Dunloy v Loughgiel U-16 Championship
Loughgiel - Under 16 Champions
On Thursday the 13th on a very windy night, the under 16 championship final was contested between local rivals Loughgiel and Dunloy in Ballycastle under lights. Loughgiel had won the last two encounters in the league, which would understandably make them favourites, although Dunloy wanted to make amends for these two defeats. Dunloy’s captain Annie Laverty won the toss and decided to play with the wind at their back in the first half. Loughgiel got off to the better start with a goal 4minutes in from Christine Laverty, Dunloy responded with a long puc out assisted by the gale force wind into the full forward line only for Loughgiel’s full back to kick it out the wing before clearing it. Annie Laverty was quick onto the breaking ball and placed it into the full forward line again for dunloy and after a goal mouth scramble dunloy were unlucky for the ball just to creep to the outside of the post. Emma McMillan from Loughgiel got injured in a collision in a tackle and after a long while of stoppage she unfortunately had to come off, Eimear Traynor was introduced for the Shamrocks at this point. Shortly after this Caitrin Dobbin added a point to the Loughgiel side. Erin Elliott won a free for Dunloy after a late swing by Loughgiel’s Therese McKinley she played the ball to the half forward to her younger sister Aislinn who rounded Loughgiel’s half back line but her shot just fell short and was cleared by corner back Cliodhna McGuckian. Loughgiel won a free in the half back line, Bronagh Johnson stepped up to the plate to strike this ball into the full forward line and substitute Eimear Traynor was on hand to finish to the back of the net. The ball was over turned at midfield by Ciara Dobbin to put pressure on Dunloy’s back line only for a superb catch from Kathryn Boyle to clear out of defence again. Laura McCarry and Seanagh Wallace battled for the ball, Wallace won this battle but it wasn’t mean to be for her shot crept wide. At the other end of the field Johanna McKeown won a free and placed it between the uprights, she also scored a goal shortly afterwards after a good solo run and a dummy to beat the Dunloy defence. Dunloy got a little hope though after Erin Elliott solo ran out of defence then laid the ball off to Frances McMahon who took on another solo run and hit a high shot in which dropped into the net.
Halt time Loughgiel 3.2 Dunloy 1.0
The second half Dunloy came out fighting, after a great save by Jessica Rush, the ball was blocked out for a 45, Johanna stepped up and raised the white flag again. Annie Laverty was moved onto Loughgiel’s sharp shooter Caitrin and marshalled her well but Caitrin rounded her to finish off a nice point for the half forward. Loughgiel made a positional change with Therese McKinley moving into full forward and Johanna McKeown moving out, this proved to work out well for them. After a long run from Caitrin who laid the ball off to corner forward Sarah McCloskey who’s shot was saved excellently by Jessica Rush only for Therese McKinley to be running in and finish the rebound to the net. Johanna and Caitrin added 2 more points to Loughgiel’s tally to stretch their lead. Dunloy tried to step it up and Erin Elliott began to control the defence by holding her line at centre half back and picking up any breaking ball and clearing down the field, this paid off for Dunloy and they got a goal after scramble in which Aislinn Elliott finished to the net with an astounding fast ground stroke. Dunloy were to have more heart ache as Loughgiel finished off the stronger adding another goal and a point from play. The point coming from captain and corner forward Sarah McCloskey from a very acute angle and the goal coming from full forward Johanna McKeown. On a very windy night in Ballycastle, both teams played a high standard game of camogie and perhaps Loughgiel just adapted to the wind more so. The game was affected by the wind and it spoiled what could have been a fantastic final.
Full time Loughgiel 5.8 Dunloy 2.0
Dunloy team; Jessica Rush, Siofra O’Mullan, Kathryn Boyle, Sorcha Conlon, Shannon Connors, Erin Elliott, Annie Laverty (capt), Lisa McConville, Frances McMahon, Rebecca McFarland, Kirsten Ingram, Aislinn Elliott, Rachel Kearns, Dearbhail Elliott, Seanagh Wallace
Loughgiel team; Eimear Boyle, Laura McCarry, Katie McKillop, Cliodhna MCGuckian, Brona Johnson, Chloe Higgins, Megan Boyle, Ciara Dobbin, Clare McKillop, Caitrin Dobbin, Therese McKinley, Christine Laverty, Sarah McCloskey (capt), Johanna McKeown, Emma McMillan