AIB Ulster Senior Football Championship: Kilcoo Eoghan Rua (Down) 3-10 Derrygonnelly Harps (Fermanagh) 0-3
From Andy Watters at the Athletic Grounds
BEFORE the ground fell silent in tribute to Ashling Murphy yesterday, a Derrygonnelly mentor encouraged his troops: “We have the work done boys,” he said, pumping his fist: “We have it done.”
No doubt Derrygonnelly had worked very hard in preparation for yesterday’s one-sided final but industry alone won’t beat Kilcoo. No team works harder than the Magpies and they have the quality and pace to go with their industry. Their 16-point victory was the biggest margin ever in an Ulster final.
The Fermanagh champions set their stall out to defend in numbers and keep Kilcoo at bay until the closing stages but they lacked the cutting edge to keep the scoreboard moving and were broken down by wave after wave of Kilcoo attacks as men in black broke into pockets of space with lightning one-twos.
It started with a drip, drip, drip but after Daryl Branagan had sliced through the Derrygonnelly defence to score Kilcoo’s first goal just before half-time, the scores flowed steadily after the break and Ceilum Docherty and Shealan Johnston both found the net in a no-contest of a second half.
It was a humiliating defeat for Derrygonnelly but there is no disgrace in losing to this Kilcoo side. With their Ulster title retained, Aidan Branagan and Conor Laverty accepted the Seamus McFerran Cup in a low-key manner that confirmed what we already knew: the Magpies have unfinished business to attend to and they’ve already focussed their minds and bodies on taking on Cork’s Munster champions St Finbarr’s (2-9 to 1-10 winners against Kerry Austin Stack’s yesterday) in the All-Ireland semi-final on January 29.
Derrygonnelly were always likely to be up against it but they did settle quickly and Conall Jones had already shot wide when his brother Ryan Jones gave them the lead with a composed finish after five minutes.
At the other end, Kilcoo took their time to work their opponents out and tire them out as they moved the ball left and right and backwards along a defensive line that stretched across Derrygonnelly’s 45.
Paul Devlin shot wide but Ryan McEvoy came forward to equalise from a free after Ryan Jones was penalised for high tackle on Dylan Ward who had made ground on the left flank.
Jerome Johnston, Doherty and Laverty pounced on goalkeeper Jonathan McGurn’s short kick-out and forced a free but this time McEvoy missed and Ryan Johnston also missed the target in what was a cagey opening quarter.
But Miceal Rooney, outstanding at wing-back this season, broke forward to send Kilcoo ahead after 12 minutes and the Down champions never lost the lead.
Derrygonnelly needed to take every chance that came their way but Conall Jones registered his second wide just before the first water break.
Kilcoo began to press forward with more purpose when the action resumed and, with Derrygonnelly sitting deeper and deeper, they flooded players forward whenever they got the ball. Docherty was brought down and goalkeeper Niall Kane came forward to clip over the free.
Derrygonnelly also needed the rub of the green and lady luck turned a blind eye when Gary McKenna ran on to a Ryan Jones pass and tried his luck from an acute angle. His shot (he was going for a point) beat Kane but hit the crossbar.
A goal then would have released some of the pressure that was steadily building on their defence as Kilcoo probed back and across for a weakness.
To their credit, the Harps rearguard stood strong and forced a turnover that led to Ryan Jones’s second point but that was their last score until injury-time and by then the game was long decided.
Kilcoo began to take control. Shane McGullion’s shove on Rooney was spotted by referee Martin McNally and Devlin converted the free to leave it 0-4 to 0-2. Then Daryl Branagan – firing on all cylinders again after an injury-hit season – played a give-and-go with Laverty whose return pass was inch-perfect. Branagan took it on the run, dummied one way, then the other and stroked the ball home on the half-hour mark and there was still time for Eugene Branagan to make inroads into the Derrygonnelly defence and create the space for Devlin to register a second point that sent Kilcoo in leading 1-5 to 0-2 at the break.
There was a feeling of inevitability in the stand during the half-time interval. Overhauling a six-point deficit would have been asking a lot against any team but Kilcoo are past masters at protecting a lead.
They weren’t about to rest on their laurels in any case and Shealan Johnston began the second period with a pacey break and lay-off to Devlin who stroked over his third point.
As they half wore on, the Derrygonnelly defence struggled to match the Kilcoo runners. Eugene Branagan was the next to cut through the Harps’ massed ranks and Devlin left eight in it when he converted another free.
Derrygonnelly decided to change tactics and went route-one. Garvan Jones pumped a long ball into the square but Kane did brilliantly to save under pressure and clear the danger and when Ryan Jones lobbed another ball in, Stephen McGullion’s flick was deflected wide.
Kilcoo, looking to kill the game off, pushed Jerome Johnston, who had been operating around the middle-third menacingly into full-forward. The switch almost worked immediately as Laverty intercepted a short kick-out and played him in. Johnston has scored seven championship goals this season and, as he bore down on goal, the crowd held its breath but McGurn saved well with his legs to deny him an eighth.
Derrygonnelly couldn’t capitalise on the let-off. Leigh Jones should have done better but shot wide the third quarter ended with a another wide from Declan Cassidy after good work from Aaron Jones, who put in a tireless shift, and Ryan Jones.
Kilcoo put their beleaguered opponents to the sword in the closing stages. Ward kicked long for Jerome Johnston and the ball broke to Docherty who side-footed it into the Derrygonnelly net and men, women and children in purple and gold were already making their way to the exit when Shealan Johnston played a one-two with his brother Jerome and tucked the ball into the corner of the net with a brilliant finish.
Four minutes of additional time were signalled and every second must have felt like an hour to the Harps. Michael Jones was black-carded for a frustrated late tackle on Jerome Johnston but at least Conall Jones was able to convert a free that prevented a second half shut-out.
Devlin cancelled it with a free and then a terrible kick-out went straight to Rooney. He tried to chip McGurn but the ball floated just over the crossbar.
A pair of Derrygonnelly veterans lamented what they unfairly perceived as a lack of fight from their out-classed team as the seconds ticked by and Kilcoo men flitted through attempted tackles.
“Ach, he should have been hit, in our day that man would have been hit,” said one.
“Aye, put over the sideline,” replied the other.
Easier said than done boys.
Derrygonnelly Harps: J McGurn; A Jones, T Daly, M Jones; O Smyth, D Cassidy, Lee Jones; Stephen McGullion, R Jones (0-2); E McHugh, G Jones, Leigh Jones; Stephen McGullion, C Jones (0-1 free), G McKenna
Subs: C Burns for Smyth (41), G McGovern for Leigh Jones (57), R McGovern for Lee Jones (55), R McGovern for McKenna (56), P Ward for G Jones (59)
Yellow card: Daly (32), Lee Jones (33)
Black card: M Jones (60)
Kilcoo: N Kane (0-1 free); N Branagan, R McEvoy (0-2 free), Aaron Branagan; M Rooney (0-2), Daryl Branagan (1-0), E Branagan; D Ward, Aaron Morgan; C Docherty (1-0), J Johnston, S Johnston (1-0); C Laverty, R Johnston, P Devlin (0-5, 0-3 frees)
Subs: Anthony Morgan for R Johnston (52), Aidan Branagan for Ward (56), F McGreevy for Laverty (56), P Greenan for Aaron Morgan (60), S Og McCusker for S Johnston (60)
Referee: M McNally (Monaghan)
