Cloughmills come up short

Inniskeen (Monaghan) 0-14 St Brigid’s Cloughmills (Antrim) 1-09

ST Brigid’s Cloughmills’ bid to win a first Ulster title came up short against surprise packages Inniskeen.

The Monaghan champions proved too strong in every department and their direct forceful hurling brought them a deserved first Ulster crown with an impressive display.

The occasion appeared to get to a lot of the Cloughmills men who struggled throughout most of the opening half. Indeed had it not been for a brilliant display by goalkeeper Christopher McKernan then the game could well have been over at half-time.

McKernan made a fantastic save in the seventh minute when he prevented what seemed a certain goal by Iniskeen’s Ronan Meegan, throwing himself at the ball to turn it around the post for a ‘65’. Twelve minutes later he again came to his team’s rescue when he denied his opposite number, Iniskeen ‘keeper Gerard Ruddy, who came all the way up the field to take a penalty.

Clougmills were struggling to find any pattern in their play, but they were thrown a lifeline when full-forward James Doherty showed great endeavour to grab an opportunist goal just before the break following a bad defensive blunder by the Monaghan men.

Training by 1-3 to 0-7 at half-time the ‘Biddies’ levelled early in the second-half when substitute Ryan McKinley pointed and they edged ahead when Mickey Devlin fired over a point.

However the Monaghan champions slowly regained the upper-hand and with Trevor Hillard dominant at midfield and Michael Lennon ruling the roost on the ‘40’ they hit the front once again.

Cloughmills did have a couple of late chances to bring the game to extra-time but Inniskeen hit a late point through their tricky corner-forward Ronan Meegan to seal a deserved victory and become the first Monaghan team to clinch and Ulster hurling title.

A disappointing end to the season for Clougmills but when they look back they can reflect on what was overall a successful campaign with their first Antrim title.

Cloughmills – Christopher McKernan, Tiernan McLaughlin, Michael Morrison, Stephen martin, Darren Morrison, Aaron Smiley, Danny McLaughlin, Conor Laverty, Stephen Smith, Michael Devlin, Gary McCollum, Anton Patterson, Damien Watson, James Doherty, Liam Kearns. SUBS – Ryan McKinley and John McGuckian.

Referee – Gerard Devlin (Armagh)