Under 16 Hurling Championship – McMullan Cup

Oisins Glenariffe 2-16  Ruairi Og Cushendall 2-13

Oisins won the Antrim Under 16 Hurling Championship (McMullan Cup) when they came from three points down with 12 minutes remaining to beat neighbours Cushendall in a fantastic final in Glenariffe on Wednesday evening. The game had been fixed for Feis na nGleann but was postponed because of a death in the Cushendall club so there was great anticipation in the build up to this game between two neighbouring clubs, their first final meeting since the first ever juvenile hurling final at Feis na nGleann back in 1966.

The sides were deadlocked at half time at 1-7 apiece but when Cushendall started the second half with a scoring barrage to move five clear they looked in good shape to go on and win the title. However inspired by full forward Shea McDonnell and left half forward Seanie McIntosh the Glenariffe boys fought their way back. With their star performer Fiontan McQuillan in top form the Ruairis pushed on again and were three to the good with just twelve minutes left for play but a goal from McDonnell and two quick points from McIntosh swung the game back in the Oisins favour, and they held on for a famous win. 

McQuillan got Cushendall off to a good start when he pointed two early frees and it was seven minutes before the home team got their first score from a Seanie McIntosh free. McQuillan put two between the sides again with another pointed free but Glenariffe hit the front for the first time on ten minutes when Patrick McIlwaine and Shea McDonnell combined well to set up Daniel Kearney for his team’s first goal. Shane McKenna pointed to bring Cushendall level but the Oisins were starting to settle and three points on the trot from Jack Leech, Seanie McIntosh and Niall McGarel had them three ahead by the end of the opening quarter.

Fiontan McQuillan brought it back to two with another point from a free, but one from McIntosh and one from play by midfielder Odhrán Gillan put Glenariffe four clear with just five minutes of the opening half remaining. Things were looking good for the Oisins, especially as they would have the breeze in the second half, but a brilliant scoring burst from McQuillan which saw the corner forward grab a goal and two points swung the game back in Cushendall’s favour and it took an injury time point from Shea McDonnell to bring the Oisins level by half time. 

The second half was less than a minute old when Joshua Schnell put Cushendall back on top with a well taken goal after a mix up in the Glenariffe full back line, and when McQuillan added a point seconds later the Ruairis were four clear. Seanie ‘Tosh’ pulled one back for the Oisins but Fiontan McQuillan split the posts and Padraig McKillop scored a great point from the left sideline, Cushendall were five to the good and looking strong. Glenariffe responded through centre half back Aidan Scullion and midfielder Jack Leech to cut the gap to three but that man McQuillan struck again for the Ruairis to put four between the sides.

Points from McDonnell and McIntosh, in reply to another McQuillan pointed free, left three between the sides with twelve minutes still to play when Glenariffe struck for home. McDonnell started it with the score of the match on the 50th minute, winning the ball in left corner he worked himself across into a goal scoring position. His initial attempt was well blocked but he doubled on the breaking ball to hammer it to the roof of the net to draw his team level. McIntosh then added two from frees and Glenariffe were now two ahead by the 53rd minute. McQuillan cut it back to one again with yet another point, (which brought his personal tally to 1-11), but with a minute of normal time still to go McIntosh eased the pressure on the home fans with a pointed free before McDonnell sealed it in injury time with a fine score from play.

OISINS: John V Morgan, Cailin Devlin, Archie McSparran, Ben O’Boyle, Mark McSparran, Aidan Scullion, Ronan Rodgers, Odhran Gillan, Jack Leech, Daniel Kearney, Dairi Mort, Seanie McIntosh, Niall McGarel, Shea McDonnell, Patrick McIlwaine. 

RUAIRI OG: Colm McKeegan, Michael Quinn, James Alister, Killian McNaughton, Sean McKay, Mark Emerson, Declan McGill, Conor McCollam, Joshua Schnell, Padraig McKillop, Matthew McCann, Shane McKenna, Callum Kilgore, Frankie McCormick, Fiontan McQuillan. 

Referee – Ryan O’Reilly (Con Magees)