Bathshack SHC
Semi-Final
St John's 1-26
Cushendall 1-22

DRAMATIC fashion. That is exactly how St John's clinched their first chance at Antrim hurling silverware in over 30 years when they overcame Cushendall in the semi-final of the 2025 Senior Hurling Championship at Dunsilly on Saturday evening.

Conditions were far from easy to combat with, but both sides made it truly worth the entrance fee as they went hammer and tongs in over 80 minutes of hurling.

Shea Shannon's brace of frees late in extra-time sealed what looked to be an unlikely win for the Johnnies after they came back from a four-point Cushendall lead at the break in normal time.

The game ebbed and flowed in the opening period with Neil McManus and Fiontann Bradley proving to be on form for Cushendall.

Conor Johnston, not for the first time this year, had a stand-out performance in the half-forward line for the Corrigan Park men as he kept the Johnnies within touching distance accompanied by scores from Shannon and Bradley in the early stages.

There is no doubt at which point the game changed in favour for the Johnnies. The second half was in its early stages when Ryan McNulty appeared to receive a stick across the helmet from Neil McManus, with the referee without haste brandishing a straight red card for the Antrim All-Star much to the shock of the North Antrim side.

Cushendall, despite being a man down, still proved to be heavy favourites as their search for a third Senior hurling title in a row looked to continue as they maintained their strong lead of four points after Bradley and McLaughlin took the reins for the Glensmen.

The Johnnies did get the first goal of the afternoon when Aaron Bradley used his excellent burst of pace to drive into the space left in the Cushendall backline before powering an effort beyond the Dall shot-stopper and levelling the game momentarily.

Cushendall were not going to go down without a fight and kept their scoring efforts on song when Bradley found white flags raised twice in a row.

Despite the extra man, St John's looked depleted in the midfield and struggled to cope with the tactical switches made by Cushendall as Neeson's goal would put five between the sides.

Neeson capitalised on the mix-up in the backline and struck the slíotar on the deck and beyond Nugent in the St John's net.

It took the Johnnies until the dying moments to restore full parity and force extra-time when Domhnail Nugent fired a point from the 21-yard line before Conor Johnston continued his superstar performance and thumped a long range effort to level the game and have the game continue for another 20 minutes of hurling.

Into extra-time it went and without hesitation Bradley fired over to restore the Dall lead with St John's in a precarious position of a man up, but a point down in the early stages.

Conor Johnston was determined to bring St John's back on par with their opponents as he pointed a great effort despite being impeded as he attempted to puck the slíotar. Johnston made it a one-point game in favour of the Johnnies for the first time since his opening minute score at the beginning of the game.

The pair of substitutions that were Michael Bradley and Michael Dudley both saw their efforts soar up and over the bar for another two adding to the Johnnies tally as the first half of extra-time slowly dwindled down.

ALL CHANGE: Neil McManus' red card proved pivotal
2Gallery

ALL CHANGE: Neil McManus' red card proved pivotal

Dudley's effort from the far right wing was sent over with serious ferocity and the Johnnies led by four points with just ten minutes of extra-time left to play but the Corrigan Park faithful no doubt had flashbacks to last season where the same scenario turned into a nightmare when their four-point lead was flipped on its head as they fell to a defeat.

This time, however, they seemed to learn from past mistakes, the second half turned into a slog fest which favoured St John's but the game was far from over as Fiontann Bradley and Joe McNaughton fired a point apiece to reduce the score to just two points heading into the closing stages.

The Johnnies could have easily felt the pressure from the current champions, but resisted on the defensive front before Shea Shannon would strike an important free to re-establish a three score lead.

The final moments saw Shannon repeat the previous effort this time bringing the final whistle along with the extra point and sending the Corrigan Park faithful into a frenzy on the Dunsilly hill side.

A 31-year wait for a hurling final has been ended for St John's and they will await Sunday's clash between Dunloy and Loughiel to find out who they will compete with for the Senior crown this season.

St John's: D Nugent 0-1(0-1f); R McNulty, C Johnston, J Bohill; C Morgan, P McCallin, E McGurk; S Wilson, A Bradley 1-2; O Donnelly, C Johnston 0-7, C Bohill 0-3; D Carson, S Shannon 0-6 (0-4f), O McManus 0-5 (0-4f)

Subs: M Bradley 0-1, M Dudley 0-1

Cushendall: C McAlister 0-2(0-2f); C McAuley, P Burke, M Burke; S Walsh, E Campbell 0-1, R McCambridge 0-2; F McCurry, E McQuillan; R McAteer, N McManus 0-3 (0-3f Red Card 33'), T McLaughlin 0-1; F Bradley 0-10 (0-6f), S McAfee, J McLaughlin 0-3

Subs: C Neeson 1-0