Rossa started this match with the wind behind their backs and Chris McGuinness got Rossa's and the games 1st point from 45 yards after neat build up play from Aidan Orchin. 60 seconds later Rossa doubled their lead when centre half Stephen Shannon split the upright from 70 yards from a dead ball.

From the puc out Rossa won the ball and Chris Hamill was fouled and Pearse Finucane tapped over the free to put Rossa up by 3 after 10 minutes. Cushendall then hit 2 wides in a row from good positions and Rossa responded to these attacks on their goal when Eoin O'Neill hit a good ball in front of Pearse Finucane who split the uprights for the Rossa. From the puc out, Stephen Shannon won the ball laid it off to Johnny McGuinness who floated over another point to put Rossa well in the driving seat.

Cushendall were definitely under pressure and when Pearse Finucane won possession and once again split the uprights and this was quickly followed by a '65' from Stephen Shannon, Rossa were on top and Cushendall seemed short of ideas.

Cushendall had a period of pressure on the Rossa back line but once again ill discipline cost them and Stephen Shannon flighted over a magnificent free from a full 90 yards to put Rossa up by 8, with 20 mins played. Cushendall took the puc out and Aidan McNaughton was fouled and Sean Delargy put the free over the Rossa bar to get the 'Dall up and running. From the puc out, Ryan McCambridge won possession, fed the ball to Shane McNaughton who picked out Conor Carson who split the uprights to give the 'Dall their second score. Cushendall made the 1st substitution of the day when Alex Delargy came on for Mark Donaghy.

Chris McDonnell pucked the ball out and Micky Kettle was fouled and Pearse Finucane again smashed over the free to put 7 between the teams again.

Conor McAlister from the puc out picked out Conor Carson, who caught the ball, turned his man and put over a good point. As the short whistle approached, there was just time for Karl Mckeegan to knock over a dead ball for the Glensmen to leave the half time score:

Rossa 0-9 Ruairi Og 0-4

Cushendall made their 2nd sub of the day when Neil McManus came on for Eoin Laverty.

The 'Dall men got the 1st score of the 2nd half when Eoghan Campbell was pulled back and Karl McKeegan pointed the free from 40 yards. Rossa then added a free from Pearse Finucane when David Kearney was adjudged to have fouled Matt Devlin. Rossa won possession through Stephen Shannon who then fed the ball to Johnny McGuinness.  Ryan McCambridge put in a high tackle on Johnny and duly received a yellow card for his trouble -  Pearse Finucane again pointed from the resultant free.

Cushendall were not in good fettle at this stage and poor play from their forwards led to Aidan Orchin playing a good ball to Chris Hamill who then swept a ball out wide to Pearse Finucane who turned Martin Burke and split the uprights to put Rossa up by 8 after 40 minutes.

Rossa made their 1st sub when Seaghan Shannon came on for Matt Devlin

Chris McGuinness won possession around midfield and fired over a great point to push Rossa ahead by 9. Cushendall needed to get moving and they did just that with 5 points in a row: with 4 from play, Karl McKeegan from a '65', 2 from Aidan McNaughton, 1 from Shane McNaughton and a great score from Conor Carson after a sweeping cross field pass from Shane McNaughton.  Rossa responded to those scores from Cushendall with another free from Pearse Finucane after David kearney fouled Johnny McGuinness.

Cushendall made their 3rd substitution when Ronan Kearney replaced Conor McAlister in goals.

Ronan Kearney's 1st act was to boom the puc out towards Karl McKeegan but Eoghan O'Neill blocked the ball out for a line ball. Karl McKeegan took the line ball, which led to confusion in the Rossa backline and Neil McManus was on hand to pull the ball into the Rossa net for the game's 1st goal leaving Rossa up by 2 points.

Rossa made their 2nd sub when Michael Turley replaced Padraig McGreevy

Cushendall made their 4th sub when Cormac McAlister replaced David Kearney who had picked up an injury.

Chris McDonnell pucked the ball out and Chris Hamill gathered possession.  He tried to pick out Michael Armstrong but Arron Graffin, who was having a stellar game at full back took the ball, broke a tackle and picked out Aidan McNaughton who had made a great run across the Rossa '20.  Aidan won possession and hammered an unstoppable shot past the Rossa keeper into the top corner of the net for a quite fantastic goal to put Cushendall in the lead for for the 1st time in the match.

Cushendall the pushed home their advantage when twice in 2 minutes, Neil McManus was fouled and Karl McKeegan put the 2 frees over the bar and Cushendall were up by 3 with 3 minutes to play.

Conor Carson then flighted over a good score after a great ball from Centre Half Sean Delargy and this put 4 points between them. Michael Turley got the games final point for Rossa to leave the full time score:

Rossa 0-16 Ruairi Og 2-13

Teams
Rossa
1. C McDonnell 2. C Orchin 3. G Bell 4. A Orchin 5. E O'Neill 6. S Shannon (0-3, 2 f, 1 65) 7. K McDonnell 8. C Hamill 9. C McGuinness (0-2) 10. J McGuinness (0-1) 11. M Kettle 12. M Devlin 13. P Finucane (0-9, 5f) 14. M Armstrong 15. P McGreevy
Subs: S Shannon, M Turley (0-1)

Ruairi Og
1. C McAlister 2. Martin Burke 3. A Graffin 4. P Burke 5. D Kearney 6. S Delargy (0-1 f) 7. R McCambridge 8. E Campbell 9. P McNaughton 10. A McNaughton (1-2) 11. K McKeegan (0-5, 4 f, 1 65) 12. M Donaghy 13. E Laverty 14. C Carson (0-4) 15. S McNaughton (0-1)
Subs: A Delargy, N McManus (1-0), R Kearney and C McAlister

How they played
Rossa really put it up to Cushendall today but just ran out of steam in the last 10 minutes. If they can perform like this for the rest of the season, they should be safe. Ciaran Orchin, Stephen Shannon were strong in defence, Chris McGuinness was strong in midfield and Johnny McGuinness and Pearse Finucane were the best up front for the city men.

Cushendall were near caught out by Rossa today but as the saying goes goals win games, and the 'Dall's 2 majors one after another turned this game on its head.  Martin Burke, Paddy Burke and Sean Delargy were on top in defence, Eoghan Campbell went through a mountain of work in midfield and up front Aidan McNaughton and Conor Carson got the scores from play.  Karl McKeegan was deadly from placed balls and Shane McNaughton while not featuring heavily in the scoring, was a constant pain to the Rossa rearguard.

Man of the Match
Arron Graffin for me was today unreal in the Cushendall back line: the numerous catches and clearances over the hour and the ball he won, and that pass to Aidan McNaughton for Cushendall's 2nd goal was sheer quality.