WESTENRA HOTEL JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL.
Drumhowan 2-14, Clones 0-4.
A rampant Drumhowan cruised to a comprehensive victory over Clones in this totally one-sided junior football championship final that was played in very difficult conditions in St Mellons Park, Truagh yesterday afternoon.
Hungrier, faster to the ball and more adept in their handling and support play Drumhowan dominated this game from start to finish and had the result wrapped up quite some time before the final whistle.
They led by 1-7 to 0-0 at half-time, James McElroy crashing in the goal in the 16th minute to give his side an early foothold as they made the most of playing with the elements in the opening period. In fact 18 minutes of the second-half had elapsed before Clones opened their account with a point from a free by Declan McKernan. McKernan had been his side’s saviour in a number of championship matches this season, coming in to good effect as a second-half substitute but there was to be no magical turnaround this time as by the time McKernan got Clones off the mark Drumhowan were 17 points in front having hit 1-4 without reply in the third quarter. Clones did manage to register three further points but it really was a matter of Drumhowan just running down the clock against a team for whom absolutely nothing went right on the day. Drumhowan’s second goal came in the seventh minute of the second-half when Gerard Duffy finished off a sweeping move that started in the full back line. Drumhowan now move on to meet the Donegal champions, Carndonagh, in the Ulster club junior football championship quarter-final on Sunday, November 2nd in Clones.
Teams and Scorers: Drumhowan: Enda Duffy, Darren Duffy, Liam McGuirk, Martin McElroy, Damien Duffy 0-1, Niall Mooney, Kevin Mooney 0-2, Enda McElroy 0-1, Dermot McDermott, James McElroy 1-3 (1f), Stephen McGinnity, Gerard Duffy 1-1, Kieran Mooney 0-1, Christopher McGinnity, Colm Lambe 0-4 (2f). Subs: Rodney Mooney for C McGinnity, Gavin Sheridan for Damien Duffy, Paddy Duffy for M McElroy, Paddy Mulligan for G Duffy, Damien Mooney for N Mooney. .
Clones: Manus Quinn, Fintan Kelly, Colin McCaughey, Danny Rooney, Paul Connolly, Michael Treanor, Fergal McFarland, Fintan Cunningham, Ross Adamson, Darragh Graham, Adrian Alford, Darragh Holland 0-2 (1f), Darren Freeman 0-1, Kieran Kierans, Colm Connolly. Subs: Declan McKernan 0-1 for D Graham, Patrick McCarville for P Connolly, Fergal Nugent for F Cunningham, John McDonald for R Adamson, Ciaran Kelly for A Alford. Referee: Martin McMahon (Aughnamullen).
