Only a point separated St. Gall’s and Loughgiel in the other Shield semi-final at Milltown and this semi-final between Shane O’Neill’s, Glenarm and St. Paul’s at Feystown was equally explosive and exciting.
With a strong wind blowing across the field this was going to be a test of both teams shooting skills and in the end it was St. Paul’s who held on for a two point win despite Shane O’Neill’s hitting the final five points of the game.
On 4 minutes Anthony McNeill opened the scoring for the hosts with an opportunist poacher goal when the sloither rebounded of the upright.
St. Pauls replied with two points in two minutes and a goal on nine to open up a two point lead and the team’s traded points through the remainder of the half, and two goals for Glenarm, Anthony O’Neill & Gerard Burns, left the H/T score 3-6, 1-7 in favour of the home side.
St Paul’s stepped it up a gear on the restart and three goals for the Shaw’s Road men and a goal and point for Glenarm during the third quarter brought the teams level.
As the light began to fall it was the team in red who finished the stronger scoring 1-4 and despite the hosts, hitting 0-5 in a frantic three minute injury time it was St. Paul’s who held on for the victory.
St. Paul’s now face Loughgiel in the final and if the decider is as good as both the semi-finals then it will be well worth the admission money
Shane O’Boyle became the Loughgiel hero when his point, deep in injury time earned his side a place in the Reserve Hurling Shield final as Shamrocks and St. Gall’s served up a scoring feast at the Bog Meadows on Wednesday night.
Superb long range points, a string of superb saves from both keepers and 6 goals over the hour kept those in attendance on their toes throughout with the outcome in the balance until late in the game.
Benny McCarry and Niall McFadden pointed the visitors into an early lead before Josh Southern relied with a point for the home side and Damian Quinn and Eugene Farrelly exchanged further minors to leave Loughgiel 0-3 to 0-2 ahead with only 8 minutes gone.
The points continued to come thick and fast and it was the Shamrocks who would put a little distance between themselves and the opposition with Charlie O’Hagan, Tomas McIntyre and Eddie McCloskey hitting three in a row by the 10th minute.
The game continued at a fast pace as Josh Southern and Mark McFadden from distance exchanged further points and the end to end exchanges continued with Eugene Farrelly for St. Gall’s and Paddy Bradlery and Tomas McIntyre for the Shamrocks all on target.
The North Antrim side were beginning to get on top and veteran, Eddie McCloskey got on the end of a good move to fire past Piarris McCaffrey at the end of the opening quarter to move his side 1-9 to 0-4 ahead.
At this stage Loughgiel looked to be taking control and McCaffrey in the St. Gall’s goals brought of a great save to deny Cathair McGrath before Charlie O’Hagan, from 70 meters and McGrath extended the visitors lead.
St. Gall’s looked in trouble but they finished the half strongly and Niall Fallon responded to a Benny McCarry point with a goal in the 24th minute and Thomas Magee and Eugene Farrelly added late point to close the gap to four by the halfway stage.
Those late scores seemed to lift the Milltown men and they were back on level terms by the 3d minute of the new half as Jim O’Reilly fired home their second goal and a long range Eugene Farrelly point squared the contest.
It got even better for the home side as impressive centre-half, O’Reilly edged them ahead for the first time before Mark McFadden levelled matters again from a long range free in the 6th minute.
Things had certainly stepped up a gear, or several gears with Anto Healey and Josh Southern putting the Milltown Blues two ahead but two quick fire points in response fr4m Benny McCarry and Cathair McGrath had it all square again with 10 minutes of the new half gone.
St. Gall’s were growing in confidence however as they sensed a famous scalp with Tiernan McAleanan and the impressive Josh Southern 0-2 moving them three ahead before a Benny McCarry rocket was pushed over by the superb McCaffrey and a Cathair McGrath long range effort to follow, left one it again.
Still it was St. Gall’s who continued to push and Michael Mullan followed up on a great save from JF Connolly to finish to the net from close range to put them 4 ahead with 8 minutes remaining.
It was nail biting stuff as the end to end exchanges continued going down the home straight as another McFadden long range missile and a Damial Quinn point from distance brought response from Josh Southern and an Aodh Mullan ‘65’.
It was Loughgiel who would finish the stronger however as McFadden converted a long distance free and Benny McCarry’s goal put three between the sides before Anto Healey replied with a goal at the other end to leave it all square again as the game moved into time added on.
There was still time for one more play and Shane O’Boyle became the Loughgiel hero as he split the posts in the 32nd minute to grab victory, much to the delight of his colleagues.
An entertaining game of hurling between too well matched and competitive sides and St. Gall’s must have been devastated at the end but they certainly played their part in an enthralling contest.
It is the Shamrock’s third string however who will now meet St. Paul’s seconds in the final after the Shaw’s Road side defeated Shane O’Neill’s in Feystown in the other semi-final.
St.Gall’s: 16 Piarris McCaffrey, 2 Oisin Kelly, 3 Joe McDaniels, 4 Stephen McIlhatton, 5 Emmet Loughran, 6 Jim O’Reilly, 7 Michael Marlow, 8 Josh Southern, 9 Niall Fallon, 10 Thomas Ghee, 11 Ciaran McCaffrey,12 Aodh Mullan, 13 Tiernan McAleanan, 14 Eugene Farrelly, 15 Aodhan McDonagh 21 Jack Webb, 22 Anto Healey
Loughgiel: 1 JF Connolly, 2 Ronan McCloskey, 3 Tony McCloskey, 4 Dylan Devlin, 5 Ronan Casey, 6 Odhran Mullan, 7 Charlie O’Hagan, 8 Mark McFadden, 9 Damian Quinn, 10 Cathair McGrath, 23 Niall mcFadden12 Paddy Bradley, 13 Tomas McIntyre, 14 Benny McCarry, 15 Eddie McCloskey, 16 Shane O’Boyle, 17 Conall McMahon, 18 Danny McAuley, 19 Tiernan McFadden
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A lot of games are referred to as a game of two halves, but this highly entertaining semi-final was more a tale of two pitches when Ballycastle and Cushendall battled it out for a place in the final of the Reserve Hurling Cup. The two sides finished level on the main pitch at Pairc MacUilín when two late points from the home side brought them level deep into injury time. However with the light fading fast it was clear there was no way extra time could be played, so both sides agreed to move down to the second pitch where the floodlights were already on for the Ballycastle v Portglenone Championship Camogie game was just finishing. Just as in normal time Ballycastle had the wind in the first half (10 minutes each way) and built up a lead by half time. Then just as happened in normal time Cushendall came roaring back in the second period, but this time Ballycastle were able to hold onto their lead and three unanswered points at the end, two from Lorcan Donnelly and one from Diarmaid McShane sealed a five point win.
Senan Black gave Cushendall the lead at the start of normal time but Ballycastle came back with a goal from James McLister and a point from Gavin McToal. With the strong breeze behind them the home team pushed on and by the end of the opening quarter they opened a 2-04 to 0-06 lead, the second goal coming from Diarmaid McShane.
Joseph McNaughton was keeping Cushendall in contention with a series of excellent points from frees but Croistai McAuley was keeping the scoreboard ticking for the Town with some well taken points, and with Callum Campbell chipping in with two from play they went in at half time with a 2-09 to 0-08 lead.
Two more from McAuley frees at the start of the second half increased the Ballycastle lead to ten points, but once Christy McNaughton got Cushendall’s first point of the new half on 37 minutes things began to change. Six points on the trot from Joe McNaughton (3), Ciaran Neeson (2) and Christy McNaughton cut the gap back to three points by the 48th minute, but the home side hit back with two of their own through Conor Donnelly and Reuben McClean push the gap back out to five with just seven minutes left to play.
However the momentum was swinging with the visitors and a Joe McNaughton point was followed by a goal from the ever dangerous Christy McNaughton to leave just a point between the sides Joe McNaughton brought the Ruairis level a minute later and when he added further points in the 58th and 60th minutes it looked like he had sealed the win.
However Ballycastle found a lifeline when Lorcan Donnelly, who had taken over the free taking duties, sent one over from close range before Diarmaid McShane swung over the equaliser in the dying seconds.
To be fair there was no time wasted among those in charge and the decision was taken right away to move to the bottom pitch under the lights where Ballycastle again had the wind in the opening half and they put it to good use, scoring six points in the first ten minute period, five of them from Lorcan Donnelly and one from Reuben McClean, while Joe McNaughton got the single Cushendall point as Ballycastle led by 2-22 to 1-21 at the interval.
The visitors started the second half impressively with four quick points, two more from Joe McNaughton and one each from Ciaran Neeson and Dominic Delargy to leave just two between the sides. However Ballycastle bounced back in the near the end and Lorcan Donnelly hit four points and Diarmaid McShane one, in reply to just one from Cushendall’s Ciaran Neeson, to win by five.
Two brilliant saves in that extra time period are worthy of mention, the first by Cushendall keeper Eoin ‘Bouncy’ Gillan who denied Criostai McAuley at the end of the first period with an unbelievable save and the second early in the second by Castle keeper Eamon Elliott who threw himself at a goal-bound shot by Christy McNaughton and got hit square on the faceguard to deflect it wide for a ‘65’.
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Cushendall travelled to Ballycastle in the opening round of the Under 16 A Hurling Championship on Tuesday evening and came away with 5-17 to 2-14 win in a high scoring contest
Ballycastle made a promising start with three quick points from Patrick Campbell, Justin Connor and Ciaran McCloskey but a goal by Tiernan McKeegan on four minutes and two points from Conleth McNaughton gave Cushendall the lead.
It was score for score for the next ten minutes with Ballycastle drawing level twice, only to see Cushendall edge back ahead, but a goal from the black and amber’s full forward Ciaran McCloskey and a point from Peter Laverty at the end of the opening quarter saw them go back ahead bt 1-8 to 2-04, the second Cushendall goal coming from Aidan McCormick.
However the second quarter saw the Ruairi Ogs get the upper hand and four points from frees by Conleth McNaughton, one from play by Brian McNeill, plus a late goal from Jayden Kinney-McNaughton gave the visitors a 3-10 to 1-09 lead at half time.
A goal from Aiden McCormick in the opening minute of the second half and one from and one from Tiernan McKeegan gave Cushendall control of the game as they moved 5-12 to 1-09 clear. There in a row from Sean McHenry, Peter Laverty and Patrick Campbell gave Ballycastle some hope but Conleth McNaughton came back with a point for the visitors.
To their credit Ballycastle kept battling away and a point from Ben Woodhouse was followed by a goal from Justin Connor closed the gap, but the visitors finished strong with two points from Conleth McNaughton, one from play and one from a ‘65’ to wrap it all up
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Brendan McTaggart reports from Pearse Park, Dunloy
Dunloy booked their place in the senior reserve final on Wednesday evening with a strong performance against Rossa. It was a dominant display from the Cuchullains who made light of the wind in the first half and were relentless throughout.
Ryan Mort top scored for the home side with an impressive 2-12, 1-8 coming from placed balls with both majors coming in the dying moments of the game. Mort gave a flawless display from placed balls while his second goal was one of the highlights of the game in the fading light at Pearse Park.
Liam McEnhill was top of the scoring charts for the Shaws Road men with seven of his final tally of 10 points coming from placed ball but his side got little change from an organised Cuchullains defence. Seaghan Shannon put in a busy performance while Owen May also caught the eye while Gavin McGrath and Corey Walsh worked their socks off for the Jeremiah’s.
Despite playing into the elements, Dunloy made a lightning start to the game and had 1-3 on the board before Rossa and McEnhill opened their scoring. Inside forward Barry McCloskey with the major for Dunloy while Oisin McCamphill and Mort (2) raised the white flags.
The opening quarter belonged to the home side with Mort, Ryan McFarline, Ciaran Elliott and Jack Martin all finding the target with a brace of McEnhill frees the response from the west Belfast side to put 10 between the sides by the half way mark of the half.
Rossa looked to settle into the game with May and McEnhill lively. They fired over seven points in a 10 minute period through McEnhill landing five (4fs), May and Michael Close raising the white flags while Mort and McFarlin landed the response for the Cuchullains in that same period of time.
Five points separated the sides going into the final five minutes of the half but it was as close as Rossa got to the Cuchullains. Barry McCloskey and Mort (free) fired over either side of a Corey Walsh point to leave the half time score 1-14 to 0-11 in the home sides favour.
The second half was largely all one way traffic with the Cuchullains snuffing out any attacking threat Rossa could muster. They hit the opening four points of the half through Mort (3fs) and Gabriel McTaggart with a McEnhill free briefly halting the Cuchullains charge.
Dunloy opened up a 14 point lead going into the final 10 minutes with Mort, McCamphill, McTaggart, Elliott and substitute Anton McGrath all getting in on the scoring act also.
Rossa substitute Jim Reynolds split the posts from wide on the right to reduce the arrears, a quite brilliant score with not much angle to work with but it was the last score the Jeremiah’s would register.
Points from Elliott and McGrath preceded a brace of Mort goals at the death. The first coming after some great play from Eamon Smyth and Ciaran Elliott set him through on goal while his second caught everyone out, including Rossa ‘keeper Michael Armstrong. Stood over a free fully 40 yards from goal, Mort rifled the sliotar to the bottom right hand corner of the net with a thumping drive to cap off an excellent display.
The Cuchullains now face Ballycastle in a fortnights time in the Reserve Final, but their attention turns to the big ball in the meantime with plenty of this squad part of the football side that will line out against Cargin on Saturday evening in the senior championship.
TEAMS
DUNLOY: Eoghan Richmond; Cathair McCloskey, Sean Og Blaney, Reece Cunning; Eamon Smyth, Karl O’Kane, Aaron Crawford; Jack Martin, Ben O’Kane; Oisin McCamphill, Ryan Mort, Ryan McFarline; Ciaran Elliott, Gabriel McTaggart, Barry McCloskey
Subs: Ciaran McQuillan for R Cunning (41); Paudie McGilligan for B McCloskey (41); Conor Mort for A Crawford (49); Anton McGrath for J Martin (49); Francis McMullan for G McTaggart (49
Scorers: R Mort 2-12 (1-8fs); B McCloskey 1-1; C Elliott 0-3; R McFarline 0-3; O McCamphill 0-2; G McTaggart 0-2; A McGrath 0-2; J Martin 0-1; E Smyth 0-1 (1f)
ROSSA: Michael Armstrong; Oisin McVicker, Padraig Moyes, Daire Moriarity; Gavin McGrath, Seaghan Shannon, Niall Devlin; Conor Savage, Conal Shannon; Liam McEnhill, Corey Walsh, Conor Rocks; Owen May, Michael Close, James Close
Subs: Jim Reynolds for C Rocks (HT); Niall May for C Savage (42); Michael Murray for M Close (54)
Scorers: L McEnhill 0-10 (7fs); C Walsh 0-1; O May 0-1; M Close 0-1; J Reynolds 0-1
Referee: Declan McGarry (Loughgiel)
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