Dunloy slip up in league opener

Dunloy 2-15, St John’s 1-19

Not the ideal start to a league campaign but then Dunloy never really showed any great interest in league titles. Only one thing really interests them - Championships!

As far as this opening game in the Antrim senior hurling league goes, this one pretty much had it all. Penalties, red cards, exquisite free taking, remarkable individual performances and a Lazarus like comeback that ultimately fell short in the end.

The Johnnies were the victors at the end of the hour but they were holding on in the end with Dunloy almost recovering from a 13 point half-time deficit and had a chance to grab what would have been the unlikeliest of draws right on the final whistle. 

It wasn’t to be but anything other than an away victory would have been a huge injustice given how the Corrigan Park men played.

St John’s came to Pearse Park on Saturday afternoon and played like a team who were midway through their league campaign in the first 30 minutes.  

The home side on the other hand, depleted with a host of absentees, were chasing shadows and while they were far from their fluent best the west Belfast side were playing some sublime hurling from the off.

It was a slow start to this one with the sides tied at two points each when St John’s clicked into another gear. They scored a goal and four points in the space of four minutes with Oisin MacManus, Conor Johnston and Aidan McMahon raising white flags before Domhnall Nugent’s goal in the 11th minute. 

Plucking the sliotar out of the sky from a perfectly struck side line by Jack Bohill, Nugent caught everyone by surprise with a low drive from fully 20 plus metres out. Dunloy ‘keeper Eoghan Richmond looked to have it covered but the sliotar found the net.

A couple of  converted frees from Aodhan McGarry followed to leave St John’s 1-6 to 0-4 ahead midway through the half but that would be the last time the Cuchullains would register a score in the opening 30 minutes. 

Six St John’s points in just over seven minutes followed as they turned the screw. MacManus showed deadly accuracy from placed balls while Ruairi Galbraith, Jack Bohill and Conor Johnston also got in on the act.

Dunloy looked to have derailed the Johnnies dominance when they were awarded a penalty in the twenty ninth minute. Barry Scott superbly claimed the sliotar high in the square and with the goal at his mercy was trailed to the ground. 

Referee Ciaran McCloskey awarded a penalty but Paul Shiels fired the sliotar to the left hand side of the posts and wide.

Further scores from Conor Johnston and MacManus left the interval score at 1-14 to 0-4 much to the dismay of the Dunloy fans.

It’s fair to say it really was all one way traffic in the first half and while there was a substantial breeze among the early spring sunshine at Pearse Park, it certainly wasn’t a 13 point advantage. 

The home side started much better on the restart with McGarry firing over his fifth point of the game before Dunloy were awarded another penalty.  This time Anton McGrath was fouled and McGarry dispatched with aplomb. 

Hopes of a herculean comeback were cut short, however, with the next puck out. Ciaran Johnston gathered a short cross from Declan Cregan and was met with a hefty challenge by McGrath who, much to the dismay of the home management, was shown a red card.

The numerical disadvantage did little to derail Dunloy, however. They reorganised and with McGarry’s accuracy from frees they began to eat into the St John’s lead.

Eight points separated the sides midway through the second half and with ten minutes remaining that lead was down to six. 

A huge point from Eamon Smyth in the 22nd minute, incredibly the Cuchullains first effort from play, was quickly followed by another McGarry effort to leave four between the sides.

A super score from Conor Johnston got the scoreboard ticking again for St John’s while Galbraith had a sniff of a goal chance as Aidan McMahon’s pointed effort came back off the upright and Galbraith pulled on the rebound only for Eoghan Richmond to deny him.

With the clock going into injury time, St John’s held a five point lead and Dunloy laid siege on Declan Cregan’s goal.  A driven Paul Shiels free looked to be heading for the top corner but just cleared the cross bar while but they had more joy with the next effort. 

Shiels took the free quickly and found substitute Chrissy McMahon who rifled to the back of the net.

There was still enough time for one more attack but Kevin McKeague’s long range effort drifted to the right of the posts and wide as referee Ciaran McCloskey blew for time.

A cracking end to a physical game of hurling where both sides tested each other and more. Both teams have two weeks before their next game with Dunloy travelling to Ballycran while St John’s will welcome their neighbours Rossa to Corrigan Park. 

Dunloy: Eoghan Richmond; Eamon Smyth, Karl O’Kane, Oran Quinn; Kevin McKeague, Kevin Molloy, Ronan Molloy; Nicky McKeague, Ciaran Elliott; Tom McFerran, Paul Shiels, Barry Scott; Aodhan McGarry , Anton McGrath, Gabriel McTaggart

Scorers: A McGarry 1-12 ; Chrissy McMahon 1-0; P Shiels 0-1 ; E Smyth 0-1; K McKeague 0-1

St John’s: Declan Cregan; Odhran Carleton, Ciaran Johnston, Conor McEvoy; Darragh McGuinness, Ryan McNulty, Jack Bohill; Sean Wilson, Aidan McMahon; Oisin Donnelly, Domhnall Nugent, Conor Johnston; Ruairi Galbraith, Stephen Tierney, Oisin MacManus

Scorers: D Nugent 1-4 ; O MacManus 0-6; Conor Johnston 0-4; A McMahon 0-3; J Bohill 0-1; R Galbraith 0-1

Referee: Ciaran McCloskey (Loughgiel)