JP Corry U21 Championship Final
Cushendall 4-20 Ballycastle 0-10
Wednesday 5 August
Brendan McTaggart reports from Armoy

Cushendall produced a relentless, powerful performance on Wednesday evening in Armoy to dispatch Ballycastle and retain their u21 crown. It was a strong, accomplished 60 minutes of work from the Ruairi Og’s with the foundation for victory laid in the first half.
Despite playing into a strong breeze in Armoy, Cushendall took an 11 point lead into the interval with first half goals coming from Joseph McLaughlin and Oisin Woodhouse. Woodhouse would go on to complete his hat-trick in the second half and take the man of the match accolade as Cushendall cruised to the final whistle.

Joseph McLaughlin had an excellent game for the champions with his defensive work rate shinning in the first half before cutting lose in the second. The midfield duo of Callagh Mooney and Darach Bradley helped Cushendall to maintain a stranglehold of the game while the half back trio of Alex McCambridge, Austin Birt and Charlie McAuley kept the Ballycastle attack in check for long periods.
Niall McClean had an excellent game for Ballycastle in the middle of the pitch and won a mountain of dirty ball while Cathair Donnelly covered every blade of the Armoy pitch. The work rate of the Town throughout the full hour should be commended and they never let their intensity levels drop but this was always going to be a massive ask against a talented Cushendall side.
The Ruairi Og’s got off to the dream start with Joseph McLaughlin finding the back of the Ballycastle net with just 33 seconds gone. Collecting the sliotar wide on the left, he showed his defender a clean pair of heels before beating Ruairi McShane with a smart finish.
Cushendall had increased their lead to six by the 10th minute with Fiontan Bradley and Oisin Woodhouse firing over along with Thomas McLaughlin while a free from Cadhan Crawford and Matthew Donnelly was the Town’s response.
The second Cushendall goal, and Woodhouse’s first, was a brilliant solo effort with the Ruairi Og full forward collecting the sliotar wide on the left and with his pick up, he managed to evade the Ballycastle tackles. He went straight for goal and gave McShane no chance between the sticks.
Cushendall stretched that lead to double figures before the half time break and while Ballycastle competed in the middle third, they found the Cushendall defence a tough nut to crack. Daragh Donnelly and a brace from Crawford getting their scores while Cushendall had three frees from Fiontan Bradley along with points from Oisin Woodhouse and Thomas McLaughlin before the half time whistle.

Despite leading 2-11 to 0-6 at the interval, Cushendall’s intensity levels never dipped in the second half. Ballycastle did make a bright start with Crawford testing the Cushendall defence with a sweetly struck free that looked goal bound but a couple of missed frees didn’t help their cause. In fairness to the Ballycastle man, the wind seemed to have increased and the rain was driving in his direction making life extremely difficult for any free taker.
Thomas and Joseph McLaughlin got the opening scores of the second half before Fiontan Bradley’s sixth of the game and second from open play got the Ruairi’s firing again.
Joe McNaughton added his name to the list of scorers before Woodhouse bagged his second and third majors of the game in the space of six minutes. Shrugging off the challenge of Ardan Kelly, Woodhouse was through and made no mistake when presented with the chance. A brace of Ballycastle points from Crawford and Cormac was an excellent response to Woodhouse’s major but the game was sealed and hat-trick complete by the 48th minute. Joseph McLaughlin with a brilliant piece of forward play in the build up that saw him evade challenges and invite more before having the presence of mind to find Woodhouse and his finish was exemplary.
Nicholas McLaughlin fired over moments later to ensure all six Cushendall forwards found their names on the list of scorers and the Ruairi’s maintained a level of control in the final quarter.
They could have had a fifth major only for the upright to deny substitute Oran McCambridge while Daragh Kelly was unlucky not to get a shot away at the other end of the pitch but the Cushendall defence and work rate overall was impressive all evening and showed no signs of waning.

A brace of points from Crawford and substitute Ben Woodhouse rounded off Ballycastle’s scoring while Cushendall fired over three points unanswered with a brace of frees from Joseph McLaughlin either side of substitute Killian McNaughton raising the white flag.
An emphatic win for the Ruairi’s who have laid down an early marker going into the senior championship. With plenty of this team involved, they look primed for a senior championship that promises to be a cracker.
TEAMS
Starting XV for Cushendall: Charlie McNaughton; Conor McCann, Sean McKay, Paddy Morgan; Alex McCambridge, Austin Birt, Charlie McAuley; Darach Bradley, Callagh Mooney; Thomas McLaughlin, Joe McNaughton, Joseph McLaughlin; Fiontan Bradley, Oisin Woodhouse, Nicholas McLaughlin
- Subs: Oran McCambridge for F Bradley (39); Killian McNaughton for J McNaughton (46); Aodhan Campbell for P Morgan (52); Frankie McCormick for N McLaughlin (56); Ryan McAuley for C Mooney (59)
- Scorers: O Woodhouse 3-2; J McLaughlin 1-4 (3fs); F Bradley 0-6 (4fs); T McLaughlin 0-3; C Mooney 0-1; J McNaughton 0-1; N McLaughlin 0-1; K McNaughton 0-1; O McCambridge 0-1
Starting XV for Ballycastle: Ruairi McShane; Conor Mooney, Ardan Kelly, Cathair Donnelly; Oisin Donnelly, Daragh Donnelly, Luke Connolly; Matthew Donnelly, Niall McClean; Cormac Scanlon, Darragh Kelly, Gavin McToal; Anthony Mullan, Cadhan Crawford, Oisin Coyles
- Subs: Ben Woodhouse for O Coyles (42); Aidan Hamilton for O Donnelly (45)
- Scorers: C Crawford 0-5 (3fs, 1’65); D Donnelly 0-1; M Donnelly 0-1; N McClean 0-1; C Scanlon 0-1; B Woodhouse 0-1
Referee: Declan McGarry (Loughgiel Shamrocks)

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