Ruairi Og faced Belfast side Rossa in the opening round of the Antrim Under 21 Hurling Championship on a windy evening in Cushendall. Rossa played the first half with the aid of a strong breeze and they were first to strike with a point from Chris Mc Guinness. Eoin Laverty levelled the scores with a well taken free and Cahir Mc Naughton sent over an excellent point from play. James Connolly answered back for Rossa but again Cahir Mc Naughton made no mistake when he fired over a long range point after good work from Eoghan Campbell. In the fourteenth minute Rossa hit the front when a long ball caused confusion in the Dall square and Chris Orchin was on hand to finish to the net. The Shaw’s Road men tagged on two further points to go five points in front and things were looking ominous for Ruairi Og. Eoghan Campbell steadied the ship when he broke free from his man and split the uprights from 60 yards but again Rossa answered back with a point from Stephen Beattie. Conor Mc Alister sent a poc out towards Ryan Mc Cambridge who gathered possession and lashed a great point over the bar from the right wing. Connolly converted a 40 metre free for Rossa before Ronan Mc Grady sprung to life, he won the ball and broke a couple of tackles before rifling a great ground shot to the back of the Rossa net. There was just enough time left in the half for Mc Guinness to point a Rossa free to leave the scores at half time Rossa 1-7 Ruairi Og 1-5.

Cushendall began the second half in whirlwind fashion, Ryan Mc Cambridge grabbed his second point of the match and the ever reliable Eoin Laverty converted a free which had been won by Dominic Delargy. Laverty and Mc Guinness exchanged frees to leave the teams tied at 1-8 each but Ryan Mc Cambridge set off on an electric run beating several players before blasting the ball high into the corner of the Rossa goal after twelve minutes of the second half. This sensational goal really inspired Cushendall and in the rest of the half they held Rossa scoreless. Alex Delargy and then Dominic Delargy hit points from play and Eoin Laverty added two frees. Cahir Mc Naughton, who had worked hard all day got his third point of the game. Dominic Delargy caught a great ball above his man and clipped over a neat point and he then turned provider, supplying a pass to Eoin Laverty who burst through for Ruairi Og’s third goal. Ryan Mc Cambridge, Eoghan Campbell and substitute Conrad Mc Donnell put the icing on the cake for Ruairi Og with points in the closing stages to leave the full time score Ruairi Og 3-17 Rossa 1-8.

 

How they played: This was a real team performance from Cushendall and they played some excellent hurling. Paddy Burke was rock solid at full back and he was well supported by Martin Mc Afee. Eoghan Campbell bossed the midfield exchanges and up front Dominic Delargy and Eoin Laverty always looked dangerous but my man of the match goes to Ryan Mc Cambridge who hurled superbly throughout. He made some brilliant catches, scored a wonderful goal and tagged on some nice points as well.

 

Team: 1. Conor Mc Alister 2. Conor Grant 3. Paddy Burke 4. Dan Kinney 5. Martin Mc Afee 6. David Kearney 7. Cormac Mc Alister 8. Andrew Delargy 9. Eoghan Campbell(0-2) 10. Ryan Mc Cambridge(1-3) 11. Cahir Mc Naughton(0-3) 12. Ronan Mc Grady(1-0) 13. Alex Delargy(0-1) 14. Dominic Delargy(0-2) 15. Eoin Laverty(1-5)

Subs used: Conrad Mc Donnell(0-1) Paddy Blaney, Eoin Mc Manus