Ballycastle cruise to McNamee Cup victory against Maghera

Cross & Passion cruise to McNamee Cup victory against St Patrick’s, Maghera

Danske Bank MacNamee Cup final

Cross & Passion, Ballycastle 2-10

St Patrick’s, Maghera 3-1

THE hurlers of Cross and Passion were even more emphatic winners of the Danske Bank MacNamee Cup yesterday in Ballymena than the scoreline suggests.

They dominated the early stages of the game, but were pulled back by two Maghera goals in the second quarter and before they could get into their stride again their most dangerous forward John Óg Darragh picked up a second yellow card.

Darragh had been the star of the game up until that point, but for the final 20 minutes the whole team dug in and kept their opponents under pressure, the third Maghera goal coming two minutes from time.

By the end of the first quarter, Darragh had already made his mark with a goal and three points, while Killian Cassidy brought CPC’s tally to 1-4 before Patrick O’Loughlin opened the St Patrick’s account with a goal 10 minutes from the break.

Darragh responded with two monster frees before Harry McCloskey’s 55-metre free for Maghera made its way through a crowded goalmouth and over the line. With O’Loughlin adding a point it seemed that Maghera were back in the game.

However, Darragh had the last score of the half, his second goal, a minute from the short whistle and Ballycastle led by 2-6 to 2-1, with the Naomh Pádraig player accounting for 2-5 of that.

The scoreline didn’t change up until his second yellow. After it, you certainly noticed the contribution of the rest of the team, with Iarlaith O’Kane and Ben Linton in charge at the back, Tom Richmond and Killian Cassidy driving ball through the middle and Pearse McMullan taking over as the go-to player.

Richmond pointed three frees and McMullan added a point before Maghera came with a late burst that saw Adam Mulholland find the net.

Scorers

Cross & Passion J Óg Darragh 2-5 (0-3f); T Richmond 0-3f; K Cassidy & P McMullan 0-1 each

St Patrick’s P O’Loughlin 1-1; H McCloskey (f) & A Mulholland 1-0 each

 

By Séamas McAleenan Published In The Irish news November 15, 2024