Antrim Senior Hurling Championship final:
Ruairí Óg, Cushendall 2-16 McQuillan’s, Ballycastle 1-15
NOBODY in the Glens will forget this season’s senior hurling championship in a hurry. It had absolutely everything – brilliant hurling, tight games, dramatic comebacks and heart-breaking finishes.
Eventual champions Ruairí Óg, Cushendall were dead and buried in their opener against St John’s and managed to survive. On Sunday, they managed another spectacular resurrection to claim back-to-back championships and their 13th in all. But even the most partisan Cushendall supporter had to feel for the defeated.
On many levels, it was inexplicable how Ballycastle lost this enthralling final. McQuillain’s, who were chasing their first county title in 29 interminably long years, built up a wind-assisted nine-point led at the break but were left punch drunk by the end.
Cushendall emerged for the second half and hit an astonishing 2-8 between the 40th and 48th minutes. Substitute Donal McNaughton rippled Ballycastle’s net in the 40th minute and Eoghan Campbell hammered the ball home for the defending champions eight minutes later to level the game, 2-10 to 1-13.
An unbelievable score from Christy McNaughton seconds later edged Cushendall ahead.
In a championship full of twists and turns there was still room for one more heart-stopping moment. Ballycastle’s lively attacker Ciarán Clarke raced clear of the Cushendall defence but his shot was blocked by Eoin Gillan in goal. The sloithar was still loose and spun up in the air. Shane Jennings reacted quickest, but he watched his effort come off the Cushendall crossbar. A goal would have put Ballycastle one ahead.
In that instant, everyone in the ground – particularly those wearing black and amber – knew it wasn’t going to be Ballycastle’s day.
Cushendall boss John McKillop acknowledged: “I thought that it was our day when that happened.”
The hugely impressive Conor Carson broke down the other end of the field to put three between the sides and there was still time for Neil McManus to bag his ninth of the day from a placed ball.
It was cruel on Ballycastle. McQuillan’s boss Ronan Donnelly was devastated by what unfolded in the closing stages.
“It’s unbelievable that we haven’t been in a Championship final in 14 years,” Donnelly said.
“The last one we won we were the top team in Antrim and Ulster and then we just had a total barren spell. When you miss one generation of Championships that’s what happens – 29 years. But there is one in that team and it’s an absolute travesty we didn’t take it home.”
He added: “All the clichés, ‘you deserve one’ but you just have to take it. We didn’t take it today. We had a serious chance. I can’t fault the players. They tried everything, it just didn’t work out.
“We really emptied the tank in the first half. People think we ran out of steam in the second half. But we just lost our way in the second half. But credit Cushendall, they’ve proved they’re a championship team, they never gave up the ghost.”
If Cushendall were out of sorts in the first half, it had something to do with Ballycastle’s tigerish tackling and insatiable appetite for breaking ball.
They never let the champions settle, and up front Ciarán Clarke and Saul McCaughan were uncontainable. In the 29th minute, the pair combined to grab the first major of the day. Clarke dispossessed substitute David Kearney and off-loaded to McCaughan who slammed the ball home to put Ballycastle 1-11 to 0-5 ahead.
Ballycastle’s tails were up. Fellow attackers Stephen McAfee (0-2), Stephen McGarry (0-2) and Shane Jennings (0-2) also converted what chances came their way.
Cushendall quartet Paddy McGill, Conor Carson and Christy and Shane McNaughton reached somewhere near their potential in the first half but needed more of their team-mates to step up to match Ballycastle’s fierce intensity.
With the wind at their backs in the second half, more Cushendall men did stand up and were counted. And just when Ballycastle seemed to be in cruise control, Cushendall substitute Donal McNaughton struck for goal in the 40th minute to reduce the deficit to six points.
It was the game-changing moment of this final. Seán McAfee deserves huge credit for his penetrating run and off-load to McNaughton and, even though the 30-year-old was off-balance, he mustered enough power and accuracy to beat Ballycastle ’keeper Ryan McGarry.
Eight minutes later, Conor Carson appeared to be running out of grass before he slipped the ball inside to Eoghan Campbell and the county star thumped home to level the game.
Neil McManus converted some monster frees and hit two beauties from play in the 54th and 60th minutes. At the other end Clarke and Saul McCaughan still had some good moments in the second half but not as many as they enjoyed in the first half.
Like all good champions do, Cushendall kept turning the screw in the second half and although lady luck smiled on them when Jennings’ effort came off the crossbar, they showed they had the warrior spirit to retain their title.
“It was an incredible game,” said McKillop.
“I thought big Carson was mighty there today. I would give him man-of-the-match, I thought he was outstanding. At half-time we were nine points down but in the changing rooms, you would have thought they were winning. Everybody was up for it. The fight was unreal.
“You had players like Arron Graffin, Neil [McManus], Shane and Christy [McNaughton], boys that would win a game for you at any stage.”
Donnelly was understandably undecided about whether to continue as Ballycastle manager next year after coming in midway through the season.
“To be honest, I don’t know. I’m deeply involved in our youth teams and because it was a three-month window here it suited me," he added.
“Our youth structures maybe suffered a wee bit because of it. There’s going to have to be a whole of things sorted. I’ve a young family. This job is worse than 10 normal jobs.
“It takes up every minute of your time, you have sleepless nights, picking teams. It’s ridiculous the amount of time you put into it and then to come away from that game today.”
