AIB ULSTER CLUB JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL.
Drumhowan 5-10, Lissan 0-5.
A rampant Drumhowan cruised to an almost facile victory over Derry champions Lissan in this one sided Ulster junior final in Brewster Park on Sunday last. Played in good if somewhat wintry conditions this was a game that Drumhowan dominated from start to finish with Lissan unable to match let alone contain them in any department.
Drumhowan settled to the task from the off and served notice that they were well up for this contest with a display of disciplined defending and an ability to mount fast counter attacks being the hall mark of their performance especially in the first half and they were not at all flattered by their twelve points half time lead.
In the second half Lissan did show somewhat better form in the opening minutes but they really failed to make any major inroads into Drumhowan’s advantage and the Monaghan champions effectively sealed victory by the midway stage of the second half with two goals in the blistering four minutes spell killing the game off completely as a contest. Lissan to their credit played sportingly to the end although allowing for a couple of near misses by Drumhowan they could have been defeated by an even greater margin. As it was Drumhowan finished with a late goal and a point, the goal by team captain Colm Lambe who came in as a second-half substitute to good effect and earned for himself a very special place in the annals of the club by being the first Drumhowan player to be presented with an Ulster club championship trophy. All over the field Drumhowan were the masters of the opposition from goalkeeper Enda Duffy, who took off a couple of very good saves, right through to corner forward Stephen McGinnity who was a real scourge on the Drumhowan defence. McGinnity used all his experience and craft to set up a number of scores and was instrumental in four of the five goals, actually scoring one himself and setting up another when he robbed possession with one of the most deft tackles on the day. The full back line of Darren Duffy, Liam McGuirk and Martin McElroy never allowed the Lissan full forward line the space or time they needed with Liam McGuirk in particular keeping a very tight rein on danger man Patrick Coey. As in other games this year the sheet anchor of Drumhowan’s performance and victory was their half back line of Damien Duffy on the right, Niall Mooney at centre and Kevin Mooney on the left and it was their ability to first of all mop up anything that came their way and then drive forward on lightening counter attacks that had Lissan on the back foot throughout. Enda McElroy and Dermot McDermott worked hard in midfield with McDermott in particular taking of a number of very good catches. It was up front though where Drumhowan possessed the superior firepower that had Lissan on the rack even by half-time along with Stephen McGinnity and James McElroy torturing the Derry champions defence. McElroy finished with a goal and five points to his credit, four of the points coming from frees and he also played a part in a number of other scores. Rodney Mooney was always willing to make himself available as was Ciaran Mooney and Gerard Duffy rowed in with a goal and three points and Paddy Mulligan, until he was substituted, was a willing worker. Drumhowan used all of five substitutes with two of them getting on the score sheet, Christopher McGinnity with a point and team captain Colm Lambe finishing for their fifth goal after a very unselfish gesture by another substitute David Miller. For Lissan it was just one of those days when nothing went right or according to plan despite the best efforts of people like Oran Donnelly, veteran Michael McCracken, Shane McGlone, Patrick Coey and Darren Donnelly they just proved no match for a Drumhowan side that where totally focused throughout.
Drumhowan got down to business right away with a point from a free by James McElroy in the first minute after he himself had been fouled. Five minutes later Drumhowan scored their first goal but prior to that they could well have had one in the third minute and they were off target on another attack. A promising Lissan attack saw Shane McGlone’s effort fall short to Drumhowan keeper Enda Duffy who started a counter attack that was carried on by Kevin Mooney and Gerard Duffy with the latter placing Stephen McGinnity and he gave Ciaran Loane no chance in the Lissan goals to put Drumhowan four up after six minutes. By the end of the first quarter Drumhowan had tagged on four points without reply, three from Gerard Duffy, two from play and one from a free following another foul on James McElroy who was proving a real handful for the Lissan full back Oran Donnelly. McElroy himself got the fourth point from a free after good work by Rodney Mooney and Stephen McGinnity had put him in the clear only to be again hauled back. That little flurry put Drumhowan eight points in front and Lissan badly needing a score. It didn’t come and in fact they were to concede another goal in the 17th minute when Stephen McGinnity expertly robbed substitute Michael McCracken as he worked his way out of defence, McGinnity broke quickly and parted the in-rushing Gerard Duffy who crashed home for an eleven points lead. Drumhowan no had a few chances to extend their lead but one effort by Niall Mooney dropped short to the keeper while two others were off target although at the other end they were grateful to Enda Duffy who took off a great save from Patrick Coey after he had been put in the clear by Michael McCracken. Lissan eventually got off the mark in the 27th minute with a point from a free by Patrick Coey but Drumhowan responded quickly to finish the half with two points, both by James McElroy, one from a free, and the other clipped over with his right foot as he wrong footed two defenders to leave the half-time score Drumhowan 2-7, Lissan 0-1.
Lissan came out with renewed determination for the start of the second half and pulled back a point within 30 seconds as Drumhowan lost possession coming out of defence and Darren Donnelly capitalised. By the seventh minute though Drumhowan had not only cancelled out that score with a good point by Ciaran Mooney after excellent work by James McElroy but McElroy himself had added another when he converted a free for a foul on Gerard Duffy to put his side 13 points in front. Lissan to their credit continued to chase and harass and look for openings and they were rewarded with two points in fairly quick succession in the 8th and 11th minutes, one an excellently struck score by full forward Patrick Coey from a difficult angle and the second by Barry McCrory following good work by Peter McGlone. That brace of points reduced the deficit to eleven but any thoughts of a Lissan revival were soon killed off as Drumhowan increased the tempo approaching the end of the third quarter to strike two goals inside four minutes to effectively seal their passage to the All Ireland final as Ulster junior champions. Drumhowan had worked the ball down the left wing where James McElroy released Stephen McGinnity who floated an inch perfect pass in to Ciaran Mooney who had drifted into space in front of the Lissan goals and he drove forward and crashed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the Lissan net for a 14 points lead. Lissan were visibly rocked at this stage with Drumhowan now moving into cruise control and four minutes later the Paul Kerr memorial Cup was on its way to Drumhowan when Dermot McDermott slotted the ball in over the top for the in rushing James McElroy who powered his way through before applying a sublime finish for their fourth goal and a seventeen points lead. The outcome was now purely academic but Lissan to their credit played sportingly to the end but their only reward was a point from a free by Darren Donnelly in the 25th minute. Drumhowan who had suffered defeat in the semi-final in 2005 by conceding a couple of late points were determined to push on to the final whistle although they did introduce three substitutes at this stage to use up their tally of five with the game entering the final seven or eight minutes. Two of those substitutes, Christopher McGinnity and Colm Lambe got on the score sheet, McGinnity with a point from a free in the 26th minute following a foul on David Miller and Colm Lambe capping his comeback with their fifth goal following good work by Stephen McGinnity and James McElroy who between them conspired to release David Miller who might well have had a shot himself but opted to go for the more certain option by passing to the unmarked Lambe who crashed home from close range to leave twenty points between the sides at the finish. At the conclusion and prior to the presentation of the cup Drumhowan’s James McElroy was presented with the man of the match award.
Teams and Scorers: Drumhowan: Enda Duffy, Darren Duffy, Liam McGuirk, Martin McElroy, Damien Duffy, Niall Mooney, Kevin Mooney, Enda McElroy, Dermot McDermott, Rodney Mooney, Stephen McGinnity 1-0, Gerard Duffy 1-3 (2f), Kieran Mooney 1-1, James McElroy 1-5 (4f), Paddy Mulligan. Subs: Christopher McGinnity 0-1 (f) for E McElroy, Colm Lambe 1-0 for P Mulligan, Paddy Duffy for Kevin Mooney, Gavin Sheridan for M McElroy, David Miller for G Duffy.
Lissan: Ciaran Loane, Barry McRory 0-1, Oran Donnelly, Barry McGarvey, Peter Canavan, Gerard Donnelly, Ronan Laverty, Kevin O’Hagan, Niall Convery, Shane McGlone, Ciaran Donnelly, Stephen McCrory, Peter McGlone, Patrick Coey 0-2 (1f), Darren Donnelly 0-2. Subs: Michael McCracken for G Donnelly, Daniel McGlone for R Laverty, Martin McCrory for N Convery, Kevin McElduff for B McGarvey.
Referee: Martin Higgins (Fermanagh).
REACTION.
It was understandably a case of contrasting emotions in the two camps following last Sunday’s Ulster club junior football championship final in Enniskillen with Drumhowan folk elated and enjoying the euphoria of their new-found status while Lissan were left shaking their heads in disbelief and wondering just where it had all gone wrong. For Drumhowan it was handshakes and backslapping all round with a number of family members of the players coming onto the Brewster Park pitch to have photographs taken with the cup while the manager and players were also the subject of a series of interviews by various members of the attendant media. While all that was going on Lissan trouped dejectedly to the dressing rooms following the presentation but even in their bitterly disappointed and deflated state they readily paid tribute to the quality of Drumhowan’s play and acknowledged all round that they were by far the better team on the day. For Drumhowan manager Donal McAdam, his fellow mentors and the players it was a case of mission accomplished, of having achieved and reached the goal they had set at the start of the year but even in the post match euphoria there was very little time for basking in the reflected glory as immediately the bar was raised, another target was set, that of bringing an All Ireland title to their mid-Monaghan stronghold. Team manager Donal McAdam agreed that in the end it was a very comfortable and indeed quite an easy victory but he was quick to point out that no one in Drumhowan could begin to think like that at any time. “I have to say it was a brilliant performance by our lads. We knew coming down here that we would have to be at our best because we rated them as a strong Derry team. We had watched DVDs of some of their games and we had analysed their play and we knew what we were up against. I have to say though that in that analysis we saw a few weaknesses and to exploit one of them in particular we decided to play Darren as a sweeper in our defence because we knew he would break out and that would get the momentum going. I have to say though that our team today played the best football they have played all year but then this was the day to do that, an Ulster club final day. These are the days when you need to play well”.
Reflecting on the quality of the football that Drumhowan had produced Donal McAdam agreed that some of the moves they had strung together were above junior football standard and showed that Drumhowan are ready to move up at least one grade. “Yes, we played some good stuff as I said but to be honest we are still disappointed at being relegated at the end of last season. A few things happened and we were down but even when we were disappointed we said there was no point in thinking like that, we just had to do something about it. So we set our targets and the boys have worked very hard in training. Thomas (Duffy) has them in great shape and we are playing good football. Then Gerry Connolly who joined us towards the end of August helped us to raise the bar another notch and the boys responded very well because everyone involved in this club the committee, the selectors, the team management and the players, everybody works extremely hard and the passion and commitment is unbelievable. I can tell you now I knew at our last two or three training sessions that we would win this game today because the boys were so focused”.
Drumhowan had simply blown the opposition away in the first half and they went in leading by 12 points at half time and might well have been further in front so what was the message to the boys at half-time. “The simple message was drive on. It was a bit the same as the county final when we had a good lead and I knew we weren’t going to lose this game but we wanted to keep going. We said we would win it but let’s keep our standards up and show people and that in football terms Monaghan is a serious county. We had to keep our standards up and the boys did keep going. Maybe we dropped off for wee bit early in the second-half but we said that there is no point in winning this game by maybe four or five points we said we have to drive on and win it well”.
The Drumhowan management introduced all five substitutes during the game, most of them coming in at one stage in the second half so the manager had to be pleased that Christopher McGinnity and Colm Lambe, who were both first choice players all season had recovered from injury and were able to come back in. “Yes it’s brilliant to have the full panel and have those two boys back and in fact I suppose we could have started them. We came very close to starting them and it was a tough decision and it was hard on them as well but we decided to stick with the team that had done so well the last day. They were ready to come in and when they came in they play their part. Enda ( McElroy) had picked up an injury and Dermot McDermott is troubled with an ongoing injury so it was good to have substitutes of that quality to bring in and they played their part in driving on to victory. This has capped off a brilliant year for the club and 2008 will go down as one of the best years ever in the history books for this club”.
As Ulster junior champions Drumhowan now move on to the All Ireland stage so did the manager have any thoughts on where things might go from here. “This is a first for the club and we had set this as a target and it is great to have achieved that target. We probably won’t train now until after Christmas and we’ll make a fresh start then. I think the semi-final is against the Münster champions some time at the end of January. We’ll get together now and we’ll set new targets but for the moment we will just enjoy this and then we’ll knuckle down to it again after a break”.
Drumhowan’s James McElroy has played a key role in his club’s march to county and provincial honours this year and he capped a man of the match performance on Sunday last with a personal tally of a goal and five points, four of the points coming from frees, as well as contributing substantially to Drumhowan’s overall attacking strategy. The big full forward and former county player agreed that winning an Ulster championship and being presented with the man of the match award made for a great day for all concerned. “Days don’t really get much better than this but I have to say first of all that I was only collecting that award on behalf of the players because ours is a team effort. All of the players have put in a serious effort since last Februray and it is a great honour for me to lift this award on their behalf”. Drumhowan were in such a dominant position all through the game that it was long over before the end but the hugely experienced James McElroy was confident that Drumhowan would not lose their concentration at any stage as they had been through this before. “At this stage of the year to be honest we are well used to that, having to keep our eye focused on the game. We had a good comfortable win over Clones in the Monaghan junior championship final but then we had to put in a very concentrated effort against Carndonagh which we did and came through and then we had another comfortable victory over McDermotts in the semi-final. We have been in that position before and we’ve done it. We have been well in front in other games so we knew what we had to do, we have worked at it and we have trained for it. Even though we were ahead by 12 points at half-time everyone was saying in the dressing-room that we must keep each other focused, everyone must be on their toes and no one can take their eye off at and think it was won. We just simply had to keep our foot on the pedal in the second-half and push on from where we were at half-time”. Looking forward to the next stage when Drumhowan move on to the All Ireland semi-final the vastly experienced McElroy was not overstating anything but still it hinted at the fact that Drumhowan’s thoughts had already moved on to focus on further honours. “The All Ireland semi final is towards the end of January and I think we’ll probably take a break now until Christmas and then get back to training in early January and if we can build on this you never know what mightb happen” he said with a wry smile.
Team captain Colm Lambe agreed that it was a great day for the club and a great day for him as he had come back from injury and had come on in a game where, as captain he was to lift the Ulster club junior football championship trophy. However for the player this was tinged with just a touch of disappointment that he had not got starting on the day but in the true spirit of the club where everyone is part of a team effort he was taking it in his stride. “It is an historic day for the Drumhowan club and we are all absolutely delighted but I also have to say that I was disappointed, in fact I was extremely disappointed that I didn’t get starting today but you have to take it on the chin and get on with it, that’s football. I got the call to go in during the second-half and I think I played my part in the victory and as captain and I’m delighted for the players and the team management but the players in particular because they have put in a serious, serious effort since we got together back at the beginning of February. When we met back in February winning this was our mission, the Ulster junior club championship, and I can tell you now that we’ve come this far our thoughts have turned to the All Ireland title and I think we are capable of going all the way”. The Drumhowan captain agreed that Lissan appeared to come into this contest with strong credentials but on the day they failed to live up to their pre-match billing so did he have any thoughts as to what had made the difference. “I must say first of all our team management had their work done on them but I also have to say that on paper anyway they came through the harder end of the draw. They defeated the Cavan champions and the Down champions but having watched DVDs of those games during the week we laid our plans and we executed those plans to great effect so we are delighted”. It was a team effort all through but the captain paid a special tribute to his team’s halfback line who he described as “a terrific trio with very high levels of fitness. Those three lads have been terrific all through the year and their fitness level is something else. Young Kevin Mooney has really blossomed this year even though he is still a minor, Niall Mooney at centre back is a great player, a great heart and quite honestly I believe he is the rock of the team and then Darren Duffy on the other wing has great strength and power and his surging runs up the wing make him a player that other teams find very difficult to contain”.
Now that he is fully recovered from injury and has got back onto the team Colm Lambe, like his team mates, is looking forward to the next challenge on the All Ireland stage. “It was great to get the call and I will be looking forward to getting back to training after a bit of a break and working to get my first team place back. I am raring to get back at it because the next stage can be so exciting but we’ll have a little break now and then when we get back together we will sort out what training we have to do to build on this great victory today”.
Barry McOscar, one half of the Lissan management team was obviously bitterly disappointed and readily agreed that it was just one of those days when nothing went right but he went on to quickly acknowledge that Drumhowan are a very good team. “They are more than a good team, in fact we knew they were an exceptional outfit and we thought we had our home work done, but it just didn’t go for us, no excuses, we are making no excuses because the best team on the day won this game”.
He had seen his team go win 12 points down at half-time which wasn’t an impossible situation but one where they did have a bit to do and they did make a promising start to the second-half but they were not able to push on. “We had a very poor performance in the first half, in fact we didn’t turn up at all but then at the start of the second half we had maybe six or seven minutes when we started getting in among them and we got a few tackles in knocked over a couple of points but that was what we should have been doing in the first half but it obviously didn’t happen then but as I said we just have to hold our hands up, the best team won on the day”.
As junior champion in Derry Lissan now move up to intermediate ranks next year so how big a blow was this to the club and their future prospects, not just being defeated but the margin by which they were defeated. “It is definitely a big blow to us and no one is under any illusion in there that we have a lot of work to do. We saw there today what we have to do if we are to aspire to this level so we have to take it on the chin and get on with it”.
Setting aside his own team’s performance did he feel that Drumhowan were capable of going on and winning the All Ireland. “Without a doubt, they are a brilliant team, we’ve met nothing like them this year or indeed any other year and they showed there today that they have the quality to go on and win it and I wish them the best of luck”.
