Bathshack Antrim Senior Hurling Championship Group Two
Cushendall 2-14 St John's 1-8
IT was far from pretty, but Cushendall sailed to a second victory in Group Two of the Antrim Senior Hurling Championship as they came through in obscene conditions in Ballymena on Sunday against St John's.
Had this game been postponed due to the volume of water on pitch following a downpour in the hour leading up to throw-in, it's doubtful there would have been too many complaints, but as it was, Cushendall adapted better on a day blighted by a heavy wing and rain - which did ease off during the game - continuing to fall.
Joseph McLaughlin led the way for the county champions with 1-9 as he managed better than anyone to deal with the tricky shooting conditions and his goal was a thing of beauty, finishing off an excellent move.
Both teams did what they could to serve up an entertaining game, but were hampered by the elements as the sodden turf forced them to adjust their approach, but it was the Ruairis who were just that bit sharper and made the most of the wind behind them in the first half to open a healthy gap at the interval which they never really looked like relinquishing.
The Johnnies had just two points form play and this was never going to be enough to give themselves a fighting chance, yet they did mange to get to within six in the second half only for McLaughlin to see his side home.
As both sets of players splashed around the field early, it was actually a lively start with Fergus McCambridge and Conor Johnston swapping points before Cushendall began to get into a flow as their ability to run the ball on a day was pivotal considering the conditions underfoot.
Paddy Burke set Ryan McCambridge up for one before McLaughlin announced his arrival with a pair of frees.
Shea Shannon converted one for the Johnnies, but the city side were having real issues with their shots that seemed to be consistently either held up in the wind or dragged out to the right.
Donal Carson is impeded as he heads to goal
Burke would score the first of his two points on the run for Cushendall and then their first goal arrived after 19 minutes as a Ruairi McCollam shot dropped and in the ensuing scramble, Ciaran Neeson got the final touch.
The champions were in a flow and rattled off points through Burke and McLaughlin before their second goal came after 24 and there was nothing scrappy about this one as Dominic Delargy got on the end of a Scott Walsh delivery on the left corner, passed to Andrew Delargy whose beautiful reverse pass put McCLaughlin in to bury.
St John's did grab a lifeline just before the break as Domhnall Nugent drilled a 20-metre free to the net, but it was Cushendall with a healthy 2-9 to 1-2 advantage.
With the wind advantage for the second period, the Johnnies set about finding a way back with Johnston and Shannon on target, but McLaughlin frees cancelled these out.
Four pointed frees in-a-row from St John's substitute Oisin MacManus got them to within six, but the accuracy of McLaughlin from frees and one from play quelled the mini uprising.
There was a setback late on as Sean McAfee initially won a penalty, but found himself red-carded for afters with the ball throw-in, yet Cushendall can now look ahead to a meeting with Dunloy in two weeks' time to decide top spot in the group and a direct passage into the last four, while St John's hosts Rossa to decide third place in the group.
CUSHENDALL: C McAlister; L Gillan, P Burke (0-2), M Burke; Scott Walsh, E Campbell (0-1), R McCollam; F McCurry, Alex Delargy; Andrew Delargy, R McCambridge (0-1), F McCambridge (0-1); C Neeson (1-0), D Delargy, J McLaughlin (1-9, 0-8f).
Subs: E McQuillan for D Delargy (HT), R McAteer for F McCurry (HT), S McAfee for C Neeson (46), Stephen Walsh for L Gillan (57)
ST JOHN'S: S Doherty; E McGurk, R McNulty, J Bohill; D McGuinness, Ciaran Johnston, A McGowan; A Bradley, S Shannon (0-2f); Conor Johnston (0-2), O Donnelly, C Bohill; D Carson, D Nugent (1-0f), P McCallin.
Subs: O MacManus (0-4f) for P McCallin (45), M Dudley for A Bradley (46), D McKeogh for D Carson (47), L Heenan for D Nugent (48), R Donnelly for O Donnelly (59).
REFEREE: Colum Cunning (Dunloy)
