John Darragh Cup Final 11th August 2010 Ruairi Og V Shamrocks Ruairi Og got off to the perfect start when Paddy Mc Naughton sent a line ball all the way to the net in the third minute. Loughgiel came back at Cushendall with two quick fire points but an Eoin Laverty free and a Paddy Mc Naughton point from play restored Cushendall’s three point cushion. Loughgiel converted their second free of the game to take their tally to 0-3 but Sean Mc Afee then went on the rampage, first he gathered the ball on the 21 yard line, he made space and finished brilliantly to the net. With the next ball he gathered possession and headed towards goal, with defenders moving towards him he passed to Andrew Delargy who made no mistake for Ruairi Og’s third goal of the game.
Loughgiel stopped the rot with a point from a free but the Cushendall forwards were combining brilliantly, Eoin Laverty and Kevin Mc Killop both sent over points from play. Loughgiel’s only outlet was from frees and they converted another with 7 minutes left in the half. Eoin Laverty sent over 2 frees of his own and Paddy Mc Naughton sent over a couple of superb points both after strong solo runs to leave the half time score Ruairi Og 3-8 Shamrocks 0-6.
Loughgiel came out all fired up for the second half and they registered the first score, another pointed free. However Cushendall responded with another 2 classy points from that man Paddy Mc Naughton. Loughgiel were pushing hard but the Ruairi Og full back line was standing firm and despite sustained pressure Loughgiel could only muster a pointed free in the 15th minute. Paddy Mc Naughton yet again soloed forward for his 7th point of the day which was closely followed by an Eoin Laverty free to put the Ruairis out of sight and despite Loughgiel finishing strongly with 1-2 in the final 5 minutes it was Cushendall who retained the John Darragh Cup on a convincing score line of 3-12 to 1-10.
How they played: This was a brilliant battling performance from Ruairi Og. From 1 to 15 every player gave 100 per cent. In defence Shea Graffin, Sean Mc Killop and Eamon Heggarty were particularly impressive. Eoin Campbell put in a strong shift in mid field and up front Loughgiel had no answer to the superb Paddy Mc Naughton who was well supported by Eoin Laverty and Kevin Mc Killop but my man of the match goes to Cahir Mc Naughton who must have covered every blade of grass on the field. On a wet and slippy night when Ruairi Og required someone to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work Cahir really responded.
Team: 1. Conor Mc Alister 2. Sean Mc Killop 3. Dominic Delargy 4. Shea Graffin 4. Dan Kinney 6. Eamon Heggarty 7. Conor Grant 8. Cahir Mc Naughton 9. Eoin Campbell 10. Eoin Laverty (0-4) 11. Kevin Mc Killop (0-1) 12. Paddy Mc Naughton (1-7) 13. Martin Mc Afee 14. Sean Mc Afee (1-0) 15. Andrew Delargy (1-0) Subs used: Sean Delargy
Thanks to Colum for his match report.