The first score of the game came from Canice Mooney, a 70 yard pointed free which was then cancelled out with a 40 yard Cushendun pointed free. Tommy Toland was then involved in the next two moves which culminated in a goal and a point for Rory McEvoy. The first resulted in Rory firing over a well executed point following Tommy’ s handpass as he raced goal wards. The second saw Tommy strike a long ball into the full forward line, Anton McCaffrey side stepped it allowing the sliotar to  roll into Rory’s path and he despatched the shot to the back of the Cushendun net. Another Canice Mooney pointed 21 yard free gave us a 1-3 to 0-1 lead.
Cushendun scored the next point but we quickly added another two points
with Rory McEvoy picking up a breaking ball and rifling it over the bar while Canice Mooney hit another point from a well executed free. At this stage we were well in control but Cushendun started to get into their stride and added four unanswered points to leave the half time score 1-5 to 0-6 in our favour.
Cushendun picked up the tempo at the start of the second half , picking off three points to edge into the lead for the first time in the match. However, we dug deep and bounced back with the score of the game. Martin Mooney won possession of the sliotar ans solo-ed out on the wing. He laid a handpass off to Canice Mooney who fired the sliotar between the points from an acute angle on the sideline to level the match. A Sean Prenter point of his left side was followed by a Canice Mooney free and we took a two point advantage with ten minutes left.
A Cushendun point reduced the deficit to one but the killer score was a Cushendun goal to give them a two point lead. Before we had time to regroup they added another two points to increase the gap to four. AÂ Canice Mooney point left a goal between the sides but with time running out we were unable to get an equalising goal.
While we are disappointed to lose the game we came out of it with our heads held high. We showed we can compete against teams from a higher division and with a bit more cuteness and experience of playing at this tempo we could definitely hold our own in the next division.
Our next outing is against Ballymena in the semi-final of the Ulster Hurling League on 11 August and this is one we will be aiming to win following last years defeat at the same stage of this competition.
