AIB Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship semi-final: Cuchulainn’s, Dunloy (Antrim) 2-23 St Joseph’s, Ballycran (Down) 0-11
IF Dunloy were boys two years ago, they looked every inch like men ready to storm the Ulster stage as they swatted Ballycran aside at the Athletic Grounds yesterday.
A side boosted by a host of brilliant minors came unstuck against a Slaughtneil outfit at the peak of its powers when they met at the provincial semi-final stage in 2017. After a quick start, Mickey McShane’s men showed all their experience as they ground them down in Owenbeg, eventually winning with seven to spare.
Some suggested it had been too big an ask, too soon for Dunloy’s emerging crop. Yet, a couple of years down the line, having accounted for Cushendall in last month’s Antrim final before blitzing Ballycran, they look to be coming to the boil nicely ahead of another crack at the Emmett’s on November 10.
Yesterday’s scoreline tells its own story of course, and 18 points was wider than anybody would have anticipated against a side that had left Slaughtneil choking on dust just 12 months ago.
But Gregory O’Kane’s men, for all their ruthlessness in front of the posts, showed so much more than the scoring power within their ranks.
They never let Ballycran settle into the game – pressing, pushing up, hooking and blocking ferociously. Indeed, even in the 56th minute, with the game long beyond doubt, the men in green and gold were hassling their opponents, refusing to gift them a yard coming out from the back. It was mighty impressive stuff.
And the result was that the scoreboard continued to tick over, with the likes of Gabriel McTaggart, Seaan Elliott and Anton McGrath bouncing from the bench, determined to put their hands up for the next day when Dunloy do battle with Slaughtneil again – this time with the Four Seasons Cup at stake.
And, unlike last year, Ballycran just never quite got to the pitch of the game – or were never allowed to by their relentless opponents.
Cushendall had deployed a sweeper to reasonable effect in the Antrim final, forcing Dunloy into more percentage shots than they would have wished.
But Ballycran went man for man, and Dunloy were able to target the space down the wings where Keelan Molloy, Eoin O’Neill and Conall Cunning would find themselves one on one with grass to hit.
Indeed, even before Cunning had bagged their first goal of the day 11 minutes in, the Cuchulainn’s had already passed up two gilt-edged opportunities that fell to Cunning and O’Neill.
Cunning wouldn’t be denied the next time, although there was a touch of good fortune as the sliothar trickled into the bottom corner of a wrong-footed Stephen Keith’s net. O’Neill was the architect on that occasion, bursting forward before hand-passing over to Cunning loitering in the square.
Conor Woods and Liam Savage led the Ballycran resistance, with Savage landing five quality scores from play, but they were being made to work so hard for any scores that came their way, with nothing at all coming off their full-forward line.
Dunloy kept the foot on the gas, with two superb scores from Paul Shiels helping them into a seven-point lead at the break, 1-7 to 0-6.
And any lingering hopes of a Ballycran comeback were crushed just a minute into the second half when Gerard Hughes caught Nigel Elliott with his stick, earning himself a red card and forcing the Dunloy attacker off the field temporarily with a nasty looking cut.
He returned in inspired form, however, firing over three second half points from play. With Shiels now dropping back as the spare man, picking up any loose ball going, it was one-way traffic for the rest of the game.
Ballycran managed just three more points after Hughes’s red compared to 1-12 for Dunloy, young sub McGrath drilling into the bottom corner for their second goal two minutes from time as the Cuchullain’s cantered across the line.
However, with Slaughtneil looking renewed and reinvigorated after last year’s disappointment, the real acid test lies in wait.
Dunloy: R Elliott; P Duffin, C McKinley, Kevin Molloy; E Smyth (0-1), R McGarry (0-1), K McKeague; P Shiels (0-2), C Kinsella; N Elliott (0-4), N McKeague (0-3), C Brogan (0-1); E O’Neill (0-1), C Cunning (1-7, 0-2 65, 0-4 frees), Keelan Molloy (0-3). Subs: G McTaggart for C Brogan (37), S Elliott for E O’Neill (43), R Molloy for K Molloy (52), A McGrath (1-0) for C Cunning (54), J McKeague for P Shiels (56). Blood sub: S Elliott for N Elliott (31, reversed 39)
Yellow card: C McKinley (34)
Ballycran: S Keith; M Hughes, P Hughes, G Hughes; B Nicholson, P Flynn, S Ennis; S Nicholson, P Savage; M Ennis, C Woods (0-6, 0-4 frees), L Savage (0-5); S Martin, C McManus, C Egan. Subs: J Coyle for C McManus (35), B Ennis for S Martin (44), C McAllister for S Nicholson (45), N Breen for C Egan (49)
Red card: G Hughes (31)
Referee: J Clarke (Cavan)
Att: 3,553
