Antrim Senior Hurling Championship quarter-finals:
Loughgiel Shamrocks 1-23 St Gall's 0-15; Rossa 0-8 Ballycastle 2-12
RAGING hot favourites Loughgiel found themselves in troubled waters at the half way stage of their Corrigan Park Antrim Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final against battling St Gall's .
They went in with their heads down and four points in arrears, 0-7 to 0-11, as a tenacious Milltown side, obviously with a plan of action, hit them with everything. Hitting the ground running, last season's beaten finalists showed no inferiority complex and matched the mighty Shamrocks score for score in the opening quarter.
Tomás Ó Ciarain (two), Jackson McGreevy, Niall O'Neill and Conor McGourty were all on target, while Loughgiel registered through Mark McFadden, Dan McCloskey, Eddie McCloskey, Declan Laverty and Joey Scullion to leave the sides locked at five points each.
The Belfast side continued to grow in confidence as the four in-a-row champions became more rattled and, when McGourty converted a free to lead 0-7 to 0-6 with five minutes remaining, they continued their drive. Another McGourty free, an excellent McGreevy point and a Tomás Ó Ciarain converted 65 pushed them four clear, with Shamrocks' star performer Dan McCloskey's point keeping them holding on.
Seán Burke's late point gave the Milltown side their well earned four-point advantage, with Loughgiel manager PJ O’Mullan saying after the game: “We certainly were in a hole at that stage, but dug our way out and it takes a team with great character to do that.”
Changes were made, Damien McMullan arriving on the scene before the break, and four more in the course of the second half, including Liam Watson, who had been out of action for months and, despite Ó Ciarain opening up a five-point gap, the O’Mullan magic touch soon began to work.
Joey Scullion led the charge with three unanswered points, while Watson's first touch found the target. Eddie McCloskey hit the equaliser and, when Dan McCloskey put them in the front after 13 minutes, the Loughgiel juggernaut was on its way. The only goal of the game came moments later when Declan Laverty set Eddie McCloskey on his way, his hand pass finding Dan McCloskey and the live wire corner-forward blasted to the net to open a lead of 1-13 to 0-12.
Shay Casey and Scullion added further Shamrocks points, with a Jackson McGreevy reply, his side's first score in 17 minutes, a mere finger in the dyke. Loughgiel were now in overdrive, with Scullion, Casey and the McCloskeys - Eddie and Dan - all in action and, while Jackson McGreevy hit a couple of tidy points late on, the Shamrocks had survived the crisis and ran out worthy 11-point winners.
St Gall's manager Roger Fox paid tribute to the Shamrocks: “They have quality from one to 30,” he said, in particular of a full-forward line which scored 1-16 of their side's total.
THE score which took the sting out of battling Rossa side came 12 minutes after the break at Corrigan Park.
Following the opening half, where Ger Walsh, Stephen Shannon and Seagan Shannon set the pace, they found themselves four behind at the interval, 0-5 to 1-6, as the Ballycastle side stepped up to the mark. Conleth McCaughan's early first half goal should have been a warning and, with Neil McAuley and Matthew Donnelly giving nothing away and Saul McCaughan, Chris Boyle, Ciarán Clarke and Shane Jennings all whacking over points, the amber warning light was flashing.
A couple of points each in early second half exchanges suggested the Belfast side were going to stay the pace, but their game went flat when Stephen McGarry found the net after 12 minutes. The north Antrim side lived up to their favourites tag, adding four points against Rossa's one to book their semi-final spot by a 10-point margin.
MATCH STATS
Loughgiel scorers: J Scullion (0-9), D McCloskey (1-4), E McCloskey (0-3), S Casey (0-3), M McFadden (0-2), D Laverty (0-1), L Watson (0-1).
St Gall's scorers: J McGreevy (0-5), T Ó Ciarain (0-4), C McGourty (0-4), S Burke (0-1), N O’Neill (0-1).
Ballycastle scorers: C McCaughan (1-1), S McGarry (1-0), S McCaughan (0-3), S McCaughan (0-3), C Boyle (0-3), S Jennings (0-2).
Rossa scorers: Seagan Shannon (0-2), G Walsh (0-2), S Beattie (0-2), Stephen Shannon (0-1), M Turley (0-1).
