Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Uladh
Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Uladh
With Championship fever well underway in Antrim despite these uncertain times we are facing, there are huge stakes up for grabs in the Senior Hurling and Football quarter-finals this weekend.
On Saturday August 29th the Bathshack Senior Hurling Championship continues as the quarter-finalists of Naomh Eoin, Naomh Gall, Rossa and Cushendall look to book their ticket into the last four.
While on Sunday August 30th and Tuesday September 1st, the quarter-finals of the Northern Switchgear Senior Football Championship will get underway with Creggan, Naomh Eanna, Lamh Dhearg, Aghagallon, Cargin, Rossa, St Galls and Portglenone in the mix.
In our first game St Johns will take on local neighbours St Galls at the ‘Bearpit’ in Sarsfields with a 4pm throw-in. In Group One the Johnnies finished second behind last year’s county champions Dunloy on three points with a narrow 0-20 to 1-16 victory over Rossa in their opening game, then a draw away to Ballycastle and defeat at home to table-toppers Dunloy was how things stood.
While their opponents St Galls who reached the All-Ireland Intermediate final in 2018, finished third in Group Two with a 2-17 to 0-12 win over St Endas and suffered two losses to Loughgiel and Cushendall in their two-final round-robin games. This match has all the local bragging rights and huge permutations for who will get one last chance to continue their club championship journey for 2020!
O’Donovan Rossa square off with 2018 All Ireland semi-finalists Ruairi Og Cushendall to see who will progress in this year’s championship.
Naomh Éanna in Hightown will be the host for the game and there is no bigger task for Rossa who go into this tie as underdogs. Colly Murphy’s men will relish this occasion and can count themselves very unlucky not to top Group One. On the opening day they suffered a narrow one-point defeat to neighbours St Johns, they then drew 1-15 to 0-18 at home against Dunloy in a highly controversial finish. The Rossa men travelled up to the North Coast of Antrim and came away with a massive 4-14 to 1-15 win over Ballycastle on Sunday August 23rd. While Cushendall who have become the benchmark for Antrim Hurling, racked up the scores in Group One to prove their championship quality. Led by talisman Neil McManus they beat Ballycastle in the opening round 1-15 to 0-9 at Pairc MacUilin. With Sambo McNaughton back at the helm, they got their second win with a 2-16 to 1-8 win over Rossa at Ruairi Og. In their final group game a solid 5-27 to 0-5 win over Ballycastle had ‘The Dall’ set up nicely for the commence of the next round which throws-in on August 29th at Sarsfields in Belfast.
Live updates will be available on the Official Antrim GAA Twitter page.
Turning our attention to Sunday August 30th at 2pm, when Lamh Dhearg face St Mary’s Aghagallon in the first game of the Northern Switchgear Senior Football quarter-finals.
The Hannahstown outfit topped Group One with six points and are unbeaten in three games. These wins came from a 1-11 to 0-11 win over St Johns in Round One, a 2-9 to 1-9 victory over Rossa and 3-9 to 0-9 win over St Johns again.
Lamh Dhearg will be hopeful to take Cargin’s crown from them this year and with Antrim Football captain Declan Lynch leading the charge will fancy their chances. The Red Hands were beaten by Rossa in their final group game but already have one eye on the next round.
While in Group Three of the Senior Football Championship, St Marys Aghagallon currently sit second on six points but will face an almighty test this Sunday. In their group Aghagallon recorded a 1-13 to 0-12 win over St Brides, they suffered a three-point defeat to last years Senior Football Champions Cargin. They then racked up wins over Glenavy, St Brides but tasted narrow defeat to Cargin by a single point again.
Live updates will be available on the Official Antrim GAA Twitter page.
The 2017 Senior Football Championship finalists Creggan take on the 2019 All-Ireland Intermediate finalists Naomh Eanna on Sunday August 30th at 2pm in Dunsilly.
Creggan Kickhams finished top of Group One on six points with wins over Portglenone and Aghagallon respectively to put them in pole position to progress.
Meanwhile in Group Four Naomh Éanna finished second behind St Galls on a points difference. A 0-13 to 2-4 victory over Gort Na Mona kick-started their championship season. This was followed with a huge two-point win over St Galls in their second game, but a three-point loss was suffered to St Galls in the reverse fixture.
The final two quarter-finals ties see last year’s senior champions Cargin travel to Ahoghill to take on Rossa with a 6.45pm throw-in.
Cargin have been absolutely flawless in Group Three winning all their games and finishing with a mighty 12 points. They beat Glenavy 3-14 to 0-4 in the opening round, and followed this up with wins over Aghagallon and St Brides as well as securing each reverse fixtures points. The current and defending county champions are certainly a team on red-hot form.
Their opponents Rossa go into this contest with confidence after their recent 0-16 to 1-11 win over Lamh Dhearg, and drawing to local neighbours St Johns twice in the round-robin. Can Rossa be the under-dog team to halt Cargin’s charge to lift another SFC title?
The final semi-final spot will be up for grabs between St Galls and Roger Casements Portglenone on Tuesday September 1st. St Galls overcame a tough Naomh Eanna side 1-11 to 1-08 coming away with the vital points to currently sit top Group Four. Along the way they beat Gort Na Mona by 10 points, but suffered defeat to their Hightown counter-parts.
The band is back together for St Galls who look to kick on in this year’s championship. Their opponents Portglenone aren’t strangers to big games. Who can forget their epic trilogy with Lamh Dhearg in last years competition? Casements haven’t really hit their heights of last year, they lost their opening game by three points to St Marys Aghagallon, tasted defeat again by three points to Creggan but smashed Aghagallon in the reverse fixture 4-13 to 3-7. A narrow two-point win over Creggan boosted their championship dreams with the knock-out round approaching next week.
St Galls v Portglenone is live from 6:45pm on Official Antrim GAA Facebook page.
The Antrim Senior Football and Hurling Championship will hope to bring the spark that fans have seen in last years’ competitions. Who can book their spot into the last four and take one step closer to lifting the coveted championship trophies for 2020?
