Two wins from two for Rua’s senior hurlers

The foundation for their win was laid in a first half in which Eoghan Rua took advantage of the strong downfield wind to pile on the scores and lead 4-8 to 1-3 at the break. An Anton Rafferty point from a free had Eoghan Rua 0-2 to 0-1 ahead before Ruari leonard and Colm McGoldrick combined for the latter to blast to the All Saints net seven minutes in. Midway through the half the Ballymena men grabbed their first goal, Damian Gillen scoring after collecting a great cross field pass. The home side hit back with two goals inside a five minute spell the first was scrambled over the line by Kieran Lagan from close range while the second saw Anton Rafferty hit a superb long range pass inside where Colm McGoldrick gathered and blasted to the net. The home side continued to use route one ball effectively as another long pass out of defence opened up the allyhmena defence again and Ciaran McGoldrick added Eoghan Rua’s fourth goal. There was no respite for the hard pressed Ballymena defences as Eoghan Rua added three more points, Ciaran McGoldrick, Anton Rafferty from a long range free and Colm McGoldrick brushing off a couple of tackles to blast over leaving the Coleraine men with a comfortable 4-8 to 1-3 half-time lead. The strong wind was always going to be a factor and All Saints certainly made a good start to the second half as they tacked on four points inside the first ten minutes. Still the hard working Coleraine defence was solid through the middle where Kieran Lagan and Anton Rafferty ensured any goal chances were hard earned. In a couple of breakaway attacks midway through the half Colm McGolrick hit his third and Eoghan Rua’s fifth goal and then a point to negate all of the Ballymena’s sides early scores. A second Ballymena goal from Sean O’Kane did little to dent Eoghan Rua’s commanding lead. Indeed the home side finished the stronger as Com McGoldrick added yet another goal for a resounding 6-11 to 2-8 win.

The Eoghan Rua sorers were: Colm McGoldrick (4-4), Ciaran McGoldrick (1-2), Ciaran Lagan (1-0), Anton Rafferty (0-4, 0-1 ‘65’, 0-3 frees), Conor Carey (0-1), Liam Frizelle ()-1).

All Saints scorers: Sean O’Kane 1-0, Damian Gillen (1-4), Liam Casselly (0-1), Brian McToal (0-1), Aidan O’Kane (0-1).