Bathshack Antrim Senior Hurling Championship semi-finals
Cushendall 3-14 Loughgiel 2-16; Dunloy 5-22 St John's 1-12
Cushendall withstood a remarkable late fightback from rivals Loughgiel to book their place in the Antrim SHC final at Ballycastle.
When substitute Christy McNaughton bagged a late 1-2 for Ruairi Ógs, they looked home and hosed, leading 3-14 to 0-15.
Having missed a number of scoring chances throughout the second half, Loughgiel threw caution to the wind and got themselves back into contention with late goals from substitute Rian McMullan and Maol Connolly with James McNaughton also finding the target.
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However, Colm McDonald’s full-time whistle came in time for Cushendall, who progressed to their first final since 2019 and will be bidding to win the Volunteer Cup for the first time since 2018.
As ever, Neil McManus contributed handsomely to their victory with the Antrim star hitting 0-10, including four stunning points from play.
Yet, Cushendall’s defence was excellent with Paddy Burke holding Paul Boyle scoreless while Eddie McCloskey could only manage one point off the equally-impressive Eoghan Campbell.
McManus landed Cushendall’s first three points of the game with McNaughton and Christy McGarry on target for the Shamrock’s.
The first half was a stop-start affair, with both teams guilty of conceding a number of soft frees.
Boyle missed an early goal chance for Loughgiel after cutting inside along the end line, but his shot crashed off the base of the post while Hugh McCann’s men also hit five wides in the first 20 minutes.
Their early lead was overturned when Cushendall struck for the game’s first goal three minutes from the break as McManus delivered a fine pass inside and Sean McAfee applied the finish, beating Chrissy O’Connell with a low drive.
Ryan McCambridge and McNaughton (free) exchanged points as Cushendall led 1-7 to 0-8 at half-time.
A cracking effort on the restart from Shan McGrath left just a point between the sides, but the Shamrock's would rue a host of poor wides in the early stages of the second half.
James McNaughton was off target with two frees and Maol Connolly also pushed one free wide of the post while Rory McCloskey snatched at his chance as Cushendall began to pull away.
Points from McManus and McAfee had them three ahead before Paddy McGill set up midfielder Alex Delargy for a well-taken second goal with full-back Paddy Burke instigating the move with a surging run forward.
Loughgiel’s shooting continued to let them down as the half wore on with another hat-trick of missed opportunities in the final 10 minutes.
The Shamrock’s were given a timely boost when Cushendall lost defender Liam Gillan to a second booking for hauling down Eddie McCloskey.
Substitute Rian McMullan managed to hit the target with two excellent points from play, but their race seemed over when Cushendall sprung Christy McNaughton from the bench to plunder 1-2.
Their third goal moved Cushendall eight clear and, with 59 minutes played, the game was all but over.
Yet, remarkably, Loughgiel hit two goals either side of a James McNaughton point to set up a grandstand finish.
McMullan drilled his effort low through a wall of Cushendall defenders and, minutes later, Connolly did likewise after McNaughton had finally found his range.
An eight-point lead was suddenly down to just one point and all eyes were on Colm McDonald with the three minutes of injury-time now played.
Alas, Loughgiel’s efforts were to be in vain and they ran out of time to try and force extra-time as Cushendall progressed to the county final.
They’ll meet defending champions Dunloy, who powered past St John’s 5-22 to 1-12 in Sunday’s second semi-final at Dunsilly.
It was a real statement of intent from Gregory O’Kane’s men, although the Johnnies weren't helped by playing the second half with 14 men after
Micheál Dudley picked up a red card for an off-the-ball foul on Paul Shiels at the end of the first half.
However, Dunloy were already in command by that stage as Conal Cunning netted twice either side of another goal from Nigel Elliott as the champions were 3-11 to 0-5 ahead at the break.
Despite their healthy advantage, the Cuchullain’s kept their foot on the throttle in the second half with Ronan and Keelan Molloy adding further goals.
St John’s found the net on 36 minutes when Padraig Nugent lashed a 20-metre free past Ryan Elliott, but it wasn’t nearly enough to ignite any sort of a fightback as the West Belfast men fell at the semi-final hurdle for the fifth consecutive season.
Cushendall scorers: Neil McManus 0-10 (0-6s), Christy McNaughton 1-2, Sean McAfee 1-1, Alex Delargy 1-0, Ryan McCambridge 0-1.
Loughgiel scorers: Maol Connelly 1-3 (0-1f), James McNaughton 0-5 (0-3fs), Rian McMullan 1-2, Shan McGrath 0-2, Christy McGarry 0-2, Eddie McCloskey 0-1, Ryan McKee 0-1.
Dunloy scorers: Conal Cunning 2-7 (0-4fs), Keelan Molloy 1-3; Nigel Elliott 1-1, Paul Shiels 0-3 (0-1f), Ronan Molloy 1-0, Chrissy McMahon 0-2, Seann Elliott 0-1, Ryan McGarry 0-1, Deaglan Smith 0-1; Anton McGrath 0-1; Nicky McKeague 0-1.
St John’s scorers: Oisin McManus 0-5 (0-5f), Padraig Nugent 1-0 (1-0f); Ruairi Galbraith 0-2, Ciaran Johnston 0-2, Shea Shannon 0-1, Aaron Bradley 0-1, Oisin Donnelly 0-1.
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