from close range by Joe Maskey and another excellent point from distance by Cormac Ross left just three between the sides on 21 minutes. The home team must have been happy enough the way things were panning out at this stage, but Cushendall began to turn the screw and five more from McManus and one from Paddy Gill stretched the gap out to eight by the time Colum McDonald blew the half time whistle.

Cushendall’s salvo late in the first half appeared to knock the stuffing out of St Enda’s and it was all of 21 minutes before they raised their first flag of the second half, by which time the Ruairis were over the hill and far away, scoring 1-14 without reply, 1-16 of it from McManus, 0-3 from Paddy McGill, two from Eoin Campbell, plus one each from Scott Walsh Fred McCurry and Alex Delargy

Cushendall’s Niall McCormick runs at the St Enda’s defence

Luke O’Connor, Eoin Conlon and Conor Bradley came back with points for St Enda’s but Cushendall substitute Fergus McCambridge finished it all with a well taken goal.

A great start for Cushendall but they will face a tougher task when they meet Loughgiel  at Dunsilly in two weeks’ time

ST ENDA’S

Martin Curran, Conor McAlister, Niall O’Connor, Ruairi Diamond, Cormac Jennings, Ryan Bogue, Cormac Ross, Owen Kennedy, Oisin Quinn, Philip Curran, Manus Mullan, Ruairi Donaghy, Ryan Eager, Joe Maskey, Eoin Conlon.

Subs – Conor Bradley, Conor McSteen, Luke O’Connor

CUSHENDALL

Eoin Gillan, Liam Gillan, Paddy Burke, Martin Burke, Mark Donaghy, Eoghan Campbell, Scott Walsh, Alex Delargy, Niall McCormick, Dominic Delargy, Sean McAfee, Aidan McNaughton, Paddy McGill, Neill McManus, Francis McCurry

Subs – Fergus McCambridge, Ryan McCambride, Christy McNaughton

St Enda’s chairman Paul McKeown presents the sponsorship cheque to John McIlwaine of the Saffron Gael at half time in the St Enda’s v Cushendall championship game. Pic by JJ Lawell
by thesaffrongael

Rasharkin Make a Winning Start 

Casement Social Club Junior Hurling Championship

Rasharkin 3-19 All Saints 1-14

Friday August 8

Brendan McTaggart reports from Quinn Park, Ballymena

Rasharkin made a winning start to their Junior Championship campaign at a sun kissed Quinn Park on Friday evening as they saw off the challenge of All Saints in what was a feisty affair.  The men from Dreen had 11 points to spare over the home side in a match that had that championship feel right from the first whistle and two red cards in the second half but ultimately it was Rasharkin who had the superior firepower and defensive nous to take the honours.

The visitors dropped Shane Hasson into a sweeping roll and kept Donagh Quigg and Conor McKeever on the inside forward line.  The twin attacking threat proved to be more than a handful for the All Saints men, scoring 2-12 between them, 2-7 of that from play.  Both men showed touches of brilliance throughout the hour and an ability to take scores from anywhere on the pitch.

The Ballymena men started this contest well and in Ciaran Neeson they have a player who they can rely on in attack.  Top scoring for his side with 1-7, Neeson was the outstanding player for All Saints.  His natural instincts in attack were matched with his ability to win clean ball in the middle third, a quality asset for the Ballymena men.

In an attempt to come to terms with Rasharkin’s tactics and attacking threat, All Saints rejigged their line up to leave Kevin Brady and latterly, substitute Cathair Cunning in the sweeping role but such was the quality of ball into the Rasharkin forward line along with the intensity of pressing from their forward unit, it was an unenviable task to try and keep the Rasharkin attack quiet.

Both sides finished the match with 14 men, Gary Miskella seeing red for a second yellow card with a quarter of the game remaining while Ruairi O’Boyle was sent off in the last minute of the hour.  In a contest where referee Sean Elliott would have needed eyes on the back of his head, it should be said the Lamh Dhearg official allowed the game to flow and both teams got on with it, adding to the championship intensity and making for an entertaining game.

The sides were tied on five points apiece when the first goal of the game came in the 17th minute.  Conor McKeever with a super catch and holding off two challenges, still had the presence of mind to find Conor McFerran in space and he made no mistake.

All Saints response was emphatic, scoring the next five points unanswered with Ciaran Neeson, Cormac Magill and Damian Gillan all finding the posts to take a two point lead with seven minutes of the first half remaining but Rasharkin dominated the closing stages of the first half.  Their second major came with six minutes of the half remaining, Ruairi O’Boyle’s effort dropping short and Conor McKeever ghosted behind the All Saints defence, judged the flight of the sliotar and with a deft touch, beat the rushing Ciaran Cassley in the All Saints goal.  A wonderful piece of skill that ignited the St Mary’s men as they scored a further four points in quick succession to go in at half time 2-9 to 0-10 ahead at the short whistle.

The visitors to Quinn Park started the second half in the same mood with a further three points registered to make it 1-7 without reply before Cormac Magill got the home side firing again in the 37th minute.

The sides went score for score before the game changed through the dismissal of Miskella.  Rasharkin capitalised on the numerical advantage by scoring their third goal.  Tiernan O’Boyle sending the sliotar long from the heart of the Rasharkin defence to the waiting Donagh Quigg.  The Rasharkin forward deflected the sliotar into space with a delightful touch and raced through on goal.  His finish was emphatic and effectively sealed Rasharkin’s win with a little over ten minutes remaining.

All Saints looked for goals that would bring them back into the tie with a number of frees dropping into the Rasharkin square and their efforts were rewards with five minutes remaining.  Substitute Daire Hasson holding off Rasharkin tackles before passing to Ciaran Neeson and he showed his attacking instincts once again, doubling on the sliotar in mid-air to give Liam Tunney no chance with an unstoppable shot from close range.

It was a case of too little too late however as Rasharkin showed enough to control the time that remained despite Ruairi O’Boyle seeing red.

Rasharkin now cast their sights to a meeting with Junior ‘B’ winners, St Brigids while All Saints travel to Davitts in the next round of fixtures.

TEAMS

All Saints: Ciaran Cassley; Dwayne McKee, Colum Neeson, Kevin Brady; Terence Diamond, Gary Miskella, Padhraig Magill; Jack Magill, Vincent Esler; Eoin Magee, Damian Gillan, James O’Boyle; Ciaran Neeson, Liam Cassley, Cormac Magill

Scorers: Ciaran Neeson 1-7 (4f’s); Liam Cassley 0-2; Cormac Magill 0-2; Eoin Magee 0-1; Damian Gillan 0-1; James O’Boyle 0-1

Rasharkin: Liam Tunney; Connaire Donaghy, Conor Doherty, James Higgins; Ruairi O’Boyle, Daniel Doherty, Aidan McKeever; Emmett McFerran, Tiernan O’Boyle; Shane Hasson, Conor McFerran, Declan McKay; Conor McKillop, Donagh Quigg, Conor McKeever

Scorers: Conor McKeever 1-8 (4f’s 1 ’65); Donagh Quigg 1-4; Conor McFerran 1-2; Tiernan O’Boyle 0-2 (1 ’65); Declan McKay 0-2

Referee: Sean Elliott (Lamh Dhearg)