LOUGHGIEL ROCKING AFTER ULSTER FINAL WIN

AIB Ulster Club Hurling Final

Loughgiel Shamrocks 2-24 Keady (Armagh Champions) 0-6

LOUGHGIEL Shamrocks cruised to their first Ulster Senior Club Hurling title since 1989 when they proved too strong for Armagh champions Keady in Sunday's final at Casement Park.

In the most one sided final in the history of the competition the Shamrocks were always in control, though Keady did hold on well during the opening half and only trailed by 0-10 to 0-5 at the half-time whistle.

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However after the change of ends the Antrim champions were in cruise control and added the scores at will to secure the most convincing of victories.

As he had done in the county final and in the Ulster semi-final Eddie McCloskey sprung from the traps and had a point on the board in the opening minute. McCloskey went on have an influential role in the game as did Liam Watson, who after a quiet start began to pick off the points.

Watson was closely marked all day Keady’s Ryan Comiskey, but the Keady man might have found it a more profitable afternoon if he had concentrated on his own hurling instead of trying in vain to negate Watson.

Still Keady, who had beaten Derry champions Lavey in the semi-final, faired well in the first half and with corner-forward Paul Breen showing great accuracy from frees they were still in touch on the scoreboard when the half-time whistle blew.

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The second-half was a different matter though as the Shamrocks showed a much more clinical side to their play as they picked off scores with ease.

Benny McCarry, who was guilty of a few uncharacteristic misses in the opening half, made amends when he fired in the opening goal after 53 minutes while second-half substitute Damien Laverty grabbed his team’s second with a just a minute left on the clock.

Loughgiel now look forward to an All Ireland semi-final against the champions of Leinster in just over three months time.

Liam Watson is due to have surgery next week on his troublesome knee and should be fully recovered by then. In the mean time the Loughgiel camp can look back with pride on a season in which they regained the Antrim and Ulster titles after a twenty-one year gap.

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LOUGHGIEL : D Quinn; P Gillan, N McGarry, B McAuley (0-1) ; C McKinley, Johnny Campbell (0-2, one free) , M Scullion; M McFadden (0-1) , L McKillop; E McCloskey (0-7) , James Campbell, O McFadden; B McCarry (1-3), J Scullion (0-3), L Watson (0-6, four frees). Subs: D Laverty (1-1) for James Campbell (39 mins), R McCloskey for McKillop (51 mins), K McGarry for Watson (55 mins), A McCloskey for McKinley (55 mins), M McGarry for McCarry (58 mins).

KEADY : J Burke; F McMullen, C McShane, M McDermott; B McCormack, E McDonnell, R Comiskey; G Enright (0-1) , B Breen; B McNaughton (0-1) , C Mone, P McCormack; P Breen (0-4, four frees) , J Corvan, R Digby. Subs : K McGreevy for Mone (41 mins), D McDermott for Corvan (46 mins), F Cullivan for McNaughton (51 mins), L McKee for P Breen (58 mins).

Referee: Declan Magee (Down).

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