by thesaffrongael

Rossa maintain 100% record with win over Cuchullains

ACHL Division One

Dunloy 0-20 Rossa 3-20

Saturday 26 April

Brendan McTaggart reports from Pearse Park, Dunloy

Rossa made it three from three on Saturday evening as they inflicted Dunloy’s first league defeat of the season.  In an entertaining game, it was a strong first half and ability to score goals that proved to be the difference.

All of Rossa’s goals came in the first half, two from James Connolly with Thomas Morgan adding the third.  Both men contributed hugely throughout the hour with Morgan’s agility and pace causing problems while Connolly’s presence on the edge of the square gave the Dunloy defence their fill of it.

Deaglan Murphy gave an energetic display from the middle of the park but it was the back six that formed the basis for this victory.  Dunloy trailed by 11 points at half time and with the wind at their back, looked to make inwards into that lead and while they threatened to make a comeback, five points was as close as they got.  The Rossa defence soaked up the pressure, led superbly by Ciaran Orchin, Chris McGuinness and Daire Murphy.

Nicky McKeague continued his fine early season form, finishing top scorer for the Cuchullains with 11 white flags beside his name while Paudie Martin, Luke McFerran and Anton McGrath were always in the thick of things.

Tom McFerran put in a great shift in the middle of the pitch while Eamon Smyth and Deaglan Smith had good games in the half back line.  The Dunloy management will look at the three goals as being avoidable as they looked to come to terms with the aerial bombardment sent their way.  They created few clear cut goal scoring opportunities however as Rossa saw out the second half.

Despite Morgan opening the scoring, it was the home side who made the brighter start.  Three points in as many minutes from Luke McFerran, Martin and Tom McFerran had them two clear inside six minutes but it was their last score for 14 minutes as the visitors to Pearse Park took a stranglehold.  A run of 1-8 without reply, just two of those coming from placed ball and five different scorers.  Eoin Trainor, Deaglan Murphy, Morgan, and Aodhan O’Brien dissecting the posts while Connolly grabbed his first goal of the game in the 16th minute.  The goal coming from a long ball which he won himself with a piece of individual brilliance before rifling home.  Indeed, it could have been better for the Shaw’s Road men but for O’Brien’s effort being saved by Eoghan Richmond between the sticks.  The Dunloy netminder had the presence of mind to deny the follow up with a superb piece of bravery.

Dunloy got the scoreboard ticking once again with McKeague’s first point from a placed ball.  He would follow up with another two in the space of five minutes along with Paudie Martin’s second of the game to leave five between the sides.

The home side had their own sight of goal amongst McKeague’s scoring spree, McGrath with a brilliant touch and burst of speed to evade the Rossa defence but his effort was well saved by Donal Armstrong between the sticks for Rossa.

Eoghan McMenamin extended the lead to six once again before Rossa added their second and third majors in the space of two first half minutes.  Connolly grabbed his and his teams second and almost a carbon copy his first goal.  Getting on the end of a long ball before finishing expertly while Morgan made the most of a mistake in the Dunloy full back line from close range for Rossa’s third.

Ryan Mort had the final say of the half as he fired over Dunloy’s eighth point to leave the half time score 3-10 to 0-8 in Rossa’s favour.

Dunloy had whatever wind was blowing at their backs for the second half and had added a further three points inside the opening minute of the second half.  Tom McFerran, Paudie Martin and McKeague all dissecting the uprights and when McKegaue and Ronan Molloy added further scores, it made it five without reply and the Rossa lead reduced to six inside six minutes of the second half.

The sides went toe to toe with Deaglan Murphy and James Connolly prominent for the visitors while McKeague and Luke McFerran were firing for the Cuchullains. 

Five points separated the sides with 10 minutes remaining but the visitors to Pearse Park finished strongly outscoring Dunloy five points to one with O’Brien, Connolly (two) and Deaglan Murphy (two) firing over with a McKeague free the solitary response for Dunloy.  The Cuchullains had a sniff of a major in the closing stages with Anton McGrath going close but he was denied by a diving save from Oisin McVicker who turned the sliotar away at full stretch.

The action continues next Sunday for the Cuchullains as they host Cushendall while Rossa take on old rivals, St John’s on the same afternoon.

TEAMS

Dunloy: Eoghan Richmond; Conor Kinsella, Daire McMullan, Oran Quinn; Paudie McGilligan, Eamon Smyth, Deaglan Smith; Ciaran Elliott, Tom McFerran; Ryan Mort, Nicky McKeague, Luke McFerran; Paudie Martin, Ronan Molloy, Anton McGrath

Subs: Jack Martin for C Elliott (38); Ben O’Kane for D McMullan (51)

Scorers: N McKeague 0-11 (7fs, 1’65); P Martin 0-3; T McFerran 0-2; L McFerran 0-2; R Mort 0-1; R Molloy 0-1

Rossa: Donal Armstrong; Oisin McVicker, Ciaran Orchin, Patrick Moyes; Declan McCartney, Chris McGuinness, Daire Murphy; Diarmuid Rogan, Deaglan Murphy; Eoin Trainor, Pearce Short, Thomas Morgan; Eoghan McMenamin, James Connolly, Aodhan O’Brien

Subs: Michael Armstrong for E McMenamin (54); Liam McEnhill for D Rogan (57); Owen May for T Morgan (60); Darrach Morriarity for J Connolly (60+2)

Scorers: J Connolly 2-3; Deaglan Murphy 0-8 (6fs); T Morgan 1-3; E Trainor 0-2; A O’Brien 0-2; Daire Murphy 0-1; E McMenamin 0-1

Referee: Darren McKeown (St Galls)

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by thesaffrongael

Corbett strikes again to help Emmet’s to first home win

Antrim Hurling League Division 2

Cushendun Emmet’s 2-16 Bredagh 0-17

Aidan Corbett’s conversion from gamekeeper to poacher continued on Saturday when he scored his fourth goal in two games to set up a much needed victory for the Emmets at the expense of visitors Bredagh at CushLig an Airgid. Corbett’s goal early in the second half set up the Cushendun comeback and saw them push on to earn both the points.

Bredagh, who were playing with the stiff breeze at their backs in the opening quarter opened up a six point lead with seven points from play from Mel Laverty Laverty, Sean McCollum, Oran McFlynn, Ben Christie, Joe Hanrahan (2) and John Dougan, while Calum Kilgore got the home side’s point in the third minute.

The home side sprung to life on 15 minutes when Conrad McDonnell fired to the net and when Loaf McNeill, Dominic McQuillan and Conor McHugh (2) slotted over points they were back in touch with the Belast men by the time Fionntan McCotter had blown the half time whistle.

In the first minute of the second half Aidan Corbett grabbed a high ball on the edge of the Bredagh square before rounding his man and kicked the ball to the net to bring the sides level. The home side kicked on from here and went four points clear, the first one from Aidan McSparran and the other three from Loaf McNeill. Two Sean Christie points from frees for Bredagh cut the gap back to just two.

Ian Galway in the Bredagh goals pulled off a spectacular save to deny Bannon another goal, but two more points apiece from Loaf McNeill and Conor McHugh gave the Emmet’s a six point lead with just five minutes left to play. Bredagh hit back with a point from Ger Laverty and two from Ben Christie to cut the gap to just three, but the Emmet’s were not to be denied and the finished strong with points from ‘Loaf, Conrad McDonnell and Conor McHugh to seal their first home win of the season.

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by thesaffrongael

Early goals send Antrim on their way to victory

LGFA Ulster JFC

Derry 1-5 Antrim 4-12

Antrim senior ladies made the journey to Ballerin on Saturday to play Derry in the opening round of the ulster junior championship and came away with a 4-12 to 1-5 victory. 

Antrim had the ball in the Derry net after just 14 seconds when Theresa Mellon broke clear and planted the ball into the bottom corner. 

Maria O Neill then hit the first of her tally of five points with Aoife Kelly following up a minute later with a superb point from a tight angle. 

Then on the fourth minute Antrim scored their second goal when the lively Maria O’Neill danced past two defenders and made no mistake from close range. 

Captain Bronagh Devlin then put a 30 metre free over the bar to leave Antrim nine to the good with only 8 minutes on the clock. 

The impressive Theresa Mellon then got her second goal when she finished high to the net after great approach play between Ana Mulholland and Sarah O Neill. 

Derry then hit 3 unanswered points on the bounce before Maria O Neill and Nicole Jones raised white flags for the Antrim girls. 

Antrim were dominating the game again and Aoife Kelly, Theresa Mellon and Laura Agnew all registered one pointers just before the half time whistle.

The first ten minutes of the second half saw Antrim dominating the ball as they did in the first but they just couldn’t register a score. 

Derry then punished them for their misses when they hit an unanswered 1-2 and Antrim were struggling to find the flair they had played with in the first half. 

But again this Antrim team showed character and resilience and Ciara Brown was instrumental in setting up points each for the hard working Olivia Todd and Maria O Neill. 

Maria then scored a free and with two minutes to go Blaithin Ni Cahill sent Laura Agnew through and she found the net to put the gloss on a good performance from the Antrim girls. 

The Antrim management team of Micky and Chris were delighted to get their championship campaign of to a good start. The men said after the game. 

“We controlled the game for the biggest part of the 60 minutes… created and took some great scores but most off all the players worked really hard and deserved their victory today. 

We now go next week again against the unknown of London in Tir na nOg Randlestown next Saturday with a 1 pm throw in”

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by thesaffrongael

Lámh Dhearg rally to claim first league win 

O’Neills ACHL Division 3 

Dunloy 2-15-2-16 Lámh Dhearg 

Kevin Herron reports from Dunloy 

Trailing 1-14-1-05 in the early stages of the second half, Lámh Dhearg fought back and hit 10-unanswered points in their 2-16-2-15 win over Dunloy 2nds at Dunloy on Saturday afternoon. 

The visitors made the trip to North Antrim in search of their first league win, having lost their first two and picked out a point at home to Rasharkin last time out, whilst Dunloy were unbeaten in their first three encounters. 

Dunloy started much brighter with Gabriel McTaggart and Ryan McFarline clipping over early points. 

The Lámhs hit back in the form of a Declan Lynch point, but playing against the breeze in the opening half- their chances would be few and far between. 

Oisin McCamphill landed three of his side’s next four scores, converting two frees and landing a fine point from range, with midfield partner Jack Martin also chipping in with a score. 

The game’s opening goal would fall to Lámh Dhearg, Adam Murray’s shot was parried by Caolan McFerran, but Murray followed in and forced the ball home to make it 0-6-1-1. 

In response McFarline doubled his account, Oisin McErlean floated a shot over and Oisin Elliott converted a free. 

Lynch landed his second of the half and Donal Martin pointed from Conor McConville’s lay-off in-between a second Elliott free as Lámh Dhearg were beginning to get to grips with things. 

The hosts would extend their lead before the break though as Barry McCloskey and Oisin McErlean popped over points. 

On the 26th minute Gabriel McTaggart got underneath Sean Og Blaney’s high ball and steered a shot home to make it 1-12-1-03. 

Paddy Mervyn dropped over a point in reply before the interval but his side faced a tough task in the second period. 

The sides largely matched each other out in the early stages of the second half,  points were traded after the restart through Jack Martin and Ryan Diamond, Conor Mort added a second point for his side and then Gabriel McTaggart and Adam Murray stroked over frees in reply. 

Lámh Dhearg boosted their chances of a comeback within 10-minutes of the restart. Declan Lynch picked out Ryan Diamond with a crossfield pass and Diamond’s low diagonal shot clipped the post and in went in to make it 1-15-2-06. 

Their joy was short lived though as Dunloy hit back almost instantly at the other end, a scramble ensued as the Lámhs tried to clear their lines but Gabriel McTaggart blasted a rocket of a shot past Paddy-Joe Herron from close range to open up a 2-15-2-06 lead. 

McTaggart’s goal would be the last of his sides scores as the visitor’s began to chip away at the deficit, 

Adam Murray stroked over two further frees with Donal Martin doubling his personal tally to close the gap to six. 

Martin landed two further efforts from range and a further Murray conversion had slashed the gap to three (2-15-2-12) with plenty of time still remaining. 

Murray shot over a further placed ball from range, Declan Lynch conjured his third score of proceedings and turned provider for Donal Martin to level things up with his fifth of the afternoon. 

The comeback was complete in added time when Sean-Paul Gibson fizzed a crossfield ball into the path of Evan Stanley and he floated over the winning score as the Hannahstown side claimed their first league win of the campaign. 

Dunloy: C McFerran, M Traynor, K O’Kane, Cathair McCloskey, J Magee, B O’Kane, S Og Blaney, O McCamphill (0-3, 0-2f), J Martin (0-2), B McCloskey (0-1), G McTaggart (2-2,0-1f), R McFarline (0-2), O McErlean (0-2), O Elliott (0-2f), C Mort (0-1). Subs: J McKeever for C Mort (48), C Cunning for O McErlean (48). 

Lámh Dhearg: PJ Herron, C Camlin, C Rafferty, T McKenna, M Finnegan, P Mervyn (0-1), SP Gibson, C Boyd, C McConville, E Stanley (0-1), D Lynch (0-3), O Waldron, D Martin (0-5), R Diamond (1-1), A Murray (0-5f). Subs:  F Clenaghan for C McConville (HT), M McGarry for C Rafferty (55). 

Referee: Hugh Torney (Ballycran)

by thesaffrongael

Graham’s super save books final spot for Antrim

Armagh City Hotel Ulster Senior Camogie Championship semi-finals

Antrim 0-15 Down 0-13

Antrim Camogs were pushed to the pin of their collars before squeezing past Down in an entertaining Ulster Senior Camogie semi-final at Fr Healy Park, Loughgiel on Sunday. Leading by two points going into injury time the Down supporters must have felt their team were set to snatch victory when Beth Fitzpatrick got on the end of a long delivery into the Antrim danger area, but to the great relief of the home crowd the Saffrons shot stopper Catriona Graham produced a brilliant save when she dived full length to turn Fitzpatrick’s shot away and seal the win for her side.

When the team’s met earlier in the season in the league Antrim had run out convincing winners, but it was clear from the start that Domnhal Nugent’s charges were not going to be a push-over this time around. Playing with the breeze at their backs in the opening half the visitors fell behind to early scores from Antrim’s Evanne Martin and Cassie McArthur, but with the brilliant Paul O’Hagan leading the line the Down girls hit the next six points on the bounce to lead 0-06 to 0-02. Antrim were in a spot of bother but they fought back well and two pointed frees from Roisin McCormick and one each from play by Katie Molloy and Maeve Kelly cut the gap back to a single point by half time.

Beth Fitzpatrick increased Down’s lead in the early stages of the new half before Roisin McCormick hauled the visitors back in with three points from frees, but O’Hagan pulled one back to tie the scores at 0-09 apiece by the 42st minute. Maeve Kelly produced a couple of moments of magic to send over two quick points, and although they Saffrons now had the upper hand they could not add to that score, which kept the home fans on the edge of their seats. As the game went deep into injury time it looked like they had done enough to clinch the title, but there was late drama when Fitzpatrick shot sped towards the corner of the Antrim net, before Graham’s brilliant heroics saved the day and booked her team’s place against Derry in the Ulster final in two week’s times.

SCORERS

Antrim R McCormick 0-8 (0-7f), M Kelly 0-3, K Molloy 0-2, E Martin & C McArthur 0-1 each

Down P O’Hagan 0-10 (0-7f), B Fitzpatrick 0-2, A McAleenan 0-1

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