Ulster round-up: Kilcar emerge victorious in Donegal

Donegal club SFC final

Kilcar 0-7 Naomh Conaill 0-4

Kilcar were the winners but football was the loser in MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey as these two teams served up a stinker of a county final.

Kilcar bridged a 24-year gap but as a spectacle this was poor value for the 6,930 crowd. The sides shared two points between them in the second half.

Kilcar won because they had the better forwards. Captain Patrick McBrearty was the man of the match in the first half, firing over half of the Kilcar total of 0-6, while Ryan McHugh hit the point of the game in the second half.

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Naomh Conaill, who finished with 13 after losing Dermot Molloy (2nd yellow) and Eoghan McGettigan (straight red) in the final minutes, had plenty of possession in the second half but couldn’t find the target, hitting five wides.

But it was difficult for forwards as both sides employed 15 behind the ball and much of the game was spent passing over and back around the middle third of the field.

Kilcar were the better team overall and dominated possession in the opening half, and should have been further ahead at the break.

As a final, this game will not live long in the memory, but Kilcar will not worry about that. They were raging favourites last year but were undone by Michael Murphy and Glenswilly. This time around they were prepared to win ugly. They will now meet Scotstown in the Ulster Club Championship in two weeks’ time.

Kilcar: Eamonn McGinley; Barry McGinley, Conor McShane, Pauric Carr; Ryan McHugh (0-01), Michael Hegarty (0-01), Barry Shovlin; Ciaran McGinley, Mark McHugh (0-01); Eoin McHugh, Conor Doherty (0-01), Matthew McClean; Stephen McBrearty, Patrick McBrearty (0-03), Andrew McClean. Subs: Mark Sweeney for A McClean 49; Stephen Shovlin for C Doherty 57.

Naomh Conaill: Stephen McGrath; Kevin McGettigan, AJ Gallagher, Jason Campbell; Ultan Doherty, Anthony Thompson, Eoin Waide; Leo McLoone, Ciaran Thompson (0-01); Marty Boyle, Dermot Molloy (0-02), Ethan O'Donnell; Brendan McDyer, Eoghan McGettigan, Eunan Doherty (0-01). Subs: Aaron Thompson for K McGettigan 15; John O'Malley for U Doherty 44; Johnny McLoone for E Doherty 48; Kieran Gallagher for J Campbell 53; Leon Thompson for M Boyle 57.

Referee: Enda McFeely (Convoy).

Tyrone club SFC final

Omagh 0-10 Errigal Ciaran 0-8

Omagh shut the door on Errigal Ciaran in a frantic finish at Healy Park as they held out for a ninth Tyrone SFC title and a second in four seasons.

Peter Harte’s missed penalty came back to haunt his side as they fell just short in a tense decider.

Harte nudged Errigal ahead with a score inside the opening minute, but that was to prove their one and only score of the first half.

Omagh eased a head with scores from Connor O’Donnell, Conan Grugan and Ronan O’Neill, but O’Neill was spared the cost of conceding a penalty when he impeded Mark Kavanagh in the 22nd minute.

Peter Harte, normally lethal from the spot, stepped up, but sent his kick crashing against the butt of a post, and a golden opportunity was lost.

Omagh pressed for the remainder of the half, and while they could only manage one score, a Grugan free, they were gradually taking control, with Conor Meyler and Barry Tierney raiding from deep, comfortable at 0-4 to 0-1 at the break.

O’Neill, Grugan and O’Donnell found the range to keep Errigal at arms length, and Harte, along with sub Peter Og McCartan, were left to carry the fight to the home side, but they went a man down following the second booking of Eoin Quinn, and were unable to recover after Omagh went four clear in the closing stages,

Omagh: N McGinn; G Murray, H Gallagher, S Mullan; C McLaughlin, J McMahon (0-1), B Tierney; C Clarke, M Gallagher; T Gallagher, C Grugan (0-3), R O'Neill (0-3); C O'Neill, C O'Donnell (0-3), C Meyler. Subs: A Grugan for T Gallagher 40, Justin McMahon for Murray 60, J McAnulla for Clarke 62.

Errigal Ciaran: R McAnenly; N Kelly, A McCrory, C Quinn; M Kavanagh, M McRory, C McRory; B McDonnell, E Kelly, P Harte (0-5), E Quinn, R McRory, D Harte, P McGirr. Subs: P Og McCartan (0-1) for E Kelly 17, S McRory for McGirr HT, D Canavan (0-1) for R McRory HT, D McDermott for M McRory HT, R Lynch 0-1 for D Harte 52, P McAnenly for Kavanagh 55.

Referee: S Dorrity (Coalisland).

Antrim club SFC final

Lámh Dhearg (Hannahstown) 0-15 St Johns (Belfast) 0-13

Lámh Dhearg ended a 25-year wait for an Antrim senior football championship title with a nail-biting two-point win over St Johns at Glenavy.

No more than two points separated the sides throughout the 60 minutes during which they were level eight times. The sides were tied at 0-5 each on 24 minutes but with five scores in as many minutes, Lámh Dhearg took a 0-8 to 0-7 lead into the half-time break.

A replay looked on the cards with the score at 0-13 apiece on 61 minutes but Paddy Cunningham lofted over to give Lámh Dhearg the lead.

A number of off the ball scuffles ensured 10 minutes of injury time and three late red cards to Lamh Dhearg’s Terry Óg McCrudden and St Johns’ Adrian Oliver and Pádraig Nugent. St Johns pushed hard for an equaliser but Declan Lynch added on an insurance point for the Hannahstown men.

St John's: P Nugent; A Douglas, A Oliver, M Dudley; C Garland, M Bradley (0-1), P Donnelly; J Hannigan (0-4), R McNulty (0-1); P McBride (0-5), Conor Johnston (0-1), M Fitzpatrick (0-1); Ciaran Johnston, P McCallin, L Peden. Subs: C McEvoy for L Peden (ht), S Tierney for Ciaran Johnston 50, R Hannigan for P Donnelly 55, C McGlade 59, A Press for J Hannigan 62.

Lámh Dhearg: J Finucane; P Mervyn (0-1), A McAufield, M McGarry; D Lynch (0-1), M Herron, B McComb (0-1); P Fitzsimons, D Nugent; E McKeown, C Flaherty (0-1), C Murray (0-1); P Cunningham (0-8, 5f), R Murray (0-1), K Quinn (0-1). Subs: B Rice for E McKeown 50, G Slane for B Rice 55, T Óg McCrudden for B McComb, P Larkin for P Mervyn 62, E McKeown for R Murray 67.

Referee: E McAuley (Cargin).

Armagh club SFC final

Harps 2-9 Maghery 0-11

Harps staged a dramatic second-half comeback to lift their first Armagh senior football title since 1991 when they overcame holders Maghery in front of 7,061 captivated fans at the Athletic Grounds.

They may have played second fiddle to their lough shore opponents in the first-half but Harps were reinvigorated in the second period.

Maghery enjoyed a 0-5 to 0-2 lead at the interval but that was as good as it was to get for them.

In the opening five minutes of the second half Maghery pounced for two superb goals from Ryan McShane and man of the match Ultan Lennon and from then on Maghery were left floundering in their slipstream.

Maghery responded briefly with a brace of points from Aidan Forker but from the 39th minute until the finish Harps hit seven points, including three from Lennon, against two for Maghery.

It was a dramatic climax to a captivating spectacle as Harps majestically wrote a new chapter in their history.

Lennon perhaps best encapsulated Harps’ ecstacy when he declared: “We got our act together at half-time and we never looked back. Every man played his part and we hope to move on from this and give the Ulster club series a good rattle”

Maghery: J Montgomery; K Nugent, O Lappin, C Higgins; B Haveron, S Cusack, D Lavery; J Lavery (0-1), B Crealey; S Tennyson, C Mackle (0-1), R Lappin (0-1); B Fox (0-1), Stefan Forker (0-3), A Forker (0-3). Subs: P Forker for Tennyson 41, G Campbell for C Higgins 43, Seamus Forker (0-1) for Fox 50, N Forker for Mackle 55.

Harps: P Morrison; S Farry, K Loughran, C Stevenson; R McGrath, D McKenna, M McConville; J Loughran, C White (0-1); R McShane (1-1), J McElroy (0-1), L Oliver; C Vernon, U Lennon (1-5), S McCoy. Subs: T O'Kane for McGrath 33, C Coulter for McCoy 51, C Murphy 0-1 for White (9, C Forker for Fox 63, P Kelly for Oliver 63.

Referee: Kevin Faloon.

Monaghan club SFC final

Scotstown 2-17 Magheracloone 0-13

Reigning champions Scotstown picked up their 18th senior football championship title in all and completed another three in a row in the process, when they proved that much more adept at taking their chances in this fairly low-key final that was played in good conditions in Clones. Goals win championships and two goals played a vital part in Scotstown’s victory, the first a brilliant solo goal by Darren Hughes after just five minutes putting the champions in the lead for the first time and their second goal by Conor McCarthy midway through the second half to put Scotstown in an almost unassailable position.

Scotstown led at half-time by 1-9 to 0-6 and while Magheracloone never gave up the ghost they were always facing superior odds and the goal they needed never came thanks mostly to the excellent display by Scotstown keeper Rory Beggan, who also kicked three points from placed balls for good measure. Conor McCarthy finished top scorer with 1-8 and in contrast Magheracloone had no one to match that level of contribution as the blues ran out deserving winners and now go on to play the Donegal champions, Kilcar, in the Ulster club championship.

Scotstown: R Beggan (0-3), F McPhillips, W Carroll, S Mohan, D Morgan, D McArdle (0-1), E Caulfield, F Caulfield, J Turley, J Hamill (0-1), S Carey (0-1), D McCrudden (0-1), O Heaphey (0-1), D Hughes (1-1), C McCarthy (1-8). Subs: K Hughes for F Caulfield, R McKenna for J Hamill, M McCarville for D McCrudden, P Keenan for D McArdle, D McCague for J Turley, K McMeel for W Carroll.

Magheracloone: D Kirk, P McArdle, P Ward, P McMahon, M Jones, J Ward (0-1), J McMahon, G Doogan (0-2), J Kieran (0-1), P Kirk, M Metzger (0-3), B Kieran, P Finnegan, A Kieran (0-1), T Freeman (0-5). Subs: J Lambe for M Jones, A McCahey for P Finnegan, P Tuite for B Kieran.

Referee: X Coyle (Tyholland).