Tain S.H.L. (Ulster League): Ruairi Og 1.18 v 0.08 Ballygalget

20 Apr 2013

Ruairi Og Cushendall qualified for their 2nd Tain Ulster league final in succession and now have a chance of retaining the trophy they won from last year after they easily overcame the challenge of Down side Ballygalget. Cushendall were playing against the breeze and they had quite a good start with points from Karl McKeegan and Paddy McGill in the 1st 5 minutes before Ballygalget raised their 1st white flag of the day. Cushendall were using the ball very well and Eoghan Campbell, Aidan McNaughton and Paddy McGill were playing some quality ball into their forwards, but the wind was playing havoc with Ruairi Og’s shooting. Ballygalget were pushing hard but Cushendall’s defence, stood firm and Paddy Burke, Ryan McCambridge and David Kearney were turning the ball with some gusto; and after a great ball from McCambridge, Karl McKeegan fired over a beautiful point.

From the resultant poc out, Aidan McNaughton won the ball, broke a couple of tackles and smashed over a cracking score from 45 yards. Ballygalget then tagged over a free from Caolan Baillie to stop the rot, but points from John McManus and Dominic Delargy put the Ruairis up 6-2 after 20 minutes. Cushendall had now taken over and if shot selections had have been better, they would have added more than the 2 points scored by Karl McKeegan and John McManus after good work from Mark Donaghy and Dan Kinney. There was just time for Caolan Baillie to knock over the last point of the half for Ballygalget to leave the half time score Ruairi Og 0-08 Ballygalget 0-03

Cushendall came out with all guns blazing and they registered the first 3 points of the half through Karl McKeegan, Paddy McGill and Ryan McCambridge. Caolan Baillie added another free for the Down men, but this was a minor hiccup for the 'Dall who added the next two points from McKeegan and Mark Donaghy to put the Ruairis up 13 - 4 after 13 minutes. Ballygalget then added 2 points in a row, one from play and 1 from the dead ball. Eoghan Campbell added a point from 50 yards for the 'Dall men and Karl McKeegan knocked over two frees in succession to end this match as a contest. Ballygalget replied with a very neat point from play but John McManus cancelled that score out with a great point for Cushendall, and Cahir McNaughton added a goal for the 'Dall with his 1st touch and finally there was just time for Karl McKeegan and Caolan Baillie to swap scores to leave the full time score: Ruairi Og 1-18 Ballygalget 0-08

Ruairi Og can be pleased with their performance today, missing players of the calibre of Neil Manus, Arron Graffin, Conor Carson and Shane, Donal and Paddy McNaughton. Other teams might have struggled but once again, the younger players got their chance to shine and definitely didn’t disappoint. Meanwhile Ballygalget were missing the majority of their county players but just weren't allowed to play anywhere near their best by this Cushendall team.

Man of the Match
All the nominees come from Cushendall today. The defence all hurled well especially Martin Burke, Ryan McCambridge, Eoghan Campbell and Paddy Burke. Aidan McNaughton and Paddy McGill bossed midfield and up top Dominic Delargy, Dan Kinney and John McManus all did well but today Karl McKeegan gets my vote as he hit 8 points in total and caused havoc every time he was on the ball.
Team:
1. Ronan Kearney 2. Conor Grant 3. Martin Burke 4. Sean Delargy 5. David Kearney 6. Paddy Burke 7. Ryan McCambridge (0-1) 8. Eoghan Campbell (0-1) 9. Paddy McGill (0-2) 10. Mark Donaghy (0-1) 11. Karl McKeegan (0-8) 12. Dominic Delargy (0-1) 13. Dan Kinney 14. John McManus (0-3) 15. Aidan McNaughton (0-1)
Subs used:
Andrew Delargy, Cormac McAlister and Cahir McNaughton (1-0)