Bathshack Antrim SHC Group 2, round two
Cushendall 2-14 St John’s 1-8
ON a day for the ducks rather than championship hurling, Cushendall had the answers against St John’s at a sodden Ballymena to maintain their winning start in Group 2.
Joseph McLaughlin finished with 1-9, including eight points from frees, on a day that was a nightmare for forwards with a driving wind and a pitch that was barely playable.
Both teams had to find a way to adapt but it was the defending champions who had the answers as they built a healthy lead at the break and managed it out playing into the elements in the second period.
This is a game that was never going to be a classic. An earlier pitch inspection gave it the green light, but a lengthy downpour in the hour before throw-in left both teams with a task on their hands and to their credit, both made the best of it.
However, just two points from play was never going to be enough for St John’s in this game and although the majority of scores from both came from the placed ball, Cushendall just had that bit more about them and were certainly worthy of their win.
Ruairí Ógs had a new spectator in the shape of newly-ratified Antrim hurling boss Davy Fitzgerald, who was spied in the crowd at Ballymena.
“At the very start it was woeful,” said Cushendall manager Brian Delargy.
“The boys dug in well and I’m well happy with that. We knew it wouldn’t be easy any time so I’m happy with the work-rate.
“When we play against the breeze it works for us as well, so we just play whatever way it comes.”
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. Their ability to run the ball on a bad 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.
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 full flow and rattled off points through Burke and McLaughlin before their second goal came after 24 minutes, and there was nothing scrappy about this one.
Dominic Delargy got on the end of a Scott Walsh delivery on the left corner, passed to Andrew Delargy whose beautiful reverse pass put McLaughlin 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.
