Ulster Bank McDevitt(U-14) Cup Final 2007

St Ciaran's denied in dramatic draw

By Damien Donnelly

St Ciaran's, Ballgawley...................... 3-7

St Paul's, Bessbrook........................... 4-4

For sheer drama and excitement it was hard to beat this compelling McDevitt Cup final at St Tiernach's Park in Clones on Wednesday.

St Ciaran's looked to be on the verge of their seventh McDevitt Cup crown when four points ahead deep into added time but St Paul's notched a point and then a last-gasp David McCabe goal on 64 minutes to earn a second bite of the cherry.

Both young teams must come back to Clones tomorrow(Tuesday, 11.00am) for a keenly anticipated second installment prior to the Markey Cup final(12.30pm) that involves Holy Trinity from Cookstown.

St Paul's and St Ciaran's each had different spells in the ascendancy during the course of play but neither proved overly productive within shooting range of the posts, Ballygawley into double figures in terms of wides and Bessbrook dropping shots short on too may occasions.

Bessbrook began the better and soon had the St Ciaran's on alert, a few important Ballygawley blocks in a hard working defence denying the Armagh team before Caolan Trainor rounded off a forceful run with a low shot to the net on seven minutes.

Paul Og Grant added a point for St Paul's but St Ciaran's burst into life in some style on 11 minutes, the impressive Christopher Devlin crossing for a lively Niall Ward to supply an acrobatic goal finish.

Ward and Devlin were involved once more just a minute later when Ballygawley claimed goal number two, Fintan Kelly and Ward combining for Devlin to drill a well-placed daisy cutter beyond St Paul's custodian Conor McKeown.

There was a ten-minute gap in the scoring until a Grant free arrived but after Sean Hackett was denied by a super McKeown save Cilian Barkey knocked over a fine point from play to establish a two-point interval lead for St Ciaran's.

Return

Barkey landed his second point shortly after the resumption and joint captain Darragh Donnelly made his return from injury on the St Ciaran's team five minutes into the last half.

Bessbrook, though, signalled their intent on 37 minutes when McCabe passed for Sean O'Callaghan to rifle home a goal.

O'Callaghan was at it again only four minutes later as he seized on a Grant rebound to curl the ball beyond Cathal Cuddy in the St Ciaran's nets.

St Paul's made claims for a penalty soon after as McCabe tried to break through but referee Nicky Calvert was unconvinced and St Ciaran's cleared their lines, albeit momentarily.

The scores stood at 3-2 to 2-2 for St Paul's and the Armagh lads had a renewed buzz about their play now, Daniel Monaghan underlining the fact with a cleverly judged point.

That pushed Bessbrook four clear with 15 minutes remaining but Ballygawley bounced back with Karl Gartland drilling between the posts but some indecision in front of goals at the other end cost O'Callaghan his third major.

St Ciaran's pulled a point back through Ward and sub Ciaran McCaughey cut the gap to one with a cultured execution.

Better followed for the Tyrone champions as a Devlin free came down off the post and Niall Ward pounced to knock in his second goal of the game on 55 minutes.

This gave St Ciaran's a 3-5 to 3-3 advantage, strong running by midfielder and joint captain Devlin carving out more openings with Donnelly and then Devlin himself landing inspirational scores.

Time ticked beyond the hour and a Grant free left St Paul's requiring a goal to get out of jail, sub Michael Keenan and O'Callaghan then involved as the ball found its way to an inrushing McCabe who touched home the levelling three-pointer.

Second Chance

St Ciaran's will hope to get Tuesday's double header at St Tiernach's Park off on a winning note from a Tyrone perspective, although Bessbrook showed the sort of durability in last week's drawn game that makes Ballygawley wary ahead of take two.

Gerry Cunningham from the St Ciaran's management thought they had done enough to win on day one but it was not to be.

'' The lads know they should have put the game away but credit as well to St Paul's who refused to give in and were rewarded right at the finish.

'' We missed some chances but displayed decent character to come back after Bessbrook had moved four points clear midway through the second half.

'' Our lads must go out and produce a big performance at the second time of asking'', the St Ciaran's teacher commented.

Match Stats

Scorers

St Ciaran's: Niall Ward 2-1(1 free), Christopher Devlin 1-1, Cilian Barkey 0-2, Darragh Donnelly 0-1, Karl Gartland 0-1, Ciaran McCaughey 0-1

St Paul's: Sean O'Callaghan 2-0, David McCabe 2-0, Paul Og Grant 0-3(2 frees), Caolan Trainor 0-1

Teams

St Ciaran's: Cathal Cuddy, Andrew Rafferty, Shane McDaid, Michael Treanor, James Lennon, Emmet Gartland, Michael Muldoon, Christopher Devlin, Aaron Cullen, Niall Murphy, Sean Hackett, Cilian Barkey, Niall Ward, Karl Gartland, Fintan Kelly. Subs: Darragh Donnelly for N Murphy, Ciaran McCaughey for F Kelly, Sean Paul McGuigan for M Treanor, Christopher Holland for C Barkey.

St Paul's: Conor McKeown, Ryan O'Hare, Adrian O'Grady, Daniel Martin, Patrick Faloon, Robert Hamill, Barry Lavelle, Lonnie Larkin, Aodhan McQuade, Lee Fallon, Paul Og Grant, Daniel Monaghan, Caolan Trainor, Sean O'Callaghan, David McCabe. Sub: Micheal Keenan for P Faloon.

Referee: Nicky Calvert, Monaghan.