Ballycastle made it four wins in a row in Division 1 of the Antrim Hurling League when they beat Ballycran at Pairc MacUilin on Sunday.
The Down men went three clear in the early stages but a point from Neal McAuley and a goal by Ronan Laverty put the Town ahead. Conor McCarry pointed to increase the lead to two but a Conor Woods gave Ballycran back the lead. However a goal by Seamus McAuley put the home side back in front and after points from Rambo McCarry and Darragh Donnelly Neal McAuley hit his second goal of the game to give the Town a 3-6 to 1-10 lead at half time.
Points by Tiernan Smyth, Darragh Donnelly and Conor Donnelly stretched the Ballycastle lead at the start of the second half and when a long ball by Conor Donnelly deceived the Ballycran goalkeeper and ended up in the net the gap was out to seven. Rambo McCarry added a point and soon afterwards goal number five arrived, Conor Donnelly again on the scoreboard.
It seemed an easy run in at this stage but it was from it as Ballycran hit back with two goals of their own as Conor Woods got his second of the game and Jake Miskimmon added his team’s third but Ballycastle held on to win by seven in the end
An injury time goal from full forward Eoin Trainor gave Rossa victory over Cushendall in Sunday’s Division 1 League game at Pairc Mhuir, a result which sees the Belfast men move to the top of the table on score difference.
Rossa were four clear with eight minutes of normal time still to play, but three pointed frees from Joe McNaughton and one from play by Fiontan Bradley brought the Ruairis level as the game entered injury time. It looked like the point would be shared but Rossa won possession in the 72nd minute and his Trainor’s shot from forty metres found the net to keep his team’s recent good run going. Bradley came back with a point but it was too little, too late for the home side and the final whistle sounded on the poc out.
The first twenty minutes of the opening half were evenly matched with both teams scoring well but goals from corner forward James Connolly, midfielder Deaglan Murphy and Corey Walsh sent Rossa to the changing room with a 3-12 to 1-09 advantage, the Cushendall goal coming from Joseph McNaughton.
Cushendall got back into the game when they hit the first five points of the second half, three of them from McNaughton and one each from Fred McCurry and Padraig McKillop. Rossa edged ahead again and had opened up a four point lead by the 52nd minute, but four in a row from the home side brought things level. A draw looked to be on the cards, but Rossa came again and ET sealed the win for the Shaw’s Road men to keep them level at the top with Loughgiel and city rivals St John’s
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This highly anticipated top of the table clash at Fennell Park between Naomh Bríd and Ciceam Ard Eoin was an entertaining encounter, without ever really igniting for the gathered crowd. Twenty nine scores coming from frees in what was never an over physical encounter tells a tale.
The game got off to a good start with the home side firing ahead with a point from Matt McKillen. James Kelly soon replied for Naomh Bríd with his first of ten points from frees in the opening half. While Kelly will be pleased with his contribution, Naomh Bríd will reflect that not a single point of their scores came from opening play.
Ciceam Ard Eoin scored four points from open play in the first half but the continual stoppages in play prevented either side getting anything resembling a rhythm into their play. Patrick McGreevey for Ciceam Ard Eoin also had his signs lined up, managing to pick up seven scores from frees along with two from open play.
The opening half came to an close with only two points between the two sides and the crowd looked forward to a more free flowing second half.
Half-Time: Ciceam Ard Eoin 0-11 Naomh Bríd 1-10
Kelly opened up the second half scoring for Naomh Bríd with another point from a free before Cormac Barnes struck the sliothar over the bar following a clever free from McGreevy. Oisin McDonnell came more into the game for Naomh as the second half progressed and picked up three points from play.
McGreevy was the target man for Ciceam Ard Eoin with Paddy Heaney increasingly making his presence felt, but they were frustrated by the free count that continued to mount in the second half.
The sides were never far apart and Ciceam Ard Eoin drew the gap even tighter as the game entered its final quarter. They sensed the win that would bring them level with Naomh Bríd but were let down by a lack of discipline that saw their numbers reduced and were unable to overcome the disadvantage of a player short.
The excitement increased in the final 10 minutes as it was clear that this was anyone’s game. The sides were nip and tuck and while Ciceam Ard Eoin drew level they were unable to press ahead. Both sides had opportunities to win this match, but neither will be too disappointed as a draw was a fair result on the day.
Full-Time: Ciceam Ard Eoin 0-23 Naomh Bríd 1-20
Ciceam Ard Eoin: Conor O’Neill, Sean Searle, Caolan Wallace, Eamonn Mac Lochlainn, Dan Moore, Martin McLaughlin, Christopher McShane, Piarais Hull, Paul McGuigan, Aran Stewart (0-01), Paddy Heaney (0-04), Matt McKillen (0-01), Enda Slattery, Fionntain Lagan, Padraig McGreevy (0-13, 11f), Cormac Barnes (0-03), Kealan McCallan, Fiachra McVicker, JP Agnew, Cahal Clarke, Stephen Hill, Micheál McGreevey (0-01)
Naomh Bríd: Michael Burke, Peadar Middleton, Garrett Gilleece, Jack Massingham. Jack Pardy, Conor McElhatton, Peter Heaney, Niall Murtagh, James Kelly (0-16, 13f) Donncha McGurk, David Prenter (0-01), Cuan Polley, Oisin McDonnell (1-03), Brian McGurk, Owen McCarney, Matthew Madden, Finlay Blockley, Oliver Liggett, Dara Sidebottom, John McGuckian, Chris Lundy, Pearse
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In near perfect conditions for hurling Glenariffe and Bredagh both fielded with a number of regulars missing but still produced a very entertaining game which was in the balance right to the end.
Oliver Kearney who scored 2-3 in the Oisins league win over Bredagh
Both teams started brightly and matched each other score for score. Glenariffe opening up with points from Seanie McIntosh and Aaron Cosgrove, but were pegged backed by the hard working Bredagh team with points from Joe Hanrahan and John Dougan. Glenariffe then opened up a gap when Oliver Kearney scored a goal and a point within 60 seconds but once again Bredagh fought their way back into the game with a well worked goal of their own from Ben Christie. Glenariffe who were playing against the breeze in the first half kept their noses in front with scores from Seanie McIntosh, Calum McIlwaine and Brogan O’Connor but they couldn’t shake off Bredagh who where able to pick off scores from Sean McCollum and Ben Christie. Glenariffe where then guilty of a number of wides before Aaron Cosgrove got their second goal of the game to ease the pressure. However we didn’t have to wait long before Bredagh hit back with their second goal from Joe Hanrahan. Both sides traded points for the remainder of the half, Glenariffe’s scores coming from three Seanie McIntosh’s frees and points from play from Odhran Gillan and Brogan O’Connor, to go in at halftime with Glenariffe a point up on 2-12 to 2-11.
Glenariffe started the second half well with scores from play from Seanie McIntosh, Brogan O’Connor and Niall Murray but they continued to miss a number of opportunities which helped to keep Bredagh in the game, with their scores coming from John Dougan and Ben Christie. Glenariffe were now beginning to get on top and using the ball better out of defence, and when Oliver Kearney got his second goal of the game you thought they would push on from there. But once again Bredagh came back with their own points and then they were awarded a penalty which was well placed, by John Dougan, in the corner past Seanan McToal, who lined out in goals for the second half. It was now game on again, but Glenariffe responded really well to push on and have their best spell in the game with some great scores. Aaron Cosgrove replied for Glenariffe followed by an Orrin O’Connor point, who had now taken over the free taking duties. Oliver Kearney took his tally to 2-3 for the day with another good point, before his cousin Calum McIlwaine hit two good points in a row to push the gap out to 5 points. Seanie McIntosh who started the second period with a point for Glenariffe got their final point of the half to bring his total to 0-7. That should have been game over at this stage but Bredagh got a consolation goal at the end to finish the game on a scoreline of Glenariffe 3-23 to Bredagh 4-17.
Paul McMullan (right) of McMullan Shellfish presents a new set of jerseys to Glenariffe managers Shay O’Hagan and Hugh Dobbin, plus team captain Conor Patterson before Sunday’s league game with Bredagh
Both team will be pleased with their performances as they were both missing a number of regulars. Glenariffe stay top of the league and remain unbeaten with 6 wins from 6, and Bredagh are a much better team than their league position would suggest and will be a real handful when at full strength.
Glenariffe – P McMullan, P McIlwaine, M Haughey, C Devlin, B O’Connor(0-2), N Magee, C Graham, O Gillan(0-1), C McIlwaine(0-3), O Kearney(2-3), N Murray(0-2), D Kearney, A Cosgrove(1-2), S McIntosh(0-7, 3 frees), O O’Connor(0-3, 2 frees). Subs used – S McToal for P McMullan, R leech for O Gillan.
Bredagh – I Galway, E Browne, M Woods, L Hogan, E Maguire, O McFlynn, E Curran, M Lavery(1-1), T Sheehan, O Morgan Lyttle, J Hanrahan(1-1), J Dougan(1-6, 1 penalty, 4 frees), S McCollam(0-2), B Christie(1-3), F Blaney(0-1). Subs used – C O’Neill for L Hogan, S Hughes for T Sheehan, M Corry for J Hanrahan.
Cushendun moved up to fourth in Division 2 of the Antrim Hurling League when they beat Sarsfields in Sunday’s game at CushLig an Airgid. In a high scoring game the home side led by 0-14 to 0-10 going into injury time but three late points by the Paddies but the deficit to a single point at the break. Cushendun regained the upper hand during the second period but they were never really comfortable, and it took two late scores from the home side to put them five clear at the end.
Mark McSparran got the home side on the scoreboard inside the opening minute, but three in a row from the ever accurate Donal McKernan put the Paddies two clear by the sixth minute. Tom Scally brought the gap back to a point before two from Conor McHugh and one by ‘Loaf’ McNeill moved the home team two ahead.
Another pointed free by Donal McKernan and two from play by Enda McCartan brought Sarsfields level by the 13th minute, and though Loaf McNeill edged the home side ahead again, McKernan and McCartan replied with points to give the Paddies back the lead. Five points on the trot from Loaf McNeill, Jack McKay, Aidan Corbett, Andrew Breslin and Conor McHugh gave Cushendun a bit of a cushion as half time approached but the Paddies finished the half strongly and two injury time points from Donal McKernan and one from Oisin Coleman left them just one in arrears by the time match referee Mark O’Neill sounded the half-time whistle.
Kilgore, McHugh, McNeill and O’Hara hit four of the first five points of the second half, the other one coming from Coleman for the visitors, and the gap was out to four.
McKernan, McCartan and Coleman closed the gap with well taken points, but the home team hit the next five to give themselves a five point cushion. They held that five point lead with just a minute of normal time to play, when Sarsfields closed to within one score with points from Daniel Smith and Caolan McKernan but the home team sealed the win with late points from Conor McHugh and Conrad McDonnell to win by five in the end.
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