Antrim Junior B Hurling Championship semi-final

Ardoyne Kickham's 4-27 Henry Joy's 0-8

Ardoyne romped home to victory on Saturday afternoon against Henry Joy’s at the Cricky which will see them sail through to the final of Junior B Hurling Championship against St Brigid’s who beat Larne in the other semi-final.

Ardoyne got off to a thunderous start, and within the first six minutes they were already seven points ahead, with score after score: two coming from David Saunders, Jim Og McAuley and Caolan Wallace and on-form Oisín McVicker. McVicker’s performance today will surely go down in the books after scoring three goals and five points for the Ardoyne men.

It was only after eight minutes that Henry Joy's were able to hit back in any way, earning a point from Patrick Meenan, closely followed by a free from Joe McQuillian, but those points couldn’t do anything to stop the might from Ardoyne, who retaliated immediately with a point from Aran Stewart, and a goal in the back of the net from Oisín McVicker, putting the scoreline at 1-8 to 0-2 only 10 minutes in.

Henry Joy’s managed to get another point after a free was awarded when Patrick Meenan was hit in the face with a hurl. The free was subsequently taken by Joe McQuillan bringing Henry Joy’s score up to 0-3.

The following 10 minutes were again dominated by Ardoyne, with points coming from Jim Og McAuley, Dean Goodall and Oisin McVicker.

Joe McQuillan was able to get another point in for Henry Joy’s but the rest of the half was completely taken over by Ardoyne, with another goal in the back of the net coming from Paul McGuigan, and two points from Dean Goodall, who played phenomenally.

Henry Joy’s man Raymond Burns managed to chip in a point before the half-time whistle went, putting the final scoreline at the break 2-13 to Ardoyne, 0-5 to Henry Joy’s. 

The second half got underway with a point quickly going to Henry Joy’s man Patrick Meenan, but they were unable to hold any momentum, before Ardoyne again steamed ahead getting five points in rapid succession coming from Daniel Moore, four from Aaron Stewart, with a point coming a minute from 40 to 45 minutes.

Dean Goodall got a great run up the right hand side at 46 minutes, earning another score for the Ardoyne men, bringing their total score now up to 2-19.

After this, Patrick Meenan got underway with a good run and picked up another point for Henry Joy’s bringing their score up to 0-7.

A few minutes later Goodall’s hurl was broken in a tackle, and Mark Caldwell of Henry Joy’s earned himself a red card for bad behaviour towards the referee and was sent off, leaving Henry Joy’s down to only 14 men. Ben Mullan had come on at half time to replace Matt Corlm.

Dean Goodall steals a march on Raymond Burns
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Dean Goodall steals a march on Raymond Burns

With 52 minutes in, Henry Joy’s scored their last point of the game through a free by Patrick Meenan, bringing their final tally up to 0-8.

The last 15 minutes were completely taken over by Ardoyne again, who seemed to be unstoppable.

Six points came in in rapid succession from Dean Goodall, Daniel Moore, Caolan Wallace, Oisín McVicker and Aaron Stewart who got two, before Ardoyne made a double substitution, replacing Dean Goodall and Daniel Moore with Hugh Grieve and Sean Searle.

In the last five minutes, Ardoyne showed no sign of resting on their laurels, with a goal in the back of the net with a tactical point from Oisín McVicker, followed a minute later by a point from Pearse Hull, who was assisted in a brilliant piece of work from Hugh Grieve.

A moment after this, Paul Baker picked up a point with a long shot, sailing it between the posts. Two minutes later with two minutes to go Oisín McVicker put another one into the back of the net, followed by a point from Paul McGuigan, followed by another goal into the back of the net from McVicker.

When the final whistle went, the scoreline was decidedly one-sided, Ardoyne sitting on a mighty 4-27 to Henry Joy’s 0-8.

ARDOYNE: J P Agnew, P Clarke, P Baker (0-1), S McGearty, C Wallace (0-2), M McLaughlin, C McShane, P Hull (0-1), P McGuigan (1-1),  D Moore (0-3), O McVicker (3-5), D Goodall (0-4), J Og McAuley (0-2), A Stewart (0-7), D Saunders (0-2)

Subs: D Moore for H Grieve, D Goodall for S Searle (Both 55 mins)

HENRY JOY'S: E McAteer, C Lowry, M Corlm, P Fitzpatrick, P O’Hagan, M Caldwell, R Clarke, J McQuillan (0-3), A O’Rourke, S McIlhatton, P Meenan (0-4), R Burns (0-1), S O’Reilly, C O’Neill, K Mallon

Subs: B Mullan for M Corlm (HT)

REFEREE: Kevin Parke (Naomh Éanna)