TYRONE'S oldest club, Cookstown, signed off this milestone year for the GAA in the best possible fashion at Brewster Park yesterday afternoon when they were crowned Ulster Intermediate champions.

The Fr Rocks chiselled out a hard-fought two point win over a battling Lavey team who played the majority of the contest with just fourteen men. The Cavan outfit deserve huge credit for the guts and determination that they demonstrated, but those were also traits exhibited by Cookstown and in the likes of Raymond Mulgrew and man of the match Owen Mulligan they also possessed that additional touch of class and pedigree.

Mulligan fired over four points in total and also got through a Trojan amount of work, as did his team-mates throughout the field.

Cookstown bossed the possession stakes for much of the sixty minutes but struggled to shake off the stoic resistance of the Breffni troops until the closing stages.

Their victory means they become the third Tyrone winner of this provincial competition for second tier sides, following in the footsteps of Pomeroy and Trillick who also took the Intermediate title, though neither of those two could follow up with an All-Ireland triumph in the spring, something which is Cookstown's next target.

The Red Hand representatives suffered a blow before the throw-in at chilly Enniskillen, with the experienced Barry Mulligan unable to start due to a hamstring injury, his berth going to Conor Mullan. Despite this setback though the Fr Rocks flew out of the traps and Mulligan signalled their intent with an assured strike over the black spot inside the first minute having been fed from deep by full-back Stephen Monaghan.

Monaghan, together with Ryan Pickering and Paul McGurk formed an imposing and diligent last line of defence for the Tyrone champions rarely allowing the Cavan men a look in throughout the whole of the first period.

At the other end the Lavey rearguard was having a difficult time shacking Mulligan and an illegal tug by his marker Darren Smith enabled the Tyrone star to stick over a simple free in front of the posts.

There was some meaty collisions during the early stages of the encounter, as to be expected in an Ulster Final, with Mulligan, Monaghan and Martin Murray all shipping heavy challenges from their fired up opponents.

Lavey registered their first point in the seventh minute, Darren Jordan converting a close range free after Joseph Jordan was upended in full flight. It was an innocuous enough looking incident and one of a series of rather baffling decisions by referee Robbie O'Donnell which enraged the supporters of both sides.

Cookstown's play in the early stages was both purposeful and polished, epitomised when Jason Quinn latched onto Conor O'Hare's pass and hoisted over a superb score from the left wing. Mulgrew's sublime throughball then almost set up a goal chance for the lively Christopher Eastwood but he was dispossessed by defender Fergal Smith before he could gather.

It didn't seem a particularly costly miss as Owen Mulligan skilfully slipped over another point, Brian Mulligan this time creating the opening, to shift Cookstown three in front 0-4 to 0-1. An indication of their economy within attacking range was the fact their first wide didn't arrive until the 17th minute.

Lavey were toiling to make any headway as an attacking force, the Rocks completely dominating their defensive sector, mopping up countless stray passes and then moving up the pitch with intent.

The Cavan side looked to impose themselves physically on the encounter to try and shake Cookstown out of their stride, but Fergal Smith overstepped the mark in the 24th minute as he struck Brian Mulligan off the ball and was red carded.

Shortly after another excellent ball by Monaghan released Eastwood who scurried up the field and drilled over confidently to put Cookstown four in front, 0-5 to 0-1. Remarkably though given the pattern of the contest, Lavey were to go into the break on level terms.

After Jordan wrestled off Monaghan to steer over a fine score, they were then awarded an injury time penalty. Kevin Brady's attempt at a point bounced down off the upright into the grasp of Karl Duke whose low shot was blocked illegally by Pickering with the foot. The resultant spot-kick was dispatched with ease by Jordan past keeper Martin Rea to square matters 0-5 to 1-2 at half-time.

Mulgrew's astute delivery allowed Eastwood to skip inside his marker and tuck over the go-ahead point for Cookstown again shortly after the restart, but despite having the numerical superiority their play became increasingly laboured and error strewn, with Lavey content to defend enmasse.

Goalie Rea's poor clearance presented Duke with a gift point to restore parity once more, yet as the tension of the occasion rose, so the scores began to dry up.

Mulligan inevitably ended the drought by splitting the posts after an exchange with Fitzpatrick midway through the second half, however even feeding off scraps Lavey's forwards managed to notch up another equaliser courtesy of Jordan's 35m free nine minutes from time.

Cookstown clearly still carried the greater threat and incision and Mulgrew capped a typically languid run by muscling off Smith's tackle and applying an accurate finish from a narrow angle.

With captain Barry Hughes a commanding presence at centre half back, Cookstown refused to yield ground in defence but what they needed was another score to give themselves some much needed breathing space.

After a series of misses which created further anxiety among their vociferous following, Martin Murray took the bull by the horns in the third minute of injury time, putting the seal on some patient approach work with a wonderful left-footed finish. The Rocks were now confirmed as the Kings of Ulster.