Under 15A Hurling Championship

Ruairi Og Cushendall 1-22 Ard na Rí 3-7

Ard na Ri U15 Hurlers will rue the slow start that gave Feile Champions Cushendall a commanding first half lead, in Tuesday evening’s thrilling Championship Semi-Final played in Cushendall.

The unbeaten Ruairi Ogs displayed unerring accuracy, and gave an exhibition of point scoring to build up a 14 point half time lead.

They started with points from Fiontan Bradley (2), Fiontan McKillop, Shane McQuillan and Ryan McAuley, before Ar na Ri came back with a point from Ronan Taylor. Two more from Bradly and one from McKillop stretched the lead and though McGurk came back with one for the visitors, the Ruairis finished the half strongly with a flurry of scores, Including a Thomas McLaughlin goal, to lead by 1-13 to 0-2 at the interval.

The Ard na Ri players regrouped at half time and came out fighting for every ball in the second half. With county player Michael Marlow starting to dominate at full back, Ard na Ri grew in confidence as the game progressed. Following three well worked goals from Donnacha McGurk, Joe McKay and Finn McCann, Ard Na Ri had narrowed the gap to just 4 points with 10 minutes remaining. However Ard Na Ri began to tire towards the end, and Cushendall found their range in the last five minutes to ease home on a scoreline of 1:22 to 3:07.

Under 15A Hurling Championship semi-final

Glenariffe/Glenravel 0-4(4) Loughgiel: 1-16(19)

Loughgiel booked their place in the Under 15A Hurling Championship final when they beat Glenariffe/Glenravel in the semi-final at Waterfoot on Tuesday evening. The Glenariffe/Glenravel boys were well in the game during the opening quarter and after Loughgiel started with an Oisin Connolly point Joe McKay drew them level in the third minute. Daniel O’Mullan and Caolan McCollum pointed to put the Shamrocks two ahead after nine minutes but Gerard Burns and Joe McKay came back with points for the home side to square things up once again

However the rest of the half belonged to the Shamrocks as they hit 1-6 without reply before half time, the goal coming from left half forward Oisin Connolly, while Daniel O’Mullan got three of the points and Caolan O’Mullan, Ryan O’Boyle and Conan Johnston the other three.

The first ten minutes of the second half saw Loughgiel add four more, two from Conan Johnston and one each from O’Mullan and O’Boyle to put the game out of site. Joe McKay pulled own back for Glenariffe/Glenravel on 52 minutes but Johnston, O’Mullan and Connolly wrapped it all up to set up a final meeting with Cushendall.

Senior Reserve Championship Semi Final

Monday 29^th August

Report by Niall Kelly 

Loughgiel Shamrocks 2-25   O’Donovan Rossa 0-09

Loughgiel secured their place in the Senior Reserve Hurling Final with familiar foes Cushendall with an emphatic win over a battling Rossa side. The foundation of their success was built upon a dominant display in the middle third in the first half and an unrelenting desire to press and despatch scores ruthlessly in the second. Maol Connolly, often the conductor and pulling the strings in attack, notched up a personal tally of 1-08 and was unplayable at times with Damian Quinn also in potent form boasting a total of 1-04 for his side. Perhaps even more pleasing for the Loughgiel management team was the fact that scores were shared across the team with 10 different outfield players getting on the scoresheet. A purple period in the last ten minutes of the first half essentially sealed Rossa’s unfortunate fate as the hosts rattled over eight points without reply to stretch into what would be an unassailable lead of 0-15 0-04 at the short whistle.

Centre forwards Callum McVeigh and Maol Connolly exchanged scores in the opening minutes before Loughgiel seized the early initiative and raced into a 0-06 0-01 lead with scores from Connolly, Damian Quinn, Michael McGarry and the mercurial Shay Casey. Rossa responded well though and had cut the deficit to three points midway through the half as Dara Rocks began to exert his influence on proceedings with Diarmuid Rogan and Callum McVeigh on target yet again for the Shaws Road outfit.

The Shamrocks though switched to another gear approaching the half and began to turn the screw. Pinpoint passing and interchanging of attacking options bamboozled Rossa and the hosts were turning on the style. Maol Connolly was in on the scoring act and turned provider for the next three scores from McGarry and Quinn with the pick of the bunch a fine score from wing back Conal McCloskey who finished a slick and flowing attacking move. Declan Gillan’s long range effort saw the sides retreat to the changing rooms with Rossa looking to scale a steep mountain in the second half, trailing by eleven.

The men in blue and yellow started brightly in the second period with early scores from Eoin Trainor and McVeigh but the hosts seemed to have an answer for any minor setback and replied with scores of their own with corner forwards McGarry and Ronan McCollum on target.

Rossa’s fate was well and truly sealed after the first green flag of the evening. Rather fittingly it was Connolly who dealt the blow with a thunderous effort to the net from a close range free on the thirty eighth minute as the deficit was now fourteen points.

To their credit though, Rossa’s spirit was never in question and they sought about their business with their determination never waning. Rocks and Trainor responded with points from range but the cogs in the Loughgiel machine began to turn with even more vigour and they were relentless in their pressing and intensity. Caolan Blair got in on the act with an excellent point after embarking on a surging run from centre half back before Quinn got himself a major after tenacious work and utilising his blistering pace to cause havoc in the Rossa rear-guard. The scores kept coming for the hosts and it was the trusty hurl of Connolly who continued to heap misery on the visitors, devastatingly accurate from the placed ball.

Rossa continued to fight despite the sizable margin and with Niall Devlin marshalling the defence, they did all they could to supress the might of the Shamrock’s attack. Further scores from Quinn and Patrick Laverty put the seal on an efficient and domineering performance.

Credit to both teams for an entertaining game of hurling. Despite the discrepancy on the score sheet, Rossa had their moments of class in the game but just couldn’t cope with the ferocity and relentlessness of the Loughgiel attack. A very intriguing final with Cushendall is certainly on the cards.

Teams

Loughgiel:

C McFadden; F Henry, D McPeake, C Henry; R McCormick, C Blair (0-01,) C McCloskey (0-01;) D Gillan (0-01,) C McKay (0-01;) P Laverty (0-01,) M Connolly (1-08,) D Quinn (1-04;) R McCollum (0-02,) S Casey (0-02,) M McGarry (0-04)

Pearses

C Rocks; A McLean, E O’Neill, C Boyle; P Short, E Trainor (0-02,) N Devlin; O May, D Rogan (0-01;) D Rocks (0-02,) C McVeigh (0-04,) C McPartland; J Quinn, R O’Neill, J Reynolds

Senior Reserve Hurling Championship semi-final

Cushendall 3-15 Ballycastle 0-21

An injury time goal from substitute Paddy Sharpe earned Cushendall victory over Ballycastle in Sunday’s Senior Hurling Reserve Cup semi-final at Pairc Muire, and sent the Ruairi’s through to a final meeting with the winners of tonight’s (Monday) semi-final between Loughgiel and Rossa.

A pointed free from Cormac McClafferty one minute from the end of normal time had brought Cushendall level, but when Tiernan Smyth sent one over at the other end one minute into injury time it looked like the Town would go through. However straight from the pic-out the ball broke around the Ballycastle ‘square’ and Sharpe guided it home to put the Dall two clear, before Cormac McClafferty sealed it with a late point from play.

In a lively opening quarter Ballycastle had the better of things and led by 0-5 to 0-3, and when they hit the next four scores, three from Tiernan Smyth and one from Mickey Dallat they were in a strong position, but Cushendall hit back with two apiece from Sean McAfee and Seanan Black to close within two at half time.

Two more Smyth points early in the second half put Ballycastle four clear, but a Senan Black point brought Cushendall back to three, and when Sean McAfee grabbed the first goal of the game the sides were level. Ballycastle kept picking off the points and Tiernan Smyth, Ferghal McKiernan and Joe McToal put them three clear again. It remained that way after McCafferty and McKiernan exchanged points, but two more for McClafferty was followed by and Andrew Delargy goal on fifty minutes, which gave the Ruairis a two point advantage.

Two more Tiernan Smyth points tied things up again  going down the home straight. Paddy Sharpe put Cushendall back ahead but Joe McToal and Smyth pointed to swing the game back in the ‘Town’s’ favour. McClafferty levelled it again going into injury time, but when Smith sent another free between the posts his team’s seemed set for a final place. It was not be however and Sharpe’s late goal, and McClaferty’s insurance point sealed the deal for the men in maroon.