AIB Ulster Club Intermediate Football Championship final: Steelstown (Derry) 0-6 Moortown (Tyrone) 0-4
DERRY city’s 21st century torchbearers Steelstown wrote another new chapter of their expanding history as they out-dogged Moortown.
The Januaryness was absolutely hanging out of Owenbeg. The pitch was already saturated before a ball was kicked, and then along came the wind and rain to moisten it up further.
Moortown, unhappy at the lateness of Saturday’s decision to move the game there from a waterlogged Glen, brought what had taken them to an Ulster final, and it very nearly brought them an Ulster title.
The red and white hoops have rekindled the loughshore spirit of old with the grittiness of how they’ve overcome big hurdles, not least a hugely fancied Owen Roes Leckpatrick side in the Tyrone final.
Michael Hassan and Tommy Stevenson had instilled not only a gameplan, but belief in it.
If you want their performance summed up, it’s that they almost fed themselves on the illusion of a loaf and two fish.
Steelstown had completely owned the ball for the first 15 minutes. It had hardly been touched by a Moortown player. And the score at the water break? Moortown 0-3 Steelstown 0-0.
When they got the ball, they galloped and they kicked to Peter Devlin. The cover in front of him wasn’t as good as it was for the other three-quarters of the game, and he made them pay.
Two frees and a pointed mark had Steelstown looking around for answers. The Tyrone side’s growing confidence was evident after 15 minutes. Every turnover was being cheered to the rafters.
At half-time, it was just 0-3 to 0-1. Cahir McMonagle had sent two men to the shop with a gorgeous dummy and dropped over the first white flag for his side.
He would go on to register five of their six points, carrying the scoring can on a day when their feared attacking unit malfunctioned.
They had hit 9-26 in their last two games against Donaghmoyne (4-13) and Butlersbridge (5-13), but after 51 minutes yesterday, the Derry men had just 0-2 in total.
The water break came at that point, unusually late, but in the final 11 minutes, Hugh McGrath’s men scored four points to finally turn their territorial superiority into the silverware they just about deserved.
Emmett Deane came off the bench to land a brilliant score that put them ahead for the first time all day with five minutes to play, but it was another sub, 35-year-old Gareth Logue, who had the biggest impact.
Logue positioned himself beneath the Moortown kickouts in the final 15 minutes and feasted on the breaks. One ball after the other he emerged with. He also bravely won the free off Conor McVeigh that pushed Steelstown two clear.
Con Heron mustered a fisted response from a tight angle right on the 60th minute. That it was Moortown’s first score from play, and the last of their total of four, underlined how hard they had to work defensively to still be in with a chance by then.
For a long time, they had command of the game without any command of the ball.
Karl Hagan was excelling as the first sweeper, and all the match-ups were working. Brian McLernon was outstanding. Conor Quinn was perfectly suited for Neil Forester. Christopher McGuigan had Ben McCarron wrapped up. Sean Kelly was stopping Donncha Gilmore at source. Ryan Kelly carried serious ball out for them.
Moortown were doing the ugly bits really well and in Peter Devlin, they had a ball-winning forward they could hit.
But as time wore on, their effectiveness wore off. They struggled to get bodies ahead of the ball on the huge, wet surface of Owenbeg.
There's some art and knowledge and experience goes into capturing a moment like this. Absolutely brilliant photo https://t.co/GuOfHpA1vP
— Cahair O'Kane (@CahairOKane1) January 9, 2022
“We knew Steelstown’s strengths and we tried to counteract them,” said beaten boss Hassan.
“We didn’t really change the way we’ve been playing, it’s worked this year. Conditions were very tough today.
“It’s very raw straight after a defeat. The bounce of the ball didn’t go our way, maybe some decisions we’ll have to look at, but Steelstown won the game and fair play to them.
“Very disappointed. We were on a journey this year, the journey’s over now, but this is only a start for these group of players in Moortown.”
Their lack of a left-footed free-taker counted against them in the first half, but Steelstown missed chances too.
At 0-3 to 0-1, Hugh McGrath’s side were coming out to play into a wind that brought rain with it. Ben McCarron skying two early scoreable frees was an indication of how tough things were getting.
But McMonagle skated around with a different expression of freedom, throwing dummies here, there and everywhere. He, crucially, had the two-footedness to collect the scores they needed.
“He’s an immense footballer,” enthused McGrath.
“We nearly lost him to soccer many moons ago, and we’re very glad we didn’t. He lights things up on pitches. Even on days like today, he’s jinking around, solo-dummying and kicking points with his left and right.”
Diarmuid Baker was also brilliant for the winners. Eoghan Concannon too. Others might not have reached their potential but when there was digging-in to be done as the game mired itself deeper into the trenches, they matched and bettered Moortown.
When Steelstown got level at 0-3 apiece with a superb McMonagle score off the left, the whole atmosphere turned.
Their domination of the kickout ratcheted up further and as the game became exhausted, Steelstown’s possession and that extra bit of space finally allowed them to open up.
It was only when McMonagle profited off Neil Forester’s trademark late burst to create a two-point gap in stoppage time that Steelstown could breathe.
“Many times through the years, we’d have lost that game, there’d be people upset at losing by a point. This group’s different,” said McGrath.
“They’ll be frustrated at the score today, they genuinely will, but when you boil it down, nobody will take the win away from you and you’ll always be down as the 2021 Ulster champions.”
Captain Neil Forester said it best when he bellowed to his people from the microphone: “For a long time they said there was no Gaelic football in Derry city - well tonight, Derry city is blue and gold!”
MATCH STATS
Steelstown: E Heraghty; O Fox, K Lindsay; D Baker, S O’Connor; D Gilmore, E Concannon, J McAleer; O McMenamin, R Devine; C McMonagle (0-5, 0-2 frees), N Forester, B McCarron; M Foley, E Bradley
Subs: M Murray for Foley (HT), G Logue for Devine (47), E Deane (0-1) for Concannon (50)
Yellow cards: E Concannon (25), R Devine (42)
Moortown: C Spiers; P O’Hagan, M Devlin, C McVeigh; K Hagan, R Kelly; C Quinn, C McGuigan, B McLernon; T Quinn, B Ryan; S Kelly, S Conway; P Devlin (0-3, 0-2 frees, 0-1 mark), L Kelly
Subs: C Heron (0-1) for L Kelly (43), S Lawn for P O’Hagan (57)
Yellow cards: P Devlin (47), T Quinn (54)
Referee: C Dourneen (Cavan)
