Played in almost ideal conditions, the home side started in whirlwind fashion with five points inside the first six minutes: two frees from Liam Watson and very good individual points from Mark Mc Fadden, Shay Casey and Joey Scullion. However Ruairí Óg full forward Dom Delargy settled the visitors with a combination of football and hurling skills that resulted in a very good point scored off his left side.

 

Having weathered the storm, Ruairí Óg then took the game to Loughgiel and their efforts were rewarded with five unanswered freesall converted byveteran Karl Mc Keegan. Having not scored for ten minutes, the Shamrocks then scored the only goal and arguably the most important score of the game in the 16th minute, Young corner backTiernan Coyles gathered the ball in defence and delivered a smart pass toBarney Mc Auley. Barney moved the ball onto Tony Closkey who drove at the 'Dall defence before offloading the ball to JoeyScullion. Joey, on the run, drilled the ball into the top of the net giving netminder Roanan Kearney no chance. Loughgielnow led by two points.

 

Liam Watson tagged on another point from a free in the 19th minute but this was cancelled out in the 22nd minuteby yet another free fromKarl McKeegan. A timely interception by TiernanCoyles in the 23rd minute prevented Paddy Magill from completing his pass to John Mc Manus that would have resultedalmost certainly in agoal for the 'Dall. Liam Watson continued to keep the homes side's noses just in front with a pointed freebut a further free from Karl Mc Keegan and an opportunist point from Paddy Mc Naughton left the bare minimum between the teams. Just before the end of the half, Cushendall'shard-working Sean Delargy, due to injury, was replaced by Donal McNaughton.Then Shane Mc Naughton andKarl Mc Keegan spurned relatively easy chances to put their team ahead before referee Mark O' Neill blew his whistle to signal the end of what had been a gritty, competitive, evenly-matched first half. The scoreline read Loughgiel 1.07, Ruairí Óg 0.09.

 

The second half started in a similar vein to the first with Liam Watson converting two frees in the 32nd and 36th min. Ruairí Óg replied first of all with ace marksman Karl Mc Keegan on target from the dead ball yet again followed by a great point from first half substitute Donal Mc Naughton. Liam Watson then went for goal from a close-in free but midfielder Paddy Mc Naughton on the line made a great save to deny him. The game remained ultra competitive with both sets of backs giving their respective opponents very few sightings of the goals. By the 49th minute and courtesy of the two free takers Liam Watson and Karl Mc Keegan the teams were level at 1.10 to 0.13. Tony Mc Closkey and Paddy Magill traded hard-earned scores from play but then Loughgiel made the spurt for the finish-line with Eddie Mc Closkey and Joey Scullion registering two very important scores. However Cushendall were not done yet and Shane Mc Naughton set up Neil Mc Manus to score a long range point from 80 yards in the 59th minute. Yet again one point separated the two teams. The 'Dall scented an equaliser but the Loughgiel backs thwarted their every attempt and a needless foul conceded inside their own half gifted Liam Watson the opportunityto conclude the scoring and secure victory for the Shamrocks by two points. Final; score: Loughgiel 1.14, Ruairi Óg 0.15

 

This was a teak-tough SHLfixture that was slightly start-stop in nature due to the fact referee Mark O' Neill was determined to stamp his authority on the game and not let things get out of hand evidenced by the fact that the top scorers on both teams were their free-takers Liam Watson with 8pts and Karl Mc Keggan with 10pts all from the dead ball.Scoring opportunities were at a premium and in the final analysis Loughgiel's first-half goal was the crucial difference between two very evenly-matched teams.

 

Loughgiel: Chris O' Connell, Paul Gillan, Ronan Gillan, Tiernan Coyles, Martin Scullion, Oran Mc Fadden, Johnny Campbell, Mark Mc Fadden(0.1), Liam Watson (0.8 all frees), Seamus Dobbin, Tony Mc Closkey(0.1), Barney Mc Auley, Dan Mc Closkey, Joey Scullion(1.2), Shay Casey(0.1)

Subs: Eddie Mc Closkey(0.1), James Campbell

 

Ruairí Óg: Ronan Kearney, Martin Burke, Arron Graffin, Paddy Burke, Ryan Mc Cambridge, Neil Mc Manus(0.1), Sean Delargy, Eoghan Campbell, Paddy Mc Naughton(0.1),Paddy Magill(0.1), Shane Mc Naughton,Karl Mc Keegan(0.10 all frees), Aidan Mc Naughton, Dom Delargy(0.1), John Mc Manus

Subs: Donal Mc Naughton(0.1), AlexDelargy, Cormac Mc Alister