ANOTHER huge weekend in the Antrim Championship has come and gone with teams across all four levels competing in the latter stages of their designated competition with some major shocks in the Saffron County.
Loch Mór Gaels enjoyed the taste of Antrim's first silverware awarded this season as they clinched the Junior B title when they faced Latharna Óg in Ballymena, meanwhile Gort na Móna and Lámh Dhearg both competed in respective quarter-finals against Con Magee's and Glen Rovers as the pair eyed up a semi-final spot.
The last four in the Senior Hurling was decided after a huge clash between Rossa and St John's took place on Saturday afternoon, before Sunday's afternoon clash saw a North Antrim derby when Ballycastle faced off against Loughiel Shamrocks in the quarter-final.
CHAMPIONS: Loch Mór were crowned Junior B Champions on Saturday
Junior B Final
Latharna Óg 0-7
Loch Mór Gaels 2-16
The first championship awarded in the 2025 season was to the Glenavy natives Loch Mór after they romped to victory over Latharna Óg of Larne in Ballymena on Saturday afternoon.
The Glenavy men went into the contest as heavy favourites having dispatched of last year's winners Belfast Saints in extra-time a fortnight prior in what proved to be a thumping after the initial 60 minutes of play.
The long awaited and much anticipated Loch Mór finally got their hands on the trophy despite a slow start which gave the underdogs an early lead but the men from the Loch got back on track as they edged the first half by two when the whistle went.
The second period saw Ferdia Carson score a goal from close range and put a distant gap between the sides much to the relief of Loch Mór and before long they had a healthy lead as they ploughed to victory in an historic day for the club.
Junior Semi-Final
Gort na Móna 0-18
Con Magees 3-21
A big second half performance from the North Antrim side saw them pull away from the Mona-By-pass men to secure victory in this season's Junior Championship.
Despite Desi McClean putting Gorts up by six points on the half mark, Gort na Móna struggled to cope with Glenravel's rampant start to the second half as they struck three goals inside the next ten minutes and turned the game on its head shifting momentum in their favour.
The sticking point is of course the disadvantage of playing a semi-final on your opponent's home patch, and this has and will become a major talking point as the technical home side cruised to a blistering victory over the West Belfast natives as they upped the ante and struck 21 points in the second-half with the maroon men only responding with four points of their own to exit the competition.
STAR-MAN: Desi McClean starred once again for Gort despite defeat
Glen Rovers, Armoy 1-26
Lámh Dhearg 1-19
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Another game where the Belfast side were on the unfortunate end of facing a "home side" in a semi-final, the Hannahstown men were edged out in extra-time by Glen Rovers on Saturday evening.
The Lámhs will feel this was an opportunity lost having led going into added time of the second half but could not contain Tarlach McBride who found space at the death to equalise and send the game for another period of play.
From then the home side used that advantage well and managed to pull clear of the Lámhs despite Adam Murray and Declan Lynch scores looking to have booked the final spot for the West Belfast side but unfortunately they could not hold on and suffered in the extra period.
A devastating loss but another campaign which proves Belfast hurling can compete on all fronts of the small ball.
Intermediate Hurling Championship
Sarsfield's 0-13
St Paul's 1-19
The final game for Group A in the Intermediate championship left St Paul's with one task – win by a lot.
Friday evening's game between Creggan and Rasharkin saw Kickhams defeat their North Antrim opponents well but the score differential gave St Paul's a mountain to climb ahead of their clash with local rivals Sarsfield's who had no intention of rolling over for their neighbours.
A 25 point victory was the aim for St Paul's and they knew it was folly to believe such an achievement would be easy. Sarsfield's have been far from impressive in this season's hurling campaign having suffered a relegation in the league alongside a poor Championship campaign, but one thing that often gives teams that extra motivation is proving to be a thorn in the side of your rivals.
Despite a great performance from St Paul's, including Stephen Rooney's magnificent solo goal and great scores from Caolan Duffin and Lorcan Phillips, they just fell short as the Paddies did their best to show some resistance to their opponents and a nine-point victory proved not enough as St Paul's finished third in the group.
HEARTBREAK: Lámh's suffer extra-time defeat in JHC semi's
Senior Hurling Quarter-Finals
Rossa 0-20
St John's 2-14
The late collapse of the Jeremiahs against their biggest rivals is something that will no doubt haunt the dreams of the squad that played on Saturday afternoon after one of the strangest endings of hurling anyone could have foretold.
The Johnnies enjoyed a two-point lead at the break but for the majority of the second-half were very much second best as Rossa cruised in front after a great showing from Deaglan Murphy from the dead ball as his free-taking prowess was on show and looked to have been the differential in the second half.
SUPER SUB: Michael Bradley scored 1-1 after coming off the bench
Dominic McEnhill's late point in added time saw Rossa lead by four scores, all but sealing their name in this year's semi-final. But in what just seemed like the impossible the Johnnies somehow overturned the game in the final moments to win.
Michael Bradley gave his marker the slip (literally) and pounced on the loose ball to puck it past Donal Carson in the Rossa net before Ryan McNulty sealed the victory in the fifth minute of added time and clinched the win.
St John's will face Cushendall in a fortnight's time in the senior semi-final for the second season running.
Ryan McNulty scored the winning point on Saturday
Ballycastle 0-11
Loughiel Shamrocks 1-20
It was an impressive showing from Loughiel on Sunday afternoon which confirmed their spot in the semi-final when they blitzed rivals Ballycastle at Pearse Park.
Loughiel's defensive prowess kept the Town men at bay and in particular Ben McGarry and brothers Rory and Declan McCloskey proved to be impenetrable despite the best efforts from Seamus McAuley.
Ronan McGarry's major in the second half put clear daylight between both sides despite just the two point margin in favour of the Shamrocks at the interval. After the break it was one-way traffic as far as scoring was concerned and they strolled to an 11-point victory setting up a semi-final clash with Dunloy in two weeks' time.
