M&L Contracts Derry Senior Football Championship final: Robert Emmet’s, Slaughtneil 2-11 St Patrick’s, Loup 0-6
THREE was the magic number for Slaughtneil at Celtic Park yesterday as they became only the third club to complete a hat-trick of Derry football championship titles after a one-sided victory over Loup.
Much was expected from this decider, but it failed to deliver in terms of quality on a slippery pitch – not that Slaughtneil will care. The Emmet’s were solid in defence, attacked in numbers and made the best of any rub of the green that came their way.
For Loup, it was one to forget. A first county decider in seven years, they never got going. A final tally of just six points wasn’t a fair reflection of the opportunities created, but kicking 11 wides – several from scoreable positions – tells you everything you need to know.
Goals from men named McGuigan – Shane and Se – left Loup seeing stars, and proved knockout blows from which they would never recover.
Shane McGuigan’s 12th minute major, in particular, gave Slaughtneil a huge boost as it sent them into an early four-point lead.
It came after Christopher Bradley’s speculative sliced effort looped up into the air. As the ball held up in the wind for what seemed an eternity, confusion reigned in the Loup defence as the ball bounced up yards from Thomas Mallon’s goal, and the Derry custodian could only watch as McGuigan rose highest to fist home.
“That first goal had a serious bearing on the game,” acknowledged Slaughtneil joint--manager John Joe Kearney.
“It hung in the air but that’s the breaks you need and that was a big plus for us. Goals win games. It was the same in the semi-final against Ballinderry.
“We were lucky enough to get a couple of goals when it mattered, and it was the same today.”
Even before Shane McGuigan’s major, though, Slaughtneil had started strongly. Paul Bradley opened the scoring with a free four minutes in after the excellent Padraig Cassidy looked to be in on goal before being hauled down by Terence O’Brien.
O’Brien, one of the stars of this year’s county championship, made amends a minute later when his pass found Declan McVey and the Loup forward swiveled to convert off his left foot.
But back came Slaughtneil, Shane McGuigan sweeping over a left-footed free in front of the stand after Chrissy McKaigue’s burst forward had been curtailed.
And when McGuigan found the back of the net to make it 1-2 to 0-1, the Emmet’s looked in complete control.
But Loup weren’t about to lie down and bagged the game’s next two scores through frees from Anthony O’Neill and O’Brien, the latter an outrageous effort from 50 metres into a breeze blowing across the pitch.
Unfortunately for Johnny McBride’s men, that was the last time they would trouble the scoreboard for a 20 minute period either side of half-time.
Two points in two minutes, from Chrissy McKaigue and then Paul Bradley straight from the kick-out, restored Slaughtneil’s four-point advantage.
When Paul Bradley added another two late frees as the minutes ticked down towards the break, the defending champions were six points to the good and well on course for a straightforward win.
Loup didn’t help themselves either. Aside from some wayward shooting at one end, their defensive discipline let them down on occasions and that was the case at the start of the second half, coughing up frees which Paul and Christopher Bradley gleefully converted.
O’Neill ended Loup’s wait for a score in the 42nd minute when he popped over a free but, despite the same player repeating the dose a minute later, the Slaughtneil defence was proving extremely difficult to break down. Paul McNeill, in particular, was often in the right place at the right time to make a tackle or intercept a dangerous ball in.
The killer blow arrived 14 minutes into the second half when Cassidy surged on to a clever lay-off from Cormac O’Doherty before finding Se McGuigan and he slotted beyond Mallon to make it 2-8 to 0-5.
With another Paul Bradley free putting Slaughtneil 10 points up heading into the final 10 minutes, the game was over.
Karl McKaigue and Patsy Bradley rounded off the scoring before a few scuffles broke out down the stretch, resulting in a red card being shown to Loup’s Aidan McAlynn for a kick, while Paudie McGuigan was
black-carded for his part in the incident just minutes after joining the action.
It had no bearing on the game, or the final result as the Slaughtneil celebrations got under way.
“Three in-a-row, it’s a big achievement, so we’re very happy with that,” said John Joe Kearney.
“You don’t really think about that though, you just try to win every game and when you get to a final you hope you can win it.
“Going into that game today we were no better than 50-50, it’s just the way it turned out.”
With a third consecutive Derry title in the bag, all eyes now turn to the Ulster Club campaign and a first round date with Fermanagh champions Derrygonnelly Harps on October 30.
Considering the Emmet’s beat the Ernemen 4-13 to 1-4 at the same stage last year, they will go into that game as overwhelming favourites.
No matter who they face moving into provincial competition, Slaughtneil look a team who will take some beating.
MATCH STATS
Slaughtneil: A McMullan; F McEldowney, B Rogers, K McKaigue (0-1); P McNeill, C McKaigue (0-1), K Feeney; P Bradley (0-1), P Cassidy; Shane McGuigan (1-1, 0-1 free), P Bradley (0-6, 0-5 frees), M McGrath; C Bradley (0-1, free), Se McGuigan (1-0), C O’Doherty Subs: P Kelly for C O’Doherty (54), P McGuigan for P Bradley (54), B McGuigan for K Feeney (56), R Bradley for C Bradley (57), P Kearney for P McGuigan (58, black card) Black cards: P McGuigan (59), M McGrath (60) Yellow card: P Bradley (51)
Loup: T Mallon; Colm McVey, Dominic McVey, C McGinley; P Coney, T McVey, J Rocks; T O’Brien (0-1), A McAlynn; A O’Neill (0-3, frees), P McVey, B Doyle; C Devlin, P Young, Declan McVey (0-1) Subs: G Mallon (0-1) for B Doyle (ht), C Devlin for A O’Neill (53), Connor McVey for P Young (54), G Doyle for P McVey (55) Red card: A McAlynn (59)
Referee: B Quinn (Ballinascreen)
Att: 4,374
