Antrim Minor B Hurling Final
Rossa 1-07
St John’s 3-16
At Shaws Road

Tomás Adams showed an exhibition in free-taking as he helped steer St John’s to victory over West Belfast rivals Rossa in the final of the Antrim Minor B Hurling Championship on the Shaws Road on Sunday afternoon.

Both sides had very different challenges in their respective semi-finals a fortnight ago when St John's left it late to overcome Ard na RÍ at Corrigan Park when they found late goals to separate themselves from their opponents.

In stark contrast Rossa faced a much lesser challenge when they breezed past Ballymena side Slemish Gaels in the North Antrim stronghold scoring 23 points and limiting their opponents to just a single score.

In a game played in rain and wind Adams’ accuracy stood out as he sent over points from all over the field and kept the scoreboard ticking as St John's once more got the upper hand over their nearest and dearest.

Liam McEnhill was Rossa’s star man as he struck his team’s total of 1-7 but it was evident from the early stages that the Johnnies would be very hard to beat as their resilient defensive capabilities were on display.

The first half saw the Corrigan Park side move into a 0-03 to 0-01 lead, and despite playing into the strong breeze, Adams struck two of the points before Daniel McKenna found the other.

McEnhill got Rossa’s score from a 65 to cut his side's deficit and before long the game was turned on its head when young McEnhill pointed twice more before finding the net in fantastic fashion.

The young forward, who has enjoyed a debut season in the Senior camp, struck a brilliant individual goal putting the Jeremiahs a goal ahead at the end of the opening quarter after he drove from way out and displayed a magnificent solo run before drilling home a fantastic effort.

Alex Robb pulled one back for St John’s but McEnhill restored his team’s three point cushion with a great strike from a free well inside his own half.

However, in the run-in to half time St John’s regained the upper hand before another Lewis Rafferty point had St John's within two scores moments before the half-time whistle.

The man of the hour, Tomás Adams, pointed twice in quick succession from two from frees to send them in level at the break, as the scoreboard saw the game level, with Rossa 1-5 levelling St John’s eight points. 

Rossa star-man Liam McEnhill fired them ahead again in the early stages of the second half but Alex Robb had the Johnnies back on terms less than a minute later. Lewis Rafferty broke through to fire home a goal from close range in the 37th minute and that virtually gave no way back for Rossa.

Adams began to stretch the Johnnies lead with his dead-eye from the free position continuing their charge towards more silverware and by the mid-way point of the second period Adams had St John's ahead by six points as he proved flawless from the dead ball.

Rossa's one-man show, Liam McEnhill, pulled a point back for the home team but it was to be their last score of the game while St John’s finished strong.

A flurry of scores from Adams saw the sharpshooter point another five without reply from their rivals, before the Johnnies half-forward struck a major when his long-range free dropped into the net for a goal.

The game was wrapped with minutes to go when the net was found once again when midfielder Caolan Wilson thumped the slíotar beyond the netminder to seal victory for the Johnnies.