Down U21 A Club Championship final: Clonduff 3-10 Mayobridge 0-13
CLONDUFF won their first U21 Club Championship in 10 years after using their numerical advantage to overcome a much-fancied Mayobridge side on Sunday.
Despite the time of year the Burren pitch was in excellent condition and the final was openly-contested and played at a fast tempo.
However, the turning point in the game came on 20 minutes when, after consulting with his linesman, referee Brendan Rice sent off Mayobridge midfielder Liam Magee for an off-the-ball incident.
It was a terrible blow for the Sky Blues and came at a time when they had established their authority on the game.
At that point Mayobridge led 0-5 to 0-1, with Cory Quinn converting three frees and a point from play, while CJ Barr bagged the other point with an impressive conversion from 43-metres.
And as often happens, feeling wounded with the sending off, Mayobridge stretched their lead with Paddy Smyth fisting over when he may have opted for goal.
But it was Clonduff who finished the half the strongest and having converted the ‘Yellas’ opening point with a free on seven minutes, Liam McGreevy doubled his tally from what was his second of six converted frees.
McGreevy tapped over his third and fourth free and was involved in a neat one-two with Rian Branagan before squaring a pass to Stephen McConville who slotted his close-range shot into the net.
Clonduff trailed by five points, but within seven minutes they took the lead and they stayed ahead at half-time.
The Bridge started with intent and the magnificent Quinn surged purposefully through the Clonduff defence before forcing a save from goalkeeper Mark Bradley.
However, Quinn converted a free and, after much hard graft from the Sky Blues, Aaron Magee’s point levelled the score.
But a minute later and Clonduff were back in the driving seat with substitute Conor Murray crashing in a fine goal.
The ‘Yellas’ were content to sit back, absorb pressure and counter-attack. But Quinn, Conor Rooney and Shane Smith narrowed the gap with points. Yet there was no sense of panic from Clonduff, instead they kept a tiring Mayobridge attack at bay and picked off points at the other end with midfielder Patrick O’Hagan kicking from distance.
Pearse Murnin’s 56th minute goal, after Murray laid off the pass, ended the contest and Clonduff captain Conor Brown was presented with the Patrick Dinsmore Memorial Cup by Down County Board chairman Sean Rooney.
“It feels great as it is the first cup we have won throughout underage – it is brilliant to finally win a Championship,” said Brown.
