Antrim GAA Reserve Hurling Shield Loughgiel v St. Gall’s 18th September 2024

Loughgiel 3-14 St. Gall’s 0-16

Match report and photo album from Michael Corcoran at Dunsilly, Antrim

An immaculate Pitch 2 in Dunsilly with a crystal-clear sky provided 63 minutes of cliff hanging hurling and as many red cards as goals. Sporadic eruptions of short tempers were well diffused by mentors and officials so that the game could continue to provide supporters with the thrills and spills of tonight’s game.

Loughgiel would post a half time score five points ahead of St. Gall’s but it was by no means a comfortable margin as the Shamrocks covered an active St. Gall’s squad with the Shamrocks having only fourteen players after the first of three red cards in the game.

Both sides would go level half way through the second half and then as St. Gall’s took on water from two red cards, Loughgiel’s Odhran McGrath and Charley O’Hagan fired in two cannonballs to sink St. Gall’s hopes of closing the gap, despite an intense period from the Belfast squad in the last minute, making Loughgiel’s Mark Christie work hard to protect the Shamrocks’ bounty.

Match referee, Paul O’Neill, assisted by Mark O’Neill and Brendan Toland, got the Reserve Hurling Shield off promptly after St. Gall’s won the toss and opted to play towards the Antrim town end. Straight off the throw-in, St. Gall’s went on the attack and after floating a sliotar wide of the mark, returned again within the minute to post their first point of the evening and would make that two within two as Loughgiel’s Tony McCloskey foulded Cormac Sheehan. Owen Farrelly cruised the sliotar comfortably over Mark Christie’s bar before Loughgiel would reply from a free taken by Shay Casey.

Loughgiel’s Mark McFadden would build on Casey’s effort, air mailing in a free from the centre of the pitch, awarded by O’Neill as he spotted a St. Gall’s infringement on  McFadden as he attempted to make a run.

Casey made his second point from a free as Loughgiel’s Cahir McGrath was fouled, but St. Gall’s would come straight back to point from play as Gregory McGreevy levelled sides on 0-03 apiece.

For the next four minutes, four points would be traded, leveling out at five points apiece before Cahir McGrath offloaded to Shay Casey on the edge of the box, firing on the fifteenth minute for the first of Loughgiel’s goals.

Four more points would tally up on the scoreboard, as Loughgiel took three to St. Gall’s one, with only one of those coming from play in the eighteenth minute from Cahir McGrath, as Loughgiel opened up a small gap of five points. But as St. Gall’s Kieran McGourty took an illegal referee O’Neill had no hesitation in showing a straight red.

With six minutes left and one for injury, Loughgiel pulled a forward back to maintain formation in the back line and weathered a St. Gall’s torrent of activity for those seven minutes until O’Neill blew the short whistle for half time and a scoreline of Loughgiel 1-08 St. Gall’s 0-06.

The second half started well for St. Gall’s as they moved to take advantage of a weakened Shamrock squad for the most of twenty five minutes, levelling at 1-11 to 0-14 sixteen minutes in, but St. Gall’s would suffer a blow when they also lost a player to a red card for a foul on Loughgiel’s centre full back, Tony McCloskey.

Loughgiel were quick to seize the opportunity of equalisation and on the twenty sixth minute, Odhran McGrath would fire in a cannonball of a shot and as scores stood at Loughgiel 2-13 St. Gall’s 0-16, the Belfast men would suffer yet another blow another player was sent for an early shower after picking up a second yellow.

With the advantage sitting now with the Shamrocks, Charley O’Hagan would fire the sliotar deep into the top of Niall Burke’s net and despite St. Gall’s hopes of closing the gap standing at seven points, diminishing by the second, Loughgiel would have to weather a St. Gall’s storm as they went on the rampage around Mark Christie’s turf, with five goal chances and five rebukes until Paul O’Neill drew the match to a conclusion, ending Loughgiel 3-14 St. Gall’s 0-16, with the Shield going to Loughgiel.

Loughgiel starting panel and scorers

Mark Christie, Cahir Connolly, Tony McCloskey, Cormac Watt, Conor Dallas, Aodhan McFadden, Patrick Bradley, Mark McFadden 0-06 (4f), Damien Quinn 0-01, Conor Gillan, Cahir McGrath, Patrick Laverty 0-03, Tomás McIntyre, Shay Casey 1-03, Danny McAuley, Odhran McGrath 1-01, Charley O’Hagan 1-0

St. Gall’s starting panel and scorers

Niall Burke, Michael McMullan, Sean Burke, Stephen McIlhatton, Oran McIlhatton, Ciaran McCaffery, Aodh Mullan 0-01, Conor Burke 0-02, Gregory McGreevy 0-02, Cormac Sheehan 0-01, Kieran McGourty, Owen Farrelly 0-08 (7f), 13 0-01, Christopher McCartney, 15, 21 0-01

Photos from this evening’s game can be found by clicking on the album link here…

https://myalbum.com/album/bTgSWof5pZbSEu/?invite=9943d620-6080-426e-ae86-1838e0c1d0f9

Don’t forget to enjoy all of our photos in the Saffron albums on a large screen such as a laptop or tablet. Click on a photo to see it larger, look at the album as either a photo book or web pages and you can order a copy online as a keep’s sake.

Follow Michael G Corcoran @keep_clickin on X (formerly Twitter) for match Gifs when available.

Follow The Saffron Gael @TheSaffronGael on X for links to match reports.

Antrim GAA Senior Reserve Cup Final Loughgiel v Cushendall 17th Sept 24

Loughgiel 1-16 Cushendall 1-17

Match report and photos from Michael Corcoran in Quinn Park, All Saints GAA Club, Ballymena

A dazzling sun that dropped suddenly out of the sky made it difficult to distinguish between jerseys at one point in the game, complimented the fact that it was difficult to distinguish between the teams in tonight’s Reserve Cup final. Two halves of action-packed hurling gave supporters value for money as they lined both sides of Quinn Park, witnessing a classic toe to toe under a harvest moon.

It was the Ruairi’s that enjoyed spearheading the first half as they walked in with a two point lead, but the Shamrock’s would bounce back in the second half and with five minutes gone on the clock, took the lead for the second time in the game. Loughgiel held that position for the next ten minutes, then Cushendall would claw their way back up the scoreboard to win by the narrowest of margins, just one point.

Such was the interest in tonight’s game that the match was delayed by five minutes as we waited for an official to navigate the traffic up the Woodstock Road. Paul McSparran officiated tonight’s game and got the match underway, rolling away from the dugouts.

Cushendall would have the first opportunity to ledger a score from a free after only seconds on the clock, but Charlie McAuley would drift that wide playing towards the Slemish Park end. The Dall supporters would only be kept a minute before Stephen Walsh pointed after receiving a lobbed loose hand pass that wasn’t challenged. McAuley would drift another free wide of the mark but Dominic Delargy looked as though he was going to make amends as he struck the sliotar at close range into Loughgiel’s goal mouth. Goalkeeper Mark Christie would pull off a save that roused the Shamrock voices on the Quinn bank.

Loughgiel were defending well along the backline, despite the early pressure but a pushed sliotar wide at three and a half minutes, came with a penalty point as Joseph McNaughton cruised that over Christie’s bar.

Mark Christie’s puck out was in the process of being turned over but Loughgiel’s Odhran McFadden lunged to block the sliotar, managing to find Nicholas McNaughton for a high lobbed ball that probably was ball net bound, however the sliotar dropped viciously to fool goalkeeper Eoin Gillan for Loughgiel’s only goal in the game.

With some momentum building from the goal, the Shamrocks would tag on another two points from Nicholas McNaughton as Cushendall were unable to convert a free by Joseph McNaughton. The Dall were patient though and when McSparran blew for a foul on Stephen Walsh, McNaughton made sure that would find the ball net to close Loughgiel’s lead by two points, and Cushendall’s Sean McAfee would find Loughgiel’s net only minutes later and the Dall’s deficit was now a one point lead.

Now it was Cushendall’s turn to enjoy some momentum off the goal, as they ran up four points from Sean McAfee, Joseph McNaughton, Dominic Delargy and Paddy McGill, before Loughgiel’s Nicholas McNaughton went to ground, managing though to offload to Maol Connolly for a rescued point.

The pace of the game had by now throttled back a degree and with eight points amassed between sides over the final twelve minutes of the first half, almost on a point by point basis, it would be Loughgiel’s Conor O’Mullan that would raise the exception to the rule as he made a bee line to Eoin Gillan’s goal. A combination of a closing Alex Delargy with a possible hook and a brave body deflection from Gillan would deny O’Mullan his goal chance from very close quarters.

As McSparran blew for half time, the scoreboard illuminated the shadowy corner of the pitch Loughgiel 1-08 Cushendall 1-10.

The autumnal evening closed in quickly for the start of the second half, and All Saints obliged with switching on the floodlights as supporters lined up for warm drinks in the chilling air.

As the second half got underway, Loughgiel would be troubling Eoin Gillan with less than a minute gone, but the Ruairi had the better of the sliotar and Loughgiel would have to wait until Ben McGarry found the ball net minutes later.

Cushendall’s Joe McNaughton replied almost straightaway then Loughgiel would snatch the lead by just the one point as Odhran McFadden, Darragh Patterson and Eoin McGarry pointed from narrow angles. Cushendall’s Joe McNaughton would bring the sides all level as he fired over a foul that was advanced by ten metres as a small Loughgiel contingent protested the decision.

Loughgiel’s Eoin McGarry was making advances into close quarter scoring territory and a worried Dall group of supporters erupted in praise as Cushendall’s Senan Black blocked the Shamrocks’ incoming missile.

Loughgiel would raise their Cup hopes more as Donal McKinley flicked the sliotar back to a running Maol Connolly, who wasted no time in getting the sliotar safely over Gillan’s bar and with thirteen gone on the clock, Loughgiel’s Seamus Dobbin widened the gap by two as he too pointed over Gillan’s bar. But there still wasn’t daylight between the sides as the Dall’s Alex Delargy pointed from a sumptuous soft ball brought down from a towering Gillan puck out by Paddy McGill.

The Shamrocks would reply from a free taken by Nicholas McNaughton as McSparran blew for a body check on a dangerously advancing Roan McGarry. With fifteen minutes elapsed in the second half, Cushendall would enjoy a run of three frees from Joe McNaughton to take the lead by a point. Loughgiel however would level the match with a fine point from Roan McGarry stemming from a sideline cut pass, near to the scoreboard.

Cushendall’s Joe McNaughton would now offer the Dall a one point lead from a free with twenty eight minutes gone as McSparran disagreed with Loughgiel’s Seamus Dobbin as Dobbin tripped over a sprawling Sean McAfee, McAfee having gone down as he slipped on his turn.

Despite it not being readily easy to calculate the remaining time from the scoreboard, the Shamrock’s sensed the sands of time coming to an end and threw everything, bar the literal kitchen sink at Cushendall. Maol Connolly looked to secure at least a point if not a goal before being blocked, a nearby sideline cut by Loughgiel fizzled into nothing and a sure-fire goal attempt by Tiago McGarry as he set himself free from his marker, shaved the far post near the scoreboard and even a waiting Pearce Patterson wasn’t able to deflect the scorching sliotar into the goals. Having played close to three minutes of extra time, McSparran drew tonight’s Reserve Hurling Cup to an end, leaving the Tullyglass/Hassan scoreboard to announce into the darkened evening Loughgiel 1-16 Cushendall 1-17.

Loughgiel starting panel and scorers

Mark Christie, Connor Dickson, Daniel McPeake, Ciaran McKay, Damien Quinn, Ben McGarry 0-01, Tiago McGarry, Eoin McGarry 0-01, Ryan McKee, Nicholas McNaughton 1-07 (1f, 2×65), Darragh Patterson 0-01, Odhran McFadden 0-01, Conor O’Mullan, Maol Connolly 0-02, Donal McKinley 0-01, Roan McGarry 0-01, Seamus Dobbin 0-01

Cushendall Starting panel and scorers

Eoin Gillan, Michael Quinn, Daire Mort, Charlie McAuley, Padraig McKillop, Stephen Walsh 0-01, Ruairi McCollam, Alex Delargy 0-01, Austin Birt, Andrew Delargy, Sean McAfee1-01, Joseph McNaughton 0-11 (7f, 1×65), Ciaran Neeson, Dominic Delargy 0-01, Paddy McGill 0-02

Photos from this evening’s game can be found by clicking on the album link here…

https://myalbum.com/album/9KWf4rCjRqSSPs/?invite=7a3fb67c-698f-4182-a70b-dbf73cb8bb43

Don’t forget to enjoy all of our photos in the Saffron albums on a large screen such as a laptop or tablet. Click on a photo to see it larger, look at the album as either a photo book or web pages and you can order a copy online as a keep’s sake.

Follow Michael G Corcoran @keep_clickin on X (formerly Twitter) for match Gifs when available.

Follow The Saffron Gael @TheSaffronGael on X for links to match reports.

Antrim Under 16 A Hurling final

Naomh Eanna 1-16 Ard na Rí 1-14

A great second half fightback by Naomh Eanna saw the Hightown outfit get the better of Belfast rivals Ard na Rí in Tuesday evening’s Under 16A Hurling final at Dunsilly, and in doing so made a bit of history for the club by winning their first ever A competition in hurling.

In a great game of hurling both teams gave their all, in what was the first all Belfast juvenile final in a long time, competitions which are normally dominated by north Antrim sides. Last season St Enda’s were well beaten by Dunloy at the same stage, but they bounced back this time, gaining revenge against the Cuchullains in last week’s semi-final, before going on to take the title this time around.

For most of the first half it looked like Ard na Rí would be collecting the silverware after five points in a row put them six clear nearing half time. However St Enda’s got the break they needed just before the break when a long ball from midfield confused the Ard na Rí defence and ended up in the net, meaning there was just three between the sides at the change of ends.  

St Enda’s took control of the game right from the restart, hitting eight of the next nine points to move well clear. However Ard na Rí made a late bid to save the game but despite a late goal Naomh Eanna held on to take the title

Ard na Rí got off to a great start and a point from full forward Conail Dempsey and two from the stylish Padraig Kelly had them 0-03 to 0-01 up after eight minutes, the St Enda’s score coming from Christopher Roberts. Despite shooting a few bad wides Naomh Eanna began to settle and points from Aaron Quinn and Shea Bell brought them level, but Ard na Rí got back on top and five points on the trot, three from Kelly, and one apiece from Ronan Taylor and Fionn McCann gave them a five point lead, Kelly really catching the eye with some excellent finishes.

The gap was out to seven nearing half time when St Enda’s got the break they needed when a long delivery by centre back Aaron Quinn ended in the back of the Ard na Rí net, though Odhran Bellew replied for Ard na Rí with a point from play to put his team three clear at the short whistle. (1-04 to 0-10)

The smart money would probably still have been on Ard na Rí as the second half got underway, but Naomh Eanna were a transformed side and they flew from the traps with two points each from Darragh Quinn and Shea Bell plus one from Cormac McCann to move ahead. Kelly pulled one back for Ard na Rí but Naomh Eanna pushed on again and appeared to be cruising to victory. However their fans had to endure a few nervous minutes before that victory was secure as an Ard na Rí substitute grabbed a late goal. With just two points between them it was nerve-racking for both sets of fans, but that was as close as they got and final whistle sounded to spark scenes of great celebrations for Naomh Eanna

Naomh Eanna’s Harry Feeney and Christopher Roberts celebrate their team’s win. Pic by Aaron Alatas

FOR MORE PICS FROM THIS GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

https://myalbum.com/album/tPT5F4Xm3JjQ3w