01 August 2010
Loughgiel easily overcame their first hurdle in the Antrim Senior Hurling Championship when they beat last year’s Intermediate champions St Gall’s in Sunday evening’s preliminary round in Dunloy.
Two goals clear after just three minutes through Damian Laverty and Benny McCarry, Loughgiel were always in control, though it has to be has to be said St Gall’s were competitive, and had they had a forward with a little more finishing power they could have run the Shamrocks much closer.
For the remainder of the opening half the two early goals were the main difference between the sides. St Gall’s did manage five points, three from corner-forward Michael McNeill and two from Ciaran Gallagher, but Loughgiel’s scores came much more easily and Eddie McCloskey, Barney McAuley, Joey Scullion, ‘Skinner’ Laverty and Benny McCarry all found the target to give their side a 2-6 to 0-5 lead.
A flurry of scores from five different players at the start of the second-half saw Loughgiel all but seals the win, but Karl Stewart gave St Gall’s some hope when he rifled a twenty-metre free to the Loughgiel net in the forty-seventh minute. The Belfast men had another good goal chance soon afterwards after some good work by county football star Aodhan Gallagher, but it was the only scare Loughgiel were to endure and they finished with a flourish which brought a second Benny McCarry goal and points from Ciaran McKinley, Joey Scullion and Barney McAuley to seal a semi-final place against the winners of the Dunloy v Rossa quarter-final.
