Dunloy were crowned Antrim senior hurling champions for the 13th time at Ballycastle today thanks to a four-point win over holders Cushendall.

Two late Sean Elliott goals swung a keenly contested decider in Dunloy’s favour and they claimed the spoils on a scoreline of 3-16 to 2-15.

Earlier in proceedings, Fergus McCambridge (Cushendall) and Nigel Elliott had traded green flags.

Elliott’s three-pointer arrived on the stroke of half-time and that left the eventual winners trailing by 1-8 to 1-9 at the halfway stage.

The second-half exchanges followed a similar pattern with both teams having their chances.

The teams were deadlocked at 1-14 apiece entering the final 10 minutes but it was two goals in the space of as many minutes that would ultimately separate them at the final whistle.

Elliott’s brace in the 29th and 30th minutes boosted the team in green into an unassailable 3-15 to 1-15 lead.

It left the reigning champions with too much to do but Christy McNaughton did muster a consolation goal at the opposite end of  the field.

Dunloy - R Elliott; P Duffin, C McKinley, A Crawford; E Smyth, K McKeague, R McGarry; P Shiels (0-1), R Molloy; K Molloy (0-2), C Brogan, N Elliott (1-2); E O'Neill (0-1), C Cunning (0-9, 7f), N McKeague (0-1). Subs: C Kinsella for A Crawford, S Elliott (2-0) for N McKeague, S Dooey for C Brogan, G McTaggart for R Molloy.

Cushendall - C McAllister; M Burke, P Burke, S Delargy; A Graffin, E Campbell (0-1), F McCurry; Stephen Walsh, Scott Walsh; N McManus (0-10, 8f), N McCormick (0-1), R McCambridge; F McCambridge (1-1), P McGill (0-1), A Delargy (0-1). Subs: D McNaughton for Scott Walsh, C McNaughton (1-0) for S Delargy, E McKillop for A Graffin, D Delargy for F McCambridge.

Referee - C McDonald.

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