26 September 2010
Loughgiel Shamrocks bridged a twenty-one year gap at Casement Park on Sunday when they came from behind in the final quarter to edge out Cushendall by a single point and lift the Volunteer Cup for the first time since 1989 and claim their sixteenth title in all.
This was the Shamrocks seventh final appearance in the last eight years and after falling at the final hurdle on the six previous occasions few gave them a chance against a side who had beaten them in three of those deciders. After making a brilliant start, which saw them race into a five point lead by the end of the opening quarter, they lost their way and Cushendall came back to lead by two points thirteen minutes into the second-half. Their army of fans who have followed them so faithfully down the years must have felt they were to end up bridesmaids yet again, but when the chips were down in the final quarter they turned it around and four points by Liam Watson and one by Barney McAuley saw them break their duck at the seventh time of asking. The outpouring of emotion at the end had to be seen to be believed as players and fans wept openly, relieved to have at last reached the promised land. Half of this team have played in all of the final defeats and just what it meant to men like Liam Watson, Barney McAuley, Paul Gillan and team captain Johnny Campbell was clear to be seen amid the wild scenes of celebration.
It wasn’t a classic final by any means but nobody in Loughgiel will care one iota about that, and why should they. In perfect conditions the fear of losing seemed to grip both teams which resulted in some wayward shooting and misplaced passes in a low scoring encounter.
Cushendall will feel they had the winning of the game and they will look back at a series of bad misses, two of them coming from right-half forward Paddy McGill in a thirty second spell in injury time However nobody with an ounce of sportsmanship in their souls will begrudge Loughgiel their win. These players have given so much over the last eight years. Defeat after defeat would have broken the spirit of many teams, but they kept coming back for more and on Sunday that dogged determination was rewarded with the biggest prize in Antrim hurling.
Great start
The game started at a great pace and after Declan McKillop had ended a fine move with a Cushendall point in the opening minute, Loughgiel hit back in style when Eddie McCloskey blasted the ball to the Cushendall net in the third minute.
McCloskey added a peach of a point from play three minutes later, corner-forward Benny McCarry fired over another thirty seconds later before Watson stepped neatly inside his marker to send over a beauty from seventy metres and put his side 1-3 to 0-1 clear.
Eighteen-year-old Paddy McNaughton, who had a fine game at midfield for Cushendall, pointed from play to cut the gap to four, but Watson sent over a free soon afterwards to pull the Shamrocks 1-4 to 0-2 clear by the end of the opening quarter.
Things looked really good for Loughgiel, but the scoring dried up, and they failed to raise another flag for the remainder of the opening half as Cushendall clawed their way back into the game. Paddy McGill and Sean Delargy hit a couple of fine scores from play to cut the arrears to just two, but they also got the scoring jitters, and despite a succession of chances they failed to add to their total and still trailed by two at the half-time whistle.
Picked up pace
On the resumption Cushendall picked up the pace, and when they hit four points on the trot through Paddy McGill, Karl McKeegan, Shane McNaughton and Declan McKillop to go two clear, the game appeared to swinging in their direction. Loughgiel hadn’t scored for all of twenty-eight minutes and you wondered if their final jinx was about to strike again, but a Watson free from distance, which went over off the upright, restored belief.
Declan Laverty, who was forced to retire injured midway through the first-half, came back onto the field and slowly but surely the confidence began to return to the Shamrocks. Barney McAuley, who had started at corner-back but was now at midfield, struck a great point from more than seventy metres to bring his side level, but a fantastic score from Paddy McNaughton from out on the stand sideline edged the Ruairis back in front.
The tension was almost unbearable and it appeared to be anybody’s game as a point from a free by Liam Watson levelled maters by the forty-fifth minute. Both teams had chances to edge ahead in the tense final minutes, but following an incident which saw Cushendall’s Mickey McCambridge receive a second yellow card, Watson stepped up to the mark to slot over what proved to be the winning score.
Paddy McGill had those two late chances to earn his team a replay, but one went right of the uprights, and the other to the left, as the hurling gods finally smiled on the Shamrocks.
Of course McGill’s misses will be remembered because they came at the end, but it would wrong to point the finger at the right-half-forward, who played well throughout the hour. There were others who missed easier chances during the game, on both sides, but it was to be Loughgiel’s day in the end and as Kilkenny manager Brian Cody has often stated - the team that wins the final always deserves it.
LOUGHGIEL – DD Quinn, Paul Gillan, Neilly McGarry, Barney McAuley, Ciaran McKinley, Johnny Campbell (capt), Martin Scullion, Declan Laverty, Liam McKillop, Eddie McCloskey, James Campbell, Odhran McFadden, Benny McCarry, Joey Scullion, Liam Watson. Subs – Kevin McGarry for Declan Laverty (inj); Declan Laverty for Odhran McFadden; Damian Laverty for
CUSHENDALL – Ronan Kearney, Mickey McCambridge, Odhran Scullion, Martin Burke, Sean Delargy, Neill McManus, Arron Graffin, Declan McKillop, Paddy McNaughton, Paddy McGill, Donal McNaughton, Brian Delargy, Shane McNaughton, Conor Carson, Karl McKeegan. Subs – Aiden Delargy for Carson.
REFEREE – Ray Matthews (Glenavy)
