A man of the match display by left half forward Shan McGrath helped Loughgiel to a six point win over Portaferry in Sunday’s Division 1 League game at Fr Healy Park, Loughgiel. McGrath was in fine scoring form for the Shamrocks, landing 13 of their 24 points, top class shooting in a difficult breeze. He hit seven of them in the first half when the Shamrocks had wind advantage, and five more after the break, four of those coming late in the game when the visitors looked as if they could close the gap.
There was five minutes on the board before either side raised a flag but when Ryan McMullan got the Shamrocks on the board McGrath hit three in a row and Betty McKee got another in reply to three from the visitors through Padraig Doran, Barry Trainor and Niall Fitzsimons and Niall Milligan got a couple back for Portaferry and seventeen minutes in they must have been happy to be just three points behind, considering the strength of the wind. However the second quarter saw Loughgiel hold the upper hand and they hit six of the last seven points of the opening half, McGtrath getting four of them and Jack McCloskey and Ronan Fitzgerald on apiece to go in at the break with a 0-14 to 0-05 advantage.
When Portaferry goalkeeper Pearce Smyth landed a monster free in the opening minute of the second half you wondered if the Ards men could claw back their deficit, but McGrath found a quick reply to restore the nine point advantage. Milligan came back with a great score for the visitors, but once again McGrath had an answer, though Portaferry were starting to gain a lot more possession. Goalkeeper Smyth was just wide of the target with a massive strike from inside his own twenty metre line, but his team hit the next four points through Trainor, Fitzsimons, Milligan and Trainor again, and for a while it looked like the gap was bridgeable.
However the Shamrocks rallied and hit five of the next six points, McGrath getting four of them, to seal the win, despite conceding a bizarre own goal in the last minute.
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Match report and photos from Antrim Camogie PRO Michael Corcoran in Castledawson3rd May ’25
Derry 3-17 Antrim 0-08
A strong breeze, sweeping from a northerly direction, was on the minds of both teams as they began their activation phases in the pre-match warm up for today’s Ulster Camogie U16 Cup final. It wouldn’t be the only strong component of today’s game, as Derry worked the sliotar in both halves to build up an impressive lead that left Antrim always on the back foot throughout the sixty or so minutes of play.
Kieran Rice from Down rolled the sliotar in at the top of the hour at 1pm and after winning the toss and choosing to play with the wind in the first half, Derry were already menacing in Antrim’s half with two successive shots placed wide within the first minute of play.
But it would be Antrim to strike first after Anna Smyth was fouled on the 20m line and Cliodhna Thompson dispatched the sliotar into the heart of Derry’s catch net. Thompson would return again to place another free over the bar and Antrim now had two points on the scoreboard with ten minutes gone.
But the Oak-leaf county wouldn’t be too far behind, as Derry’s Éadhaoin Bradley took possession of a diagonal ball, the half forward wasted no time in drilling that over Antrim’s bar. As the pressure mounted on Antrim, the full backs were forced to spill the sliotar over the line for back-to-back 45s, and Derry’s Eva Forbes converted both of those into points. With three points on the board, Derry were about to find another gear and raised a green flag from a loose ball in the back line that was easily pulled by an unmarked Éadhaoin Bradley and a clutch of five points, three from Forbes, Clodagh McIlvar and Brianna Donaghy would leave Antrim unanswered at the short whistle and the half time scoreboard registering Derry 1-08 Antrim 0-02.
Derry’s Eva Forbes takes the sliotar onto the stick as Antrim’s Anna Smyth tracks
Antrim would have been hopeful going into the second half of establishing a turnaround due to playing with the strong breeze, but Derry mastered the element and Ríonach McNally got their second half underway within the first minute with a fine point. Although Antrim replied quickly with a point from Caoimhe McErlain after winning a loose ball near the Derry box, Derry incremented their score with four consecutive points before Antrim’s Eimear Ward cruised a free over the Derry Bar around eleven minutes in.
Derry’s Éadhaoin Bradley pointed from an intelligent pass from Eva Forbes as the mid fielder scanned the pitch for an unmarked Derry jersey before offloading the accurate pass. Antrim, however, would hit a streak of three points closing the score to Derry 1-14 Antrim 0-07 and goals were now the order of the day for Antrim, but after Clodagh McIlvar pointed at the twenty-minute mark, it would be Derry that would claim a goal as Ellen Cullen followed in to pick up the loose ball. Derry’s Brianna Donaghy would make the sixteenth point just before Ríonach McNally would raise the third green flag and put the game beyond Antrim, now late in the game.
An Antrim point from Eimear Ward from a 45, heartened supporters before Derry’s Feina Kerr claimed the last point in the game, bringing scores at the long whistle to Derry 3-17 Antrim 0-08.
Antrim met a strong opposition today and Derry would lift the Cup as a deserving squad but in the round, Camogie was the main benefiter as two young skilled teams entertained the crowd in St. Malachy’s GAA Club, Castledawson.
The player of the match selectors unanimously chose Eva Forbes. The Derry midfielder clipped 5 sliotar’s over Antrim’s bar and was Derry’s powerhouse from the centre of the pitch.Ulster’s Chairperson, Karen McCormick, presents the cup to Derry’s captain, Aoibheann O’Loughlin
Derry panel and scorers
Karen Birt, Rionach Conlan, Gracie Mae Bradley, Aoibheann O’Loughlin, Aoibh Shivers, Aine Young, Gracie Diamond, Eva Forbes 0-05 (3f 2×45), Feina Kerr 0-02, Niamh McGuigan, Brianna Donaghy 0-03 (1f), Éadhaoin Bradley 2-02, Ríonach McNally 1-01, Ellen Cullen 0-02, Clodagh McIlvar 0-04 (2f), Grainne Oliver, Orla Mckenna, Annie Bradley, Emma McGarvey, Eva Diamond, Rose McKenna, Mya McAllister, Ava McIntyre, Aoife Gaile, Cassie Diamond, Orla Gunning, Rionach kearney, Cliodhna Moore, Ailise Musgrave, Kassie Maynes, Faye McGuickian
Antrim produced a superb second-half fightback to overturn an eight-point half-time deficit and claim a deserved 1-21 to 2-12 win over Kildare in an entertaining encounter in the Leinster Minor B Hurling semi-final at Dowdallshill, Dundalk .
The Saffrons started brightly against the breeze with a point from Cadhan Crawford, but Kildare quickly took control. A high ball into the square from Jack Cahill was misjudged by the Antrim defence and ended up in the net for the opening goal. They nearly had a second minutes later, when a Sean Quigley effort hit the post. That warning wasn’t heeded, and in the 15th minute, a sharp reaction to a breaking ball saw Kildare rifle their second goal into the top corner.
Antrim threatened a response, with Jay McAlonan’s goal attempt well saved and Crawford narrowly missing the rebound. Kildare continued to dominate the middle third and added more points to stretch their lead to 2-5 to 0-3. Eoghan Lyons and Callum Durnin looking dangerous in the half forward line form the Lillywhites. The Saffrons tried to keep in touch, but Kildare pulled further clear and were well worth their 2-9 to 0-7 halftime lead.
Whatever was said in the Antrim dressing room at halftime had an immediate impact as the Saffrons came out with intensity and purpose, hitting five unanswered points through Crawford, (2), McAlonan, James McDonnell and Sean Smyth to get themselves right back in the game. Kildare stopped the rot with a point from a free, but Antrim weren’t done.
Excellent work from Christy Leech set up Crawford for a coolly taken goal that brought the sides level. The momentum had firmly shifted, and Sean Smyth soon put Antrim ahead before James McDonnell extended the lead with a fine score from play.
Kildare struggled to regain their grip around midfield, as Antrim continued to dominate the rucks and breaking ball, with Caolan Wilson taking charge of proceedings in midfield. Antrim added more excellent points, and with the defence standing strong, the Saffrons closed out an impressive comeback to secure the win and set up a final meeting with Wicklow next weekend.
Antrim line up:
1 Liam Magee 2 Aaron Quinn 3 Conor McCann 4 Paddy Morgan 5 Canice McIntosh 6 Dylan McNaughton 7 Eunan Johnston 8 Anthony Cochrane 9 Caolan Wilson (0-1) 10 Ronan Taylor (0-2) 11 Christy Leech 12 James McDonnell (0-3) 13 Sean Smyth (0-4) 14 Jay McAlonan (0-4) 15 Cadhan Crawford (1-6) Subs: Liam Smyth, Daire Jemfry
Kildare line up:
1 Jack O’Dea 2 Cian O’Sullivan 3 Tom Wright 4 Rian Cramer 5 Jack Cahill (1-1) 6 Ciaran Ward 7 Billy Hacket 8 Oisin McAfee 9 Conor Lawless (0-1) 10 Eoghan Lyons (0-3) 11 Calum Durnin (0-4) 12 Luke Cahill (0-1) 13 Sean Maher 14 Darragh Buggle (1-0) 15 Sean Quigley
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Official Antrim GAA Schools Cup Hurling Year 8 Football & Hurling All-Star Nominations 2024/25. The Winners will be announced on Friday 9th May 12pm via email to Schools & on our Social media Channels (Antrim & Gaelfast Facebook & Twitter). These players were recommended by School Teachers/Coaches, Antrim GAA Gaelfast staff and Match day Officials throughout the competition. The process to select our Antrim Schools Cup All-Stars was extremely difficult due to the high levels of performance from our players over the blitz days and knockout phases of the competitions. We had over 17 schools and over 450 pupils taking part in our Antrim Schools Cup Hurling Year 8 Competition from March to May.
I would like to thank and congratulate our Parents/Guardians, Academy squad mentors, Schools & Club coaches for providing our children with opportunities to develop, take part in our games and be surrounded in the overwhelming Physical, Psychological, Social and Emotional Health & Wellbeing benefits associated with playing GAA Sports. The winners will be invited to St Marys University College on Friday 16th May 1230pm as part of the Antrim Schools Cup Hurling All-Star Awards Event. Other details to follow.
Unbeaten in the league to date Cargin looked to be very short priced favourites to remain so when they played hosts to basement dwelling St Paul’s on Wednesday evening last but such a pre-ordained script was not the way the story was to unfold.
Despite starting as extreme outsiders without a positive result thus far this season the Shaws Road men were on the front foot from the outset and they gained early advantage and a two point lead when Barrie Burns despatched a two pointer about ten minutes into proceedings but they were to lose a player shortly after when one of their forwards received a black card.
The home side regained their composure for a time and Tomas McCann added a couple of points which brought Cargin level, but the visitors were never overawed and kept in close contact with their hosts. The home side missed a couple opportunities to find the net in the early stages as Kevin Mc Shane and Tom Shivers came close, and further scores to increase advantage were hard to come by.
The visitors, despite the loss of a man, never yielded an inch and as the home side struggled to gain their composure, their usual fluency in movement seemed absent at times as passes went astray.
Tomas Mc Cann did split the posts following a foul on his sibling Michael in the latter stages of the period and although a Tom Shivers delivery seemingly net bound was flicked over the bar by the visitors net minder in the last minute of the first half, the home side had gained a 0-06 to 0-04 advantage at the break.
Having failed to impress in the first period the Toome men improved somewhat in the second period and a point from Tomas Mc Cann increased their advantage a couple of minutes in.
Tom Shivers came close to finding the net in the 36th minute but his shot hit the crossbar and was cleared cleared but John Carron long range effort shortly after earned a couple of points and ensured a 0-09 to 0-04 advantage for the home side.
The city men were still in there fighting and back to back whites by Caomhinn Duffy and Conor Hughes ensured they were still in there with a shout.
The arrival of a few substitutes helped matters as Jamie Gribbin followed the example of his sibling Callum to split the posts.
Benen Kelly added a super point to the home side’s tally, with replacement Gribbin following suit, but the St Paul’s lads were not finished and they came back strongly with the Burns boys Barrie and Shea adding points apiece and when the pace laden corner forward Caomhin Duffy created a well laid counter attack to finish to the back of the Cargin net, the comeback and a major shock looked more than possible.
The end was in sight when Conor Hughes fired between the posts for a super long range strike to reduce the deficit to a single point, but that was as close as they would get and a Jamie Gribbin strike at the other end was enough to see his side over the line with a less than impressive 0-13 to 1-08 winning scoreline.
Overall a great effort by the Shaw’s Road side and one which will give them great encouragement as the league progresses.
Cargin: Shea Laverty, Sean og Quinn, Kevin O’Boyle, Niall Quinn, Benen Kelly (0-01), Kevin Mc Shane, James Laverty, Michael Mc Cann, John Carron( 2*)Tom Shivers (0-01), Tomas Mc Cann (0-04), David Johnston (0-01), Ben Mc Larnon, Callum Gribbin (0-01), PJ Quinn,
Subs
Jamie Gribbin (0-03)
Brendan Laverty
Hugh O’ Donnell
Pat Shivers
St Paul’s: Eman Mc Greevey, Nathan Cavanagh, Michael Duffy, Pearse Magee (1-00), James Farrell, Conor Hughes (0-02), Conal Duffy (0-02),( Barrie Burns (0-01),Shea Burns (0-01), Pat Crawford, Caomhinn Duffy (0-02)
