ANOTHER weekend has passed in the Antrim Hurling Championships with enthralling action taking place across all three competitions.
Last weekend saw some huge results for St Paul's and Gort na Móna, whilst St Gall's Rossa and Sarsfields fell to bottom of their respective groups in both the Senior and Intermediate level after defeat.
Group A (Senior)
Loughiel Shamrocks 6-26
Carey Faugh's 1-13
The new boys Carey Faugh's look set to be given the 'whipping boys' name after a hammering to Antrim's most successful hurling stronghold last weekend.
Carey entered this season's Senior level after defeating Swatragh of Derry in last season's Ulster Intermediate decider. Loughiel enjoyed a strong first half period which saw them lead 3-14 to eight Carey points.
The thumping victory sends the Shamrocks to the top of Group A.
BATTLE: Rossa battled hard until the end but came up short
Rossa 1-18
Cushendall 2-17
Rossa enjoyed a great first-half where a late flurry from Deaglan Murphy, Seaghan Shannon and an Eoin Trainor goal on the half-time mark saw the Shaws Road side ahead by seven, but a second yellow for Eoin Trainor reduced the Jeremiah's to 14-men.
An inspired Neil McManus stepped up his game in the second period taking his personal tally to 2-8 but with two minutes remaining Rossa looked to have salvaged the draw when Murphy's seventh free of the evening drew the sides level. However, with a man advantage, McManus and Bradley struck decisive points to take victory over the league champions on their own patch.
Next Fixtures:
Rossa v Loughiel Shamrock's - Sat 23rd August
Carey Faugh's v Cushendall - Sun 24th August
Group B (Senior)
Dunloy 3-20
Ballycastle 1-11
A fifteen point victory on their championship opener shows Dunloy mean business as Seaan Elliot and Keelan Molloy starred when they put coastal rivals Ballycastle to the sword on Sunday afternoon.
Brothers Seaan and Nigel Elliot scored goals either side of the interval for Dunloy whilst Chrissy McMahon added a late third goal to his side's tally. Keelan Molloy and Eoin O'Neill struck eight points between them in what was an outright thrashing of Ballycastle at Cúchullain's Park.
Impressive opening victories in both codes sets the North Antrim men up for a potential double whilst Ballycastle turn their attention to St John's in a fortnight's time.
SOON TO BE CHAMPS?: Dunloy thumped Ballycastle as they eye up the Senior title
St Enda's 2-18
St John's 0-24
A late flurry courtesy of Niall O'Connor and Ruairi Donaghy saw St Enda's snatch a last-gasp draw in their championship opener with the Johnnies on Sunday afternoon.
O'Connor's starring performance proved to be enough to keep the sides neck and neck throughout the contest as St John's entered the interval with a lead of just a single point despite spending the majority of the half in deficit to their opponents.
Full match report available here
Next Fixtures:
St Enda's v Dunloy - Fri 22nd August
Ballycastle v St John's - Sat 23rd August
Group A (Intermediate)
Rasharkin 2-17
Sarsfields 1-17
A Liam Tunney goalkeeping spectacle earned Rasharkin their first win in this year's Intermediate championship. The St Mary's keeper made a heap of saves from close range to deny the men from Stewartstown Road.
The visitors pressed again however as Caolan McKernan pointed a 20th minute free and Anthony McGarrigle added another from play before two more McKernan’s conversions had it back to two with six minutes remaining. But Rasharkin prevailed to clinch a victory.
SETBACK: Sarsfields suffered yet another hurling set back in the Championship
Clooney Gaels 1-17
St Paul's 2-14
The sides were inseparable in Ahoghill on Friday evening as St Paul's made the trek to North Antrim where they faced a strong Clooney side fresh off a huge 25-point victory over Sarsfields on the opening weekend a fortnight ago.
The pair went tit-for-tat throughout the entire affair and the half-time score read 0-9 apiece in the hidden Antrim valley.
St Paul's drew on the strength of forward Caolan Ó Duibhfinn who scored 2-7 on the night for the red and white hoops as they earned their first point in this season's championship campaign.
Next Fixtures:
Creggan v Sarsfields - Sat 23rg August
Rasharkin v Clooney Gaels - Sat 23rd August
Group B (Intermediate)
Glenariff Oisin 2-18
St Gall's 0-18
Back to back defeats for the men from Milltown is never a good look, but St Gall's can take consolation from losing to the one team which is odds on for an Intermediate and Division Two double this season.
A spirited performance from St Gall's will allow them to take some solace from the game as the displays from Gregory McGreevey's and Ronan Crossan gave the Milltown men a chance on the Antrim coast.
Glenariff showed their prowess late on and spurred themselves onto a second-half victory after Alex O'Boyle turned on the sharpshooting efforts with his ten point tally edging his side over the line.
HOPE REMAINS: St Gall's must win out if they are to have a chance of progression
Tír na nÓg 2-19
Cushendun 1-21
An injury time goal by Eamon Óg McAllister saw Tir na nÓg snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in Sunday’s Intermediate Hurling Championship second round game at Whitehill.
A performance worthy of any top-flight game, the men from Randalstown continued their impressive campaign with a second victory in as many games as they edged out Cushendun by the minimum.
Conor McHugh thought he'd done just enough when his late point put the Glens men in front, but McAllister's close range finish at the death pushed his side over the line.
Glenarm 2-21
Cloughmills St Brigid's 2-12
Goals on the Glernarm coast were certainly not in short supply as the hosts enjoyed a second championship win of the campaign when they proved too strong for their opponents on Sunday afternoon.
Far from a hurling classic, but that won't matter to Shane O'Neills after Niall McGarrel showed his speciality from the deadball when the forward pointed nine points for the home side leading them onto victory once again.
SUCCESS: Glenarm remain on course for a shock group qualification
Next Fixtures:
Cushendun v Glenarm - Fri 22nd August
St Gall's v Cloughmills - Sat 23rd August
Tír na nÓg v Glenariff - Sun 24th August
