Antrim referee’s committee are holding a foundation course for new referees. The course will be held at St. Enda’s, Glengormley on Saturday the 21st March and will start at 10-00am with registration.
Anyone who would like to take part or want further information can contact Brendan Toland at tolandb15@gmail.com
Ulster Minor Hurling Championship
Derry 1-13 Antrim 3-19
At Owenbeg
Antrim produced a commanding performance at the Derry Centre of Excellence in Owenbeg to book their place in the Ulster Minor Hurling Cup final against Wicklow, defeating the hosts on a scoreline of 3-19 to 1-13. Despite playing against the wind in the second half, the Saffrons (who are made up of the Under 16 Development squad) showed their quality with a clinical display of finishing, particularly from full-forward Joe Casey and a high-impact bench.
With wind assistance in the first half, Antrim made a lightning start. Connlaodh McNaughton opened the scoring after just ten seconds, followed quickly by a point from Jude Gamble in the first minute. Although Karl Friel responded with a point for Derry on two minutes, Antrim hit a devastating purple patch shortly after. In a blistering thirty-second spell around the tenth minute, Antrim rattled off 1-02, including a goal from Joe Casey and another point from McNaughton, putting them firmly in the driving seat early on.
Derry settled as the half progressed, with their number ten, Callum McLaughlin, finding his range from frees. Antrim kept the scoreboard ticking over with a long-range effort from midfielder Gerard Delaney, but Derry began to find gaps in the defense. Peadar Kelly pointed well after a solo run, and a goal from Callum McLaughlin helped the Oak Leaf county drag themselves back into contention. By the halftime whistle, Antrim held a five-point lead, going in 1-10 to 1-05 ahead.
With the wind at their backs for the second half, Derry would have fancied their chances of overturning the deficit. However, Antrim extinguished those hopes almost immediately. Joe Casey remained in fine form, hitting the first score of the half in the opening minute, followed by a point from Cody McGarry. When Casey pointed again in the fourth minute following good approach work by McNaughton, Antrim had stretched their lead to eight points, effectively killing Derry’s momentum before it could build.
Derry continued to battle, relying heavily on the excellent free-taking of Callum McLaughlin, who slotted over a series of placed balls, including a superb effort from the sideline. However, Antrim’s attack remained potent. Good movement created an opening for Joe Casey to blast home his second goal of the game, cementing Antrim’s grip on the tie.
As the game entered the final quarter, Antrim’s substitutes made a significant impact, highlighting the depth of their squad. In the 19th minute, a flowing move involving four players ended with substitute Cillian Cunning firing home a great goal just minutes after entering the fray. Fellow substitute and Dunloy clubmate Ronan Elliott also impressed, scoring two excellent points shortly after his introduction, while Damian Laverty also chipped in with a fine score. Despite late resistance from Derry, Antrim ran out comfortable 12-point winners, finishing 3-19 to 1-13 to set up a decider with Wicklow this weekend.
1 Aidan Johnston, 2 Matthew O’Neill, 3 Oran Baudant, 4 Cormac Bailey, 5 Seàn Cunningham, 6 Lorcan Murtagh, 7 Lorcan Martin, 8 Cahir McErlean, 9 Gerard Delaney, 10 Jude Gamble, 11 Connlaodh McNaughton, 12 Cahir McCloskey, 13 Cody McGarry, 14 Joe Casey, 15 Rian Laverty, 16 Sean Vasille, 17 Ruairi McIlhatton, 19 Cillain Carabine, 20 Damian Laverty, 21 Daire Rainey, 22 Cillian Cunning, 23 Conan Digney 24 Ronan Elliott.
1 Pádraig Campbell, 2 Cathal Duggan, 3 Ben Douglas, 4 Pearse Murphy, 5 Odhran Clark, 6 Conor McCloskey, 7 Anton Farren, 8 Conan Gillan, 9 Cormac O’Kane, 10 Callum McLaughlin, 11 Eoin McGuigan, 12 Eoghan Murray, 13 Peadar Kelly, 14 Karl Friel, 15 Davin Hassan, 16 Ciaran Crawford, 17 Killian Doyle-Kennedy, 18 Fionn Connery, 19 Ryan McKenna, 20 Cody McCullagh, 21 Sean O’Neill, 22 Ben Haran, 23 Cathair Mullan, 24 James Óg O’Kane, 25 Ruairi Haran, 26 Johnny McKenna, 27 Dara Cassidy, 28 Shea Kearney, 29 Eoghan Smith 30 Liam O’Kane.
To see more pics from the game click on the link below
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Above – The Under 12 Hurling team, who won the Brendan McGarry Cup received their medals at the Glenarm Shane Ui Neill’s awards dinner in the Harbourview Hotel, Carnlough.
TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE NIGHT CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
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The following were award winners on the night:
Ladies Football, Senior Player of the Year, Niamh McKinley receives her award from Nicky Bonnes and team manager, Eddie Higgins and the Senior Dual Player of the Year to Cara Bonnes.
Nicky Bonnes presents the Reserve Footballer of the Year to Daniel Hastings and Nicky Bonnes and Emmet Martin (Team manager) presents the Junior Hurler of the Year award to Lusanda Ncube.
Tiarnan Bonnes receives the Kerr family award from chairperson, Nick Bonnes and Manus Smith and Sean Duffin receive the Joint Senior Hurler of the year award .
Connlaith Martin, team captain receives the Abbey Cup from club chairperson, Nicky Bonnes and the 2025 Abbey Cup winning team.
Stephen Higgins presents the James McVeigh Memorial award to Kevin Sheerin while Brandon McLarnon receives the Dual Player of the Year award from Michal McAtamney and Nicky Bonnes.
Marie and Paddy Devlin present the Conor Devlin award to Sinead Graham.
Club Person of the Year (2024) Eamon Doran receives his award from Nicky Bonnes
Club Person of the year (2025) Anthony martin receives his award from Nicky Bonnes.
Tir na nOg Chairperson, Nicky Bonnes presents a cheque to Paddy McIlwaine who received it on behalf of the Saffron Gael.
Antrim senior ladies 4-10
Fermanagh senior ladies 2-10
A superb second half display from Antrim senior ladies was a massive help in this 6 point victory over Fermanagh which keeps them joint top after 4 games
Antrim were also dominant in the first half but quite a few chances went the wrong side of the uprights but to their credit they kept plugging away and eventually they started to get the scoreboard moving.
Fermanagh though after 20 minutes of the half raced into a four point lead but this never say die Antrim team got it back to two just before the interval.
Antrim had faced a strong wind in the first half and would have been happy at half time knowing they had the elements in the second period.
As both teams took the pitch for the final 30 minutes the heavens opened and it was the Antrim girls who adapted better.
Antrim’s football in the second half was nothing short of brilliant.
Fast attacking football yielded its reward and the girls were now finding their range from every angle of the pitch.
The team hit 4 goals and 5 points in the second half to cap of a brilliant performance.
Scorers …
Maria O Neill 2-4
Bronagh Devlin 1-1
Laura Agnew 1-1
Theresa Mellon 0-2
Caitlin Taggart 0-1
Lara Dahunsi 0-1
Antrim now head to Louth next Sunday for a top of the table clash with the hosts…
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