by thesaffrongael

Second-half goal blitz powers Cushendall past Glenariffe

Antrim Senior Hurling Championship – Round 2
Cushendall 2-16 Glenariffe 1-11
Páirc Mac Uílín, Ballycastle

Two goals inside the opening three minutes of the second half proved decisive as Cushendall overcame a spirited Glenariffe challenge in Sunday’s Antrim Senior Hurling Championship round-robin encounter at Páirc Mac Uílín.

Last season’s Intermediate champions matched Cushendall for much of an evenly contested opening half and trailed by only two points at the interval. However, quickfire goals from Ed McQuillan and Thomas McLaughlin immediately after the restart changed the complexion of the contest and hard though they tried the Oisins could not bridge the gap.

The intensity was evident from the early stages. Glenariffe goalkeeper Paul McMullan made an excellent save from a fourth-minute goal attempt before a melee developed around the goalmouth which saw McMullan receive a yellow card, and a Cushendall player a caution.

When play resumed, McLaughlin converted the resulting 65 to open the scoring. The Cushendall corner forward followed that with points from a free and from play as his side established an early advantage.

Glenariffe settled with a point from Daniel Kearney before the Oisin’s full back Colla Ward produced a fine long-range score to reduce the deficit to 0-4 to 0-2.

McMullan then came to Glenariffe’s rescue again, turning a close-range, one-handed attempt from Cushendall’s Sean McAfee around the post. Alex O’Boyle responded at the other end with an excellent long-range free.

Another McLaughlin pointed free restored Cushendall’s three-point cushion before Scott Walsh advanced from the half-back line and struck over with a left-sided effort to make it 0-6 to 0-3.

Good work from Ward created Glenariffe’s next score, with his hand pass releasing the Oliver Kearney who split the posts. McLaughlin and O’Boyle exchanged placed-ball scores before the Cushendall marksman converted again from midfield.

Glenariffe remained firmly in contention. O’Boyle landed another free before his brother Michael broke down the left and reduced the gap to a single point. It looked like they would go in with just a point separating the sides but Neil McManus had the final say of the half, converting a free from inside his own half to send the Ruairis into the break leading by 0-9 to 0-7.

Any hopes Glenariffe had of carrying that momentum into the second period were severely damaged by Cushendall’s whirlwind restart.

McQuillan found the net inside the opening minute, and less than 60 seconds later McLaughlin struck Cushendall’s second goal to suddenly put clear daylight between the teams.

O’Boyle answered with a free, and Glenariffe briefly threatened to work their way back into contention. Cushendall substitute Fergus McCambridge scored impressively from the wing before Glenariffe replied through their substitute Oisín Gillan.

Seány McIntosh added a point and was unfortunate not to further reduce the deficit when his effort struck an upright soon afterwards and rebounded to safety.

Cushendall then regained control. McLaughlin added another point before setting up number Fergus McNaughton from a cleverly worked short free. A further McLaughlin free was followed by a fine score from Cushendall’s corner back Conor McCann, who ventured forward from defence and slotted over with precision.

Walsh registered his second point of the afternoon before man of the match McLaughlin completed an excellent individual display with another score in the 27th minute.

O’Boyle converted a free with the final puck of the game, but Cushendall had long since secured the victory.

Despite losing their opening two matches, Glenariffe remain in contention for a quarter-final place. Victory in their final group fixture in two weeks’ time against St Enda’s would keep their championship campaign alive, and their first-half performance in Ballycastle showed they are capable of presenting a significant challenge.

Cushendall: Conor McAlister, Conor McCann, Francis McCurry, Scott Walsh, Austin Birt, Charlie McAuley, Neil McManus, Callagh Mooney, Thomas McLaughlin, Edward McQuillan, Ryan McCambridge, Oisín Woodhouse, Sean McAfee, Joseph McLaughlin, Martin Burke.

Glenariffe: Paul McMullan, Odhran Gillan, Colla Ward, Donal Kearney, Calum McIlwaine, David Kearney, James Kearney, Cailin Devlin, Oliver Kearney, Daniel Kearney, Brogan O’Connor, Conor Patterson, Oisín Gillan, Alex O’Boyle, Seanie McIntosh.

Referee –

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by thesaffrongael

Sarsfield’s Second-Half Blitz Takes Top Spot

JHC Group 3-Round 3

St. Brigid’s 2-13 Sarsfields 1-31

Report and Pics: Brian McKee

Sarsfields secured top spot in this Junior Championship group after a high-powered second-half performance blew past a spirited St Brigid’s side at Musgrave. Despite a brilliant first-half fightback from the hosts, the Division 3 champions showed their experience after the break to run out comfortable winners on a 2-13 to 1-31 scoreline.

Sarsfields started at a blistering pace. They took a first-minute lead through a Daniel McKernan free, quickly followed by points from Kevin Barry McArdle and Kevin McKernan.

St Brigid’s responded with a pointed free from James Kelly—who enjoyed a productive afternoon with six converted frees—but Sarsfields unleashed five unanswered points in response. By the 13th minute, the Paddies led by six. They extended that gap to eight points after 20 minutes, with six different players already on the scoreboard.

The final third of the half saw St Brigid’s spark into life. A vital goal from Oisin McDonnell ignited their revival. Kelly slotted over his second free in the 26th minute. Though Sarsfields hit back with two points of their own, St Brigid’s finished the half with four consecutive scores. This late surge completely revived their prospects, leaving just two points between the sides at the interval.

Half-Time: St Brigid’s 1-09  Sarsfields 0-14

Sarsfields emerged for the second period completely transformed, playing with a renewed intensity that suggested a lot of plates had been broken in the half-time dressing room by Déaghlán Coleman.

Daniel Smyth led the charge, firing over six of his seven points in the second half, while an impressive total of eight different players contributed to the scoreboard after the restart.

Within 12 minutes of the throw-in, Sarsfields had raced into a seven-point lead. Conn Flannery rallied hard to reignite the St Brigid’s challenge, but the final 20 minutes saw the visitors unleash a relentless offensive blitz, capped off by a well-taken goal from Fionn Jeffrey.

St Brigid’s struggled to contain the firepower of their more experienced opponents. Though Donncha McGurk bulged the Sarsfields net in the closing minute, it proved to be a mere consolation.

Both sides now progress into the knockout stages of the Junior Championship. Despite the heavy defeat, St Brigid’s can take heart from their refusal to quit. Undefeated Sarsfields march on full of confidence as they look to regain Intermediate status. On today’s display, they will be very hard to stop.

St Brigid’s: Dara Sidebottom, Conor McElhatton, Michael Kerr, Ronan O’Loughlin, Joseph McCarney, Toirealach Brolly, Conn Flannery, James Kelly (0-06 frees), Jake Massingham, Seamus Brady, David Prenter, Fionn McCann (0-01), Donncha McGurk (1-02), Oisin McDonnell (1-00), Peadar Middleton, Alex Miller Perry, Michael Mullan, Finbar Brockley, Conor Kelly, Garrett Gilleece, John Carlin, John McGuckian.

Sarsfields: David Ward, Dárágh Coleman, Mark McCavanagh, Jay Ward, Jay Maguire, Caolan McKernan (0-01), Donal McKernan (0-03, 1f, 1 ’65), Darren Delander (0-03), Nicolas O’Mullane, Daniel Smyth (0-07, 4f), Kevin McKernan (0-02, 1f), Daniel McKernan (Snr) (0-04), Kevin Barry McArdle (0-06), Niall Mac an Lia, Fionn Jeffrey (1-03), James McKenna, Oisin Coleman, James McKernan, Ciarnan Rea (0-02), Aidan McKernan, Patrick Braniff, Ronan McKenna, Gary Lennon.

Referee: Kevin Parke

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by thesaffrongael

Dunloy secure their place at the top of Group 2

BATHSHACK SHC Group 2

Cuchullains Dunloy 3-28  Naomh Eanna 0-12

Cuchullains, Dunloy secured their place at the top of Group 2 of the Antrim SHC following this comprehensive win over Naomh Eanna on an excellent Cloney pitch in warm conditions on Sunday.

The forecast rain began to filter through as the large crowd were exiting the St. Mary’s ground but the pitch had been kissed by warm sunshine for the majority of the second half.

The game had started in overcast conditions but by the time that the sun began to break through the result was well beyond doubt as a Dunloy team, firing on all cylinders clinically despatched the men from Hightown.

Nigel Elliott raced through to fire past Martin Curran after 30 seconds and two Coby Cunning converted frees followed before Eoin O’Neill found the net again with only 6 minutes on the clock.

Coby, Chrissy McMahon, Keelan Molloy and Coby from his third free of the game had Dunloy 12 ahead by the 11th minute and it was clear, even at this early juncture that it was going to be a difficult afternoon for St. Enda’s.

Despite an inevitability about the result, even at this early stage, St. Enda’s were battling hard to get their own game going but were being turned over on too many occasions as their short passing game came unstuck.

Cormac Jennings did get them going from a pointed free in the 13th minute by which time they had recorded a number of wides but it brought another sustained response from the men in green.

Conal Cunning (f), Keelan Molloy with a high field and shot on the turn and Eoin O’Neill pointed before the impressive Molloy finished to the net to bring their total to 3-9 with 20 minutes gone.

Ruairi Donaghy replied with a pointed free for Naomh Eanna with Coby Cunning and Nigel Elliott replying at the other end before Donaghy recorded his side’s first point from play to conclude the first half scoring.

As the sun emerged from an overcast sky for the start of the second half it was Barry Scott who got the action underway again with his first point for Cuchullains with Ruairi Donaghy replying from a free to bring his side’s tally to 0-4 for the evening

It was brief respite however as Eoin O’Neill, Conal Cunning (f) and Aodhan McGarry on the restart added to the Dunloy ever increasing tally as the Cuchullains introduced Paul Shiels for Tom McFerran.

Coby from a ‘65’, Keelan Molloy, and two more precisely struck frees from Cunning moved the ‘Village’ 24 ahead by the 42nd minute but St. Enda’s continued to fight against impossible odds.

Ruairi Donaghy and Cormac Jennings brought their total to 0-6 with a couple of good points but these were cancelled immediately by an Eoin O’Neill double before Jennings and Cunning exchanged further points from frees.

Malachi McGibbon got his name on the Glengormley side’s score card with possibly the best point of the game and Luke O’Connor added another in reply to scores from Cunning, Barry Scott and substitute Luke McFerran as the Dunloy score board.

The Glengormley side were enjoying more of the play as Ruairi Donaghy replied to a first score of the game from Paul Shiels and Chrissy McMahon and Jennings from a 70 meter free exchanged further scores.

It was academic at this stage as McMahon fort Dunloy and Diarmuid Maguire for St. End’s concluded the scoring in a game that was out of reach for the Hightown men from midway through the opening half.

Dunloy were simply different class and their pace, movement and finishing power was top drawer and they will feel that they are in with a serious shout of winning this year’s championship.

For St. End’s all is not yet lost however and a win over Glenariffe in Waterfoot in the last game in Group 2 on Sunday 13th September could gain them a quarter-final place with Dunloy take on Cushendall in Cushendall on the same day to decide who wins the group.

.

Dunloy: 1 Ryan Elliott, 2 Aaron Crawford, 3 Daire McMullan, 4 Oran Quinn, 5 Aodhan McGarry, 6 Eoin McFerran, 7 Ryan McGarry, 8 Nicky McKeague, 9 Tom McFerran, 10 Nigel Elliott, 11 Conal Cunning, 12 Barry Scott, 13 Chrissy McMahon, 14 Keelan Molloy, 15 Eoin O’Neill

Subs used: Paul Shiels, Reece Cunning, Padraig MacGiiligan, Luke McFerran

Naomh Eanna: 1 Martin Curran, 2 Ronan Eager, 3 Malachi McGibbon, 4 Ciaran McvAllister, 5 Cian O’Connor, 6 Diarmuid Maguire, 7 Thomas Mooney, 8 Oisin Quinn, 9 Joe Maskey, 10 Manus Mullan, 11 Cormac Jennings, 12 Eoin Maguire, 13 Killian Jennings, 14 Ruairi Donaghy, 15 Luke O’Connor

Referee: Declan McGarry (Loughgiel)

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by thesaffrongael

Ardoyne Firepower too steep a mountain to climb for Belfast Saints

JHC Group 1

Belfast Saints 1-13  Ardoyne Kickhams 7-19

Ardoyne Kickhams produced a clinical performance against Belfast Saints on a wet and punishing day on the lower slopes of the mountain, marching to a dominant victory driven by an unstoppable master-class from man of the match, Paddy Heaney. Despite a few brief flashes of fighting spirit from the Saints, Ardoyne controlled the midfield and ruthlessly punished their opponents from start to finish, in a game that was effectively meaningless as both teams exited the Championship at this stage..

Ardoyne wasted no time making their mark, with Padraig McGreevy firing over a pointed free in the second minute. While the Saints briefly responded through Robertson—who would go on to score five points—the opening seven-minute deadlock was quickly shattered.

As Paddy Heaney increasingly made his presence felt, Ardoyne clicked into top gear, rattling off five consecutive points before Fiontan Lagan turned the screws completely with a brilliant goal from play.

Saints’ McQuillan managed to interrupt the onslaught with a 15th-minute point, but by the end of the first quarter, the scoreboard read a commanding 1-08 to 0-04 in favour of Ardoyne.

With Moore and McKillen firmly ruling the midfield, Heaney began to dictate the entire flow of the game, ruling the roost throughout the forward line. Just before the break, Belfast Saints mounted a spirited comeback, throwing everything forward to secure two points from McGilligan and a much-needed goal from Clarke.

However, any hope of a Saints revival was instantly snuffed out. Lagan swiftly rifled over a point, and Heaney followed up by sending the sliotar crashing into the back of the net for Ardoyne.

Half-Time Score: Belfast Saints 1-07  Ardoyne Kickhams 4-15

Heaney picked up right where he left off before the interval, opening the second-half with a point from play. The Saints briefly showed their trademark fighting spirit, tagging on four unanswered points over the next five minutes, but it ultimately marked the end of their resistance.

The unstoppable Heaney went on to claim two more goals, while the in-form McGreevey added another green flag to emphasise the gulf between the sides on the day. Ardoyne held total dominion over the final ten minutes as rain slicked the mountain slopes. By the time the final whistle blew, both sets of players were glad to head for the dressing rooms, drawing the curtain on their respective championship campaigns.

Belfast Saints: Conor Grieve, Matt carlin, Niall Connolly, Philip Glennon, Adam O’Rourke, Robert Gallagher(0-5,3f), Shane McCafferty, Joseph McQuillan(0-01), Kieran Grieve, Niall McGettigan(0-04), James Sloan(0-02,1f), Conor O’Callaghan, Dylan Grieve(0-01), Conor McLean, Eoin Clarke(1-0), Caoimhin McNeill

Ciceam Ard Eoin: Conor O’Neill, Aran Stewart, Paul Baker, Emmet Corry, Christopher McShane, Dean Goodall, Paschal Clarke, Dan Moore(0-03), Matt McKillen(0-04,1f), Padraig McGreevy(0-05,2f), Fiontan Lagan(1-01),Micheál McGreevy, Paddy Heaney (3-04), Cormac Barnes, Cahal Clarke, Sean Searle, Pól Stanton, Enda Slattery (0-01), John Callinan (0-01), Stephen Hill

Referee: Brendan Toland (Lamh Dhearg)

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by thesaffrongael

Mac Liam’s late strike sends St Gall’s through

Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship
St Gall’s 1-14 Creggan Kickhams 1-13
Milltown

A superb injury-time point from Dubhaltach Mac Liam earned St Gall’s a dramatic one-point victory over Creggan Kickhams at Milltown and secured their first appearance in the knockout stages of the Intermediate Championship since 2019.

The contest appeared destined to finish level when Conor McCann converted a 65 at the third attempt to bring Creggan alongside in the closing moments. However, St Gall’s produced one final attack and Mac Liam raced onto Ethan Walsh’s pass before firing over the winning score.

St Gall’s made an excellent start, establishing an early five-point advantage. Mac Liam found his range from placed balls and added a fine score from the right wing, while Walsh and Mark Napier were also on target.

Morgan Nelson eventually opened Creggan’s account, and the visitors gradually worked their way into the contest. Although St Gall’s enjoyed plenty of possession, mistakes in the difficult conditions allowed the Kickhams to remain within touching distance.

The game’s opening goal arrived following an indirect free in the 16th minute. Mac Liam sent the sliotar into the goalmouth, where the experienced Sean Burke rose above the Creggan defence and directed it into the net.

That score gave St Gall’s some breathing space, but the home side were unable to take complete control. Conor McCann assumed responsibility for Creggan’s frees and began reducing the deficit, while Thomas McCann also contributed from play.

Mac Liam responded with another point before the interval, leaving St Gall’s four ahead at the end of a competitive opening half.

Creggan increased the pressure after the restart as the game became increasingly physical. Conor McCann punished a series of St Gall’s fouls from placed balls, while Thomas McCann repeatedly found space close to goal.

With the momentum beginning to shift, Mac Liam converted another free to keep St Gall’s narrowly in front. Oran McIlhatton then landed an excellent point which restored the home side’s four-point cushion approaching the final quarter.

Creggan refused to go away and were rewarded when Kevin Rice powered through the St Gall’s defence and found the net. Goalkeeper Paddy Friel had denied Rice moments earlier, but the Creggan forward made no mistake when presented with another opportunity.

Friel, a late addition to the St Gall’s line-up because of a hamstring problem, produced another important intervention when he reached high to prevent what appeared certain to be an equalising point.

St Gall’s then went almost ten minutes without a score, giving Creggan the opportunity to draw level. McCann eventually did so with a pressure 65 in added time, leaving the outcome hanging in the balance.

There was still time for one final twist. Friel’s puck-out found Walsh, who managed to release Mac Liam. The St Gall’s sharpshooter accelerated beyond the covering defenders and sent over a magnificent winning point, sparking jubilant scenes among the home support.

The final whistle followed moments later, confirming a memorable victory and St Gall’s long-awaited return to the knockout stages.

St Gall’s: P Friel; E Rush, M Marlow, A Mackel; G Adams, G McGreevy, J Hopkins; T O’Ciarain, O McIlhatton 0-1; E Walsh 0-1, F Donnelly, M Napier 0-1; D Mac Liam 0-11 (0-8 frees), S Burke 1-0.

Creggan Kickhams: C Rice; J McAteer, A McKeown, P McGuckian; S O’Boyle, C McCann 0-5 (0-5 frees), K McCann; R McGuckian, S Maguire; S Duffin 0-1, T McCann 0-4, D Doran; S McAuley 0-1, K Rice 1-0, M Nelson 0-2 (0-2 frees).