AIB Ulster Club IHC final
Carey Faughs (Antrim) 1-11 Swatragh (Derry) 0-13
WINTER hurling! Blood, guts, bodies on the line, strong wind, low scoring.
All the elements were in evidence in Fr Healy Park, Loughgiel in Saturday’s Ulster intermediate hurling final and it took a resilient team to come through it all.
Carey Faughs made it over the line, despite scoring just two points over the second half-hour and seeing their lead, at one stage in the first half a healthy eight points, shaved to just two with 43 minutes gone.
Their defence was outstanding as they held off the Swatragh advances over the second half, but their success was down to small margins.
The only goal of the contest came from a long delivery in the 21st minute that went loose in the goalmouth and Conlith McKinley reacted quickly to stab home.
There were several similar loose balls in their own goalmouth in the final quarter that went inches wide or were smothered quickly and cleared.
The Antrim champions played first with the aid of the strong breeze blowing straight down to the road end in Loughgiel.
Although Steven McGinn made a fine early save from Dominic Bradley and Cathal Murray opened the scoring for Swatragh, Carey pulled ahead over the first 10 minutes with some excellent scores from James Black, Caolán McCaughan (two), Patrick Butler and 65 from Conall McGlynn. That put them 0-5 to 0-2 up.
James Friel, with his second monster free into the breeze, and Sean Martin Quinn pulled two points back, but scores were beginning to slow up and only points each for Black and McGlynn were registered during the second 10 minutes.
Then came McKinley’s goal, immediately followed by two points from Butler and Carey were 1-9 to 0-4 up.
However, Swatragh slowed their progress in the seven minutes before the break and tagged on two points to leave them in a vulnerable position for the second half.
That situation became more precarious after the third quarter when two points each from James Friel and Sean Martin Quinn and one from Dominic Bradley with just one from McGlynn in reply left it 1-10 to 0-11 with 43 minutes gone.
But Carey dug deep at the back. Every ball was a battle, and this, allied to some wayward shooting from their opponents, saw them through.
McKinley popped up for a vital point in the 46th minute. Frees from Quinn and Friel brought the gap to the minimum with six minutes plus three of added time left.
However, Carey survived to claim an unforgettable provincial title that saw them win three November battles that all went to the wire.
Carey S McGinn, Z McCaughan, S McBride, P Gillan, J McCouaig, J McBride, J Black (0-2), C McCaughan (0-2), P Butler (0-3), C McKinley (1-1), C McGlynn (0-3, 0-2 frees), C McBride, C Cane, M McVeigh, S Hunter
Sub F McVeigh for J McCouaig (61)
Swatragh N McQuillan, B Kearney, P Turner, M Ó hÁgáin, T Walsh, J Friel (0-5, 0-4 frees), C Quinn, M McCormack, SF Quinn (0-1), SM Quinn (0-4, 0-3 frees), P Gunning, C Murray (0-1), D Bradley (0-1), PJ O’Connell (0-1), F McGurk
Subs O O’Kane for F McGurk (39), M Kirkpatrick for P Gunning (41), D Quinn for M McCormack (56), K McAllister for C Murray (61)
Referee P Owens (Liatroim, Down)
