By Brendan Crossan

PAUL Brady’s hit song ‘Nothing but the same old story’ must have ricocheted all around Corrigan Park every time St John’s reached the semi-final stages of the Antrim Senior Hurling Championship over the last decade.

When the Dunloy hurlers beat O’Donovan Rossa heavily in 2021 to make it a magnificent three-in-a-row, hurling’s gaze turned away from Belfast again.

Colly Murphy’s ‘Rossa side had well and truly scorched the senior championship that year and were the first city club to reach the showpiece final since St Gall’s gate-crashed the decider in 2014, but Gregory O’Kane’s Dunloy side were arguably at their peak and just too good.   

You’d need to go further back – 20 more years, to be precise – to remember the last time St John’s made it to a senior final, only to lose to an up-and-coming Dunloy in ’94. 

“I was only starting out and came on in the county final in the 1994 against Dunloy,” said Johnnies man Brian McFall. “You were thinking: ‘This is great this craic – we’ll play in finals every year.’

“But we didn’t. 1994 was my one and only appearance in a county final. I didn’t get to play in another one.”

Keep tumbling deeper into the archives, to 1973, when the Johnnies last won the Volunteer Cup – a time when Tommy Best, Gerry McCann, Des Armstrong, John Gough, Andy McCallin and Sean Burns ruled the roost and went on to claim Ulster that same season. 

Entering the 1980s, former county hurler and Johnnies man Collie Donnelly played in four senior hurling finals and lost all of them – and yet played in five football finals and won all five.

Climbing the small-ball summit proved beyond the west Belfast club and the Volunteer Cup soon became the preserve of north Antrim with Dunloy, Cushendall and Loughgiel Shamrocks sharing the coveted silver among themselves.

Over the last decade the Johnnies assumed the unwanted tag of the ‘nearly men’ of Antrim hurling.

Time and again they came up short. Hoodoo and semi-finals were synonymous with the Whiterock Road club.

Even though they firmly believed that they possessed the talent to win a championship – among them, the Johnstons, the Bradleys, the Bohills – there was always somebody better than them in any given year, and that’s all it took. 

They lost five consecutive semi-finals between 2018 and 2022. Nobody did crushing semi-final defeats quite like the Johnnies. 

Just when you thought they couldn’t lose in more dramatic fashion, the Johnnies out-done themselves every year. 

In 2018, they were five up with five minutes to play against their nemesis Cushendall and somehow conjured defeat.

The following year, it was the Ruairi Ogs again who denied them a final spot.

St John’s forged ahead twice in stoppage-time but Cushendall came back to draw the game before going on to win a tense replay. 

No club championship lifted the COVID gloom in 2020 more than Antrim’s – an unforgettable series of games that was topped by a miraculous one-armed display from Domhnall Nugent who singlehandedly took the game to Loughgiel Shamrocks.

The trees around Dunsilly still whisper about Nugent’s skill and courage that day.

Now keeping goal for St John’s this season and interpreting the role supremely well, Nugent could be on Davy Fitzgerald’s radar as back-up to Ryan Elliott.

In 2021, controversy reigned in Dunsilly as Ciaran Johnston was red-carded after 90 seconds and defending champions Dunloy advanced to another final.

In 2022, the Johnnies opened up with a fine win over Loughiel Shamrocks in Corrigan Park but suffered a surprise collapse in their last four joust with Dunloy.

Two first-half goals from Conal Cunning and a third from Nigel Elliott ruined St John’s final chances. Dunloy were unstoppable. The Johnnies went back to the drawing board.

“As soon as Dunloy got the first goal, our heads dropped and we never recovered,” McFall said.

Faith in the Johnnies began to sag after that. Club stalwart Mickey Johnston came back for another managerial stint and kept the side competitive before leaving the reins for Gerard Cunningham this season.  

The Johnnies team-sheet hasn’t changed a great deal over the last number of years – but nobody, outside of the players themselves, expected 2025 to be the year the west Belfast club reached their first final since ’94.

In their quarter-final at St Enda’s on the Hightown Road, O’Donovan Rossa were the better team – until an unfortunate slip, a scuffed goal from Michael Bradley and a raking score from defender Ryan McNulty saw the Johnnies tear up the script.

Cushendall awaited them in the semi-finals. 

The entire county began humming Paul Brady’s hit song as the Johnnies struggled to reel their north Antrim rivals in midway through the second half.

But once they managed to quell the influence of Cushendall’s brilliant young corner-forward Fiontan Bradley, the Johnnies were back in the game.

Enda McGurk, Peter McCallin and Ryan McNulty excelled in the Johnnies defence while Ciaran Johnston – the team fixer – won’t play many better games for the rest of his career than the one he produced against Cushendall.

Conor Johnston, Ciaran’s brother, passed the semi-final stress test, as did Conal Bohill and Shea Shannon in the two periods of extra-time to reach the final.

While so many gave up on them some years back, the St John’s players never stopped believing. 

You just need to trace the team-sheet back to bleaker days and appreciate what resilience looks like.

As Loughgiel Shamrocks await them in Ballycastle on Sunday, St John’s have wrestled the quill and are intent on writing their own piece of history now.

And hurling’s gaze has turned to the city again. 

ABOVE – Loughgiel’s Rian ‘Bubbles’ McMullan celebrates after scoring Loughgiel’s third goal in Sunday’s win over Dunloy at Pairc Mhuire, Cushendall

Bathshack Antrim Senior Hurling Championship – Semi-final 

Loughgiel 3-21 Dunloy 2-23

For the second day in a row we saw a shock result in the Antrim Senior Hurling Championship semi-finals. On Saturday St John’s caused an upset when they dethroned the holders Cushendall and on Sunday Loughgiel Shamrocks produced what many people would rate as an even bigger upset when they beat hotly fancied Dunloy in an epic contest at Pairc Mhuire.

For twenty minutes of the game it all appeared to be going as predicted, and when the Cuchullains opened up an eight point lead after twenty one minutes the smart money would have been on them securing a final spot against St John’s in two weeks’ time. However Loughgiel dug deep when they were really up against it and rattled off five points in a row to close the gap to three, before Seaan Elliott fired over in injury time to give his team a four point cushion.

The restart was delayed because a member of the crowd needed medical treatment but once things got going the Shamrocks burst from the traps and hit 1-04 without reply in the first seven minutes to move a goal ahead. Dunloy finally got going and closed the gap to a single point, but a brilliant individual goal by James McNaughton started a run which saw them lead by eight points, a third goal brilliantly taken by Rian ‘Bubbles’ McMullan apparently in full control.

However Dunloy found another gear in the last ten minutes of normal time, and boosted by the return of Coby Cunning, one year after a cruciate knee injury, and a brilliant Keelan Molloy goal they drew level as the game went into injury time. With the allotted five minutes added time almost up  James McNaughton edged them back ahead with a pointed free, but there was still time for Dunloy to hit the  equaliser.

Extra time seemed almost certain at this stage but from the puc-out Rian McMullan won possession and split the posts to the load cheers of the Shamrocks fans. Those cheers were were silenced when Dunloy won a free seconds later to give Seaan Elliott the chance to tie things up again, but his shot from just outside the 65 tailed right off the target and the final whistle sounded seconds later to signal Shamrocks celebrations.

The opening quarter of the game was fantastic viewing as the scores came thick and fast as scores from Betty McKee and James McNaughton were answered by the brilliant Keelan Molloy. A pointed free by McNaughton had the Shamrocks 0-03 to 0-02 ahead on four minutes, but a brilliant goal Nigel Elliott gave Dunloy the lead for the first time a minute later. Rian McMullan and Roan McGarry came back with points for Loughgiel but they were answered by Molloy and Seaan Elliott to keep the game on a knife edge.

Dunloy got on top during the next ten minutes and with the wind behind them Kevin Molloy, Sean Elliott, Aodhan McGarry and Tom McFerran picked off scores and apparently put them in control, two pointed frees by James McNaughton were followed by two brilliant long range efforts inside a minute by half back Declan McCloskey gave their challenge a real shot in the arm. When Betty McKee sent over a magnificent point from a sideline ‘cut’ the gap was back to three, but another pointed free by Seaan Elliott with the last poc of the first half sent the Cuchullains in at the break with a four point cushion.

There were discussion among the pundits at half time about just how strong the win was but that was soon answered on the resumption when James McNaughton and Roan McGarry cut the deficit in half with two well taken points and when Dan McCloskey got in behind the Dunloy defence to fire home his team’s opening goal they were in front with just three minutes played.  There was more to come from the men in red as Dan McCloskey added a point from a narrow angle and Bubbles McMullan followed with an excellent point.

The Elliott brothers Seaan and Nigel hit three of the next four scores to close the gap but the score of the game came a minute later when James McNaughton broke through the middle of the Dunloy defence and rifled a shot past Ryan Elliott to the back of the net. Seaan Elliott came back with a point but substitute Shan McGrath replied and when Bubbles McMullan showed extrodinary dexterity to somehow pull the ball to the Dunloy net the game appeared to be over as a contest.

However Dunloy certainly didn’t think that way and the introduction of substitute Conal ‘Coby’ Cunning, a year and a day after his terrible cruciate injury on the same ground, started to swing things back Dunloy’s way. It was as if he had  never been away and three points in a five minute spell, one from Seaan Elliott and one from Keelan Molloy left just a goal between the sides. When Molloy got through for a goal to level matters in the last minute of normal time to tie up the scores few pundits could see them losing out, but Loughgiel never flinched and late points by the two men who were in line for man of the match, James McNaughton and Rian McMullan sent the Shamrocks through to their second final in three years, and their first against St John’s since 1989.

Loughgiel C McFadden; R McCormick, E Og McGarry, L Glackin; B McGarry 0-02, R McCloskey, Declan McCloskey 0-02; R McKee 0-02, D Patterson; R Fitzgerald, J McNaughton 1-07 (0-5f), R McMullan 1-04; R McGarry 0-02, P Boyle, Daniel McCloskey 1-01

Subs S McGrath 0-01 for Patterson (41), D McKinley for Boyle (58), C McCloskey for E Og McGarry (61)

Dunloy R Elliott; P Duffin, E McFerran, O Quinn; A Crawford, R McGarry, Kevin Molloy 0-1; N McKeague, A McGarry; N Elliott 1-1, Keelan Molloy 1-5, T McFerran 0-3; E O’Neill 0-1 (f), S Elliott 0-8 (0-6f), P Shiels 0-1

Subs C Cunning 0-3 for Shiels (46), D Smith for McKeague (37), C McMahon for Smith (52), O McCallin for O’Neill (55), L McFerran for T McFerran (58)

Referee K Parke (St Enda’s)

TO SEE MORE PICS FROM THIS GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

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Bathshack Senior Hurling Championship – Semi Final

St John’s 1-26 Cushendall 1-22 (aet)

Saturday 4 October

Brendan McTaggart reports from Dunsilly

Six semi-final defeats, twice on a replay and two in extra time but on Saturday afternoon, some associated with the Corrigan Park club could have been forgiven if it ever was going to happen.  But on an autumnal afternoon at Dunsilly, St John’s finally broke their semi-final curse.  It took extra time again against Cushendall, another comeback of sorts in normal time and an inner metal to get over the line as they booked their place in the county final.

It was a remarkable contest between two sides who we thought we had seen it all before.  We didn’t.  St John’s showed a determination to get over the line that might have been missing in recent years and while they finally, got to celebrate a semi-final victory.

Cushendall looked like they were doing exactly when Cushendall do.  Maybe not firing on all cylinders but find a way to get the job done.  Six points up with a little over 11 minutes remaining, they’ll be wondering how they let this one slip from their grasp.

On a day where they lost Neil McManus to a straight red card at the beginning of the second half in normal time, they found another serious match winner in Fiontan Bradley.  It felt like he was singlehandedly keeping Cushendall’s championship hopes alive and the Ruairi’s couldn’t get enough ball his direction.  He was giving the Johnnies defence a torrid time and playing the match of his life while Paddy Burke was holding their defence together with a show of leadership, skill and a tenaciousness that made him a nightmare to come up against.

Playing with a man less for nearly an hour proved to be decisive however as St John’s powered on in extra time.

Conor Johnston took the Bathshack man of the match award and rightly so.  Top of the Johnnies scoring charts with seven white flags but this was a day where plenty in blue and white put their hand up and showed their leadership qualities. Ciaran Johnston was immense while Peter McCallin was outstanding at the heart of the defence.  Playing as their spare man later in the game, McCallin’s reading of the game to get to the break of the ball was uncanny.

With the wind blowing from the scoreboard end at Dunsilly, this was always going to be a game of two halves.  Cushendall had the elements in their favour and built a four point lead by half time.  It wasn’t exactly the most fluent game of hurling we’ve witnessed this year but the intensity was incredible.  There was no such thing as a yard given, space was earned while time on the ball was a rarity.  McManus accurate from frees, Bradley at his impish best while goal keeper Conor McAlister landed two massive frees from deep in his own half.

The Johnnies were slowing the game down at every opportunity.  It felt like it took an age for every restart from the Corrigan Park side but there was little who could blame them.  They set out with a game plan and they played it to perfection.  Shea Shannon, Conor Johnston, Aaron Bradley and Oisin MacManus all with the scores.

Four points wasn’t a big lead and the Johnnies would have been the happier of the two sides at the interval.  Cushendall made changes with Fergus McCambridge and Ciaran Neeson introduced, looking to a running game to combat against the elements.  The Ruairi’s management were forced into a rethink with barely a minute on the clock in the second half.  When Fergus McCambridge was felled, both sides got involved in pushing and shoving.  Players were felled and referee Mark O’Neill had a call to make.  After consulting with his linesmen, Neil McManus saw red and the Johnnies had got a serious boost of momentum.

The opening goal of the game came moments later with a quick puck out from Domhnall Nugent finding McCallin.  He sent the sliotar towards Conall Bohill, the sliotar wasn’t taken cleanly but Aaron Bradley ran onto the loose ball, jinking one way and the other before speeding towards goal.  He left the Ruairi’s defence in his wake and fired to the bottom of Conor McAlister’s net.

Cushendall still managed to keep the score board ticking with Bradley taking over the free taking responsibility from McManus while Conall Bohill was growing into the game.

The sides were tied on 0-14 to 1-11 half way through the second half when Cushendall hit another purple patch.  They would score 1-3 in a little over four minutes to put six between the sides and Cushendall in pole position to book their place in the final.  Ryan McCambridge, Joseph McLaughlin and Bradley (free) with the points while Ciaran Neeson’s goal looked to knock the stuffing out of the St John’s challenge.

Incredibly, Cushendall would only score one more time before the final whistle as St John’s dug deep.  Conall Bohill was immense as every high ball seemed to come his way while MacManus’ frees were reeling the Cushendall lead in.

One point separated the sides as the clock ticked into injury time when Bradley’s eighth white flag put two between the sides once again.  St John’s rallied and points from Domhnall Nugent and a brilliant effort from Conor Johnston sent the semi final to extra time.

As the teams regrouped, extra time began with St John’s playing with the wind.  A couple of wides looked to derail their challenge  and when Bradley split the uprights to give Cushendall the lead it looked like the Ruairi’s were going to use all their knowhow of eeking out games to get over the line.

Scores from Shannon (free), Michail Dudley, Mick Bradley and a brace from Conor Johnston gave them a four point lead.  The second of Johnston’s brace coming as he was completely off balance and hit in mid-air.

Four points was a slender lead but St John’s controlled the second half of extra time.  Any time Cushendall got a score, they replied to keep the three point deficit with a brace of frees from captain Shea Shannon getting them over the line in injury time.

It’s been a generation since St John’s last graced the Antrim County Final, you’ll have to go longer than that since they last took the Volunteer Cup back to Corrigan Park to stay.  This team are 60 minutes away from writing their names in St John’s folklore.

TEAMS

ST JOHN’S: Domhnall Nugent; Ryan McNulty, Ciaran Johnston, Jack Bohill; Conal Morgan, Peter McCallin, Enda McGurk; Sean Wilson, Aaron Bradley; Oisin Donnelly, Conor Johnston, Conall Bohill; Donal Carson, Shea Shannon, Oisin MacManus

Scorers: Conor Johnston 0-7, O MacManus 0-6 (5f), S Shannon 0-5 (4f), A Bradley 1-2, C Bohill 0-3, D Nugent 0-1 (1f), Michael Bradley 0-1, Michail Dudley 0-1

CUSHENDALL: Conor McAlister; Charlie McAuley, Paddy Burke, Martin Burke; Scott Walsh, Eoghan Campbell, Ryan McCambridge; Fred McCurry, Ed McQuillan; Ronan McAteer, Neil McManus, Thomas McLaughlin; Fiontan Bradley, Sean McAfee, Joseph McLaughlin

Scorers: F Bradley 0-11 (6f), Ciaran Neeson 1-1, N McManus 0-3 (3f), J McLaughlin 0-2, R McCambridge 0-2, C McAlister 0-2 (2f), E Campbell 0-1

Referee: Mark O’Neill (Armoy)

TO SEE MORE OF BRENDAN’S PICS FROM THIS GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

https://myalbum.com/album/86nFahdmYVa5Aa/?invite=79cad3dd-409e-46c0-8ffd-bcfcd08fd518

Bathshack Senior Hurling Championship Semi Finals

Cushendall v St John’s

Saturday 4 October

Referee: Mark O’Neill

Throw in: 4pm

Venue: Páirc Pearse, Dunloy

Dunloy v Loughgiel

Sunday 5 October

Referee: Kevin Parke

Throw in: 3:30pm

Venue:  Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Cushendall

Brendan McTaggart looks ahead to the weekends semi finals as the Volunteer Cup reaches the last four….

And then there were four.  The race for the Volunteer Cup reaches the semi final stages and for me, the best weekend in the year.  You can almost guarantee the drama in one or both matches and this weekend could be no different.

That being said, there’s a distinct feel of déjà vu with the pairings the exact same as 12 months ago and the exact same venues…. Much to the disappointment of those from the Whiterock Road, more on that in a bit.

Cushendall play St John’s in a semi final for what feels like the 15^th year in a row, the Johnnies surely questioning the laws of averages at this stage and thinking they are due a win while Dunloy take on Loughgiel.  Should be a quiet enough affair, right?  Tongue firmly in cheek.

So, after the calls for a semi final to be played in the Big Smoke, they have taken it to God’s Country.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one.  But just like the 2024 championship, Cushendall and St John’s at Pearse Park, Dunloy.  An excellent venue, just not in the City.  In a perfect world, this match would be played in a Belfast venue, I’d agree with that.  But, realistically and I’m thinking more logistically, could one of the City clubs hold the crowd expected?  Situations like this is just another reason why we are still frustrated at the lack of progress with the Casement Park development, or lack off.

On the game itself, both sides will feel they have a bit to prove to themselves.  St John’s, somehow, got past Rossa in a quarter final where they looked for all the world to be bowing out of the championship.  That is off course until Mick Bradley had his say on the game.  They know they’ll need to improve if they are to finally break their semi final hoodoo.  But, there is room for improvement and they showed in the dying moments on the Hightown Road two weeks ago that they have the stomach for the fight.

Cushendall might have made it straight to the semi finals by winning their group but a bit like St John’s against Rossa, how the Ruairi Og’s managed to defeat Loughgiel still feels a bit crazy.  I’m not sure whether a four-week break was welcomed by Brian Delargy and his side.  Four weeks to think on a game like that can be a bad thing, sometimes you want to get out and put manners into a team, get it out of your system, as soon as possible.  That being said, four weeks can clear up injuries and niggles, perhaps it’s come at the right time for a few on the Cushendall panel?

I could look through previous semi final meetings between these two and regurgitate the exact same thing.  The various scenarios and how it might transpire, the one constant has been a Cushendall win. 

How Cushendall deal with the likes of Conor Johnston and Donal Carson, will Peter McCallin line out at centre half back again?  Will Michail Dudley pair with Sean Wilson in midfield?  On paper, it’s the ideal duo.  Work rate, guile, speed and power.  Ciaran Johnston back in defence and he had an excellent game against Rossa.  I managed to get a video of the build up to their winning score and Ciaran was pivotal to that move.  He made the initial line break before orchestrating his team mates to spread the sliotar out wide where Ryan McNulty did the rest.

Cushendall will be looking for a more cohesive performance than that from four weeks ago.  They started well but when Loughgiel took control, they struggled to get any joy in the middle third.  That being said, Ed McQuillan was excellent that day against the Shamrocks and on another day, Neil McManus would have walked off the pitch with a hat-trick.  You’d have to think the talismanic forward won’t be as wasteful again – St John’s should take note and be warned.  If there is to be a change in the Ruairi’s line up, I can see Joseph McNaughton starting.  He’s a player who has improved immensely over the last 12 months and would certainly bring another facet to the Cushendall attack.

In the other semi final, Loughgiel will be hoping that lightening doesn’t strike twice as they face Dunloy in Cushendall.  The Shamrocks came through a quarter final against Ballycastle and while they weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders, Loughgiel did enough.  A strong first half performance playing against the wind allowed them to keep the Town at arm’s length and dictate the game on their terms.  Ballycastle had chances but Loughgiel always managed to find another score to dampen their spirit.

Their team was disrupted by the suspension of Tiernan Coyle, TC’s suspension remains for the weekend and I’d imagine Ruairi McCormick will line out in the full back line in his absence.  ‘Badger’ had been excellent in midfield with Rian McKee and while Darragh Patterson battled, he got little joy against Cushendall.  They may look to play Paul Boyle further out the field when they look at their match up’s against Dunloy.

Dunloy are the one side who were delighted to have a break after topping their group.  Since defeating St John’s in the last of their group games, the Cuchullains have reached the decider of the big ball.  The exact same as two years ago when they paired up against Loughgiel in the semi final, the Shamrocks dethroning the five in a row chasing Dunloy in Ballycastle.  The Cuchullains were more like a team of the walking wounded back then with players visibly playing through injury and wary of long seasons running into another.  That doesn’t seem to be the case on this occasion.

Playing Keelan Molloy deeper in a play maker roll has been a brilliant call by the Dunloy management.  One of Dunloy’s most potent attackers and major threats is now pulling the strings and giving teams something else to think about at the other end of the pitch while Seaan Elliott seems to have found another gear both with a hurl and a size five ball this year.  Taking the accolade of the best dual player in the county – don’t even come at me over that one, it’s a no brainer of a statement.

Against St John’s, Eoin O’Neill was outstanding while Nigel Elliott, Oran Quinn and Phelim Duffin caught the eye.  The first half saw Dunloy and Seaan Elliott cut through the Johnnies defence at will and if Loughgiel try to go toe to toe with the Cuchullains, it will make for epic viewing.  I can’t see that happening.  Loughgiel will look to outwork Dunloy in the middle third and look to the speed of Boyle and James McNaughton, the trickery of Ronan Fitzgerald and guile of Roan McGarry to get the scores.

Prediction time….

For the record, I got two from two on my predictions for the quarter final.  Cushendall and Dunloy will start the weekend as favourites and it’s hard to look beyond that.  St John’s will need everything to go their way and Cushendall to have another off day to get anything from that game and while some will look at Dunloy’s dual exertions, the momentum of winning big games and with the vast majority of the players involved with both, they will be in a good place right now.  Loughgiel will want to right their wrongs from 12 months ago but I see Dunloy getting over the line and making it another Ruairi Og and Cuchullains final.

Just getting around to editing pics from last weekend’s two Senior Huring Championship quarter finals featuring St John’s v Rossa at St Enda’s on Saturday plus Loughgiel v Ballycastle on Sunday. Unfortunately I missed the main action in the Johnnies game and when Ryan McNulty was firing over the Johnnies winning point I was on my way up the Westlink to get the second half of the Sarsfields v St Paul’s IHC game at the Bear Pit.

TO SEE MORE PICS FROM THE LOUGHGIEL V BALLYCASTLE CLICK ON THIS LINK

https://myalbum.com/album/6UWLKjzRnfDgrV

AND TO SEE MORE PICS FROM THE JOHNNIES V ROSSA GAME CLICK ON THIS LINK

https://myalbum.com/album/GXxiBQNUJAWY4E/?invite=bee36feb-05f5-4cb2-80da-e2b53b11a57e