Bathshack Antrim SHC Group 2, round two
Rossa 1-12 Dunloy 2-19
BOTH managers pointed afterwards to a certain absence of scores from their sides but in truth the players deserve immense credit for registering as many as they did on a dreadful, difficult day for hurling.
Swirling wind and heavy rain made accurate shooting difficult, but Dunloy’s pace and quality proved too much for their Belfast opponents despite the north Antrim men recording 14 wides to Rossa’s 10.
Dunloy’s victory was never in doubt after a burst of 2-2 inside three first-half minutes, the goals coming from their leading marksmen Keelan Molloy and Seaan Elliott, after a close range Aodhan O’Brien major had briefly given Rossa the lead for the only time in the match.
Leading by nine at the break, 2-12 to 1-6, the Cuchullain’s comfortably assured their progress to the knock-out stages even as the weather conditions worsened in the second half, an outcome which satisfied their boss Gregory O’Kane:
“Group stages are all about getting the games played, getting through them, and getting the win – however you do it. Obviously the weather played a huge part in terms of skill level and balls being dropped, so we probably left a few scores behind us.”
Dunloy could have doubled or trebled their goal tally, with Nigel Elliott denied twice inside the opening five minutes, while Chrissy McMahon batted a clear chance wide and skipper Paul Shiels saw a penalty turned over the bar.
“We’re that type of team,” commented O’Kane, “we do create goal opportunities, and then it’s just about taking our chances when we do create them. Once boys break lines they’re hard to tie down.”
His Rossa counterpart Chris McDonnell took some solace from his side keeping Dunloy’s tally below 30, as had been the case in recent meetings:
“Last year they put 0-30 on us, they put 2-28 on us in the league, so it was kind of a target to keep them to that [2-19]. Us not getting the scores the other way was probably the big disappointment. They were just a bit sharper than us.”
A heavier beating was prevented by Rossa goalkeeper Donal Armstrong, earning him particular praise from his boss: “He was absolutely brilliant. He’s just back after a big operation and he really kept us in it. A few other days we’d have been out the gate at half-time. Credit to him saving a penalty and a few one-on-ones.”
With new Antrim manager Davy Fitzgerald in attendance Keelan Molloy made a good early impression with two points from the right wing, while Armstrong had to save smartly from Nigel Elliott twice in just over a minute.
Yet it wasn’t all one-way traffic, with a long distance Gerard Walsh free tipped onto a Dunloy post and scrambled clear, and Rossa did get scores from some clever switches of play.
McMahon should have netted for the Cuchullain’s, though, when Nigel Elliott set him up after another burst through, but the corner-forward struck his shot right across the face of goal and off-target.
Rossa punished that profligacy, O’Brien turned the ball in after Dunloy keeper Ryan Ellliott could only push out a dropping effort from deep by Eoin Trainor for a 1-3 to 0-5 lead.
That seemed to spark Dunloy into life, however, with four of the next five scores, followed by that spell of 2-2 between the 23rd and 25th minutes.
Seaan Elliott was involved in both goals, first supplying Keelan Molloy to drift right before firing to his left and to the net; then the midfielder snapped a shot to the net after points from himself and O’Neill.
Rossa never stopped trying, but the second half was mostly a case of surviving the squally weather and counting down half an hour’s play.
The most memorable moment was Armstrong plunging to his right to divert the penalty shot from Shiels over the bar, awarded after McMahon had been hauled down.
The Belfast men got within seven points on three occasions but an upset never appeared on the cards as Dunloy eased away with five of the last seven points.
The real scores to settle will come next time out, on Saturday September 7, when Dunloy travel to take on champions Cushendall, while Rossa make the short journey to face city rivals St John’s in Corrigan Park.
Rossa: D Armstrong; C McGuinness, C Orchin, C Boyle; Steven Shannon, D McCartney, G Walsh (0-4, 0-3 frees); Seaghan Shannon (0-3 frees), E Trainor; S Beatty (0-1), P Short, A O’Brien (1-2, 0-1 free); D McEnhill (0-1), D Rogan, T Morgan (0-1).
Subs C Shannon for Rogan (35); J Connolly for Seaghan Shannon (42); N Crossan for Orchin (51); O McVicar for Beatty (57); C Walsh for McEnhill (57)
Dunloy R Elliott; P Duffin, R McGarry, O Quinn; E Smyth (0-1), Kevin Molloy, R Molloy; P Shiels (capt.) (0-2, 0-1 penalty), S Elliott (1-7, 0-4 frees, 0-1 65); N Elliott, Keelan Molloy (1-4), E McFerran; N McKeague, E O’Neill (0-2), C McMahon (0-2).
Subs A McGarry for McKeague (h-t); A McGrath for McFerran (38); D Smyth (0-1) for McMahon (47); C Elliott for S Elliott (55); K McKeague for Kevin Molloy (57).
Referee Ciaran McCloskey (Loughgiel)
