Donnelly Vauxhall Tyrone SHC final: Eire Og Carrickmore 1-14 Eoghan Ruadh Dungannon 1-13
Aidan Kelly converted a winning free in stoppage time to win a 24th Tyrone SHC title for Carrickmore at Healy Park yesterday.
A thrilling decider went right to the wire, with Matthew Mulgrew’s late goal bringing Dungannon back into it, but they fell just short.
“The goal was definitely important. They were starting to come back into it in the first ten minutes of the second half, so to push on and get that goal made all the difference in the end,” said Eire Og captain Brendan Begley.
“The goal towards the end for Dungannon made it very tight and put us under a lot of pressure.
“But there was a bit of character, boys stood up, and they knocked over a few points there at the end.”
And he paid tribute to manager Geoffrey McGonigle, who has guided the club to a senior title in his first year.
“He’s a great man to work for. All he ever asked for was hard work, and that’s what the boys put in. When you train hard all year, you build that team spirit.”
Eire Og were awarded a penalty after just 90 seconds when Johny Munroe was hauled down, but John Devlin saved Conor Grogan’s effort.
Dungannon were heavily reliant on Casey, who scored all seven of their first half points.
They were level on three occasions, after Justin Kelly and Sean Og Grogan had eased the holders ahead early on, with Casey firing over frees from extreme distances and knocking over a couple of points from play.
Eoghan Ruadh led for just two minutes, late in the half, before two Aidan Kelly scores eased Eire Og into a 0-8 to 0-7 interval lead.
Casey, with his ninth score, eased Dungannon back in front, but a couple of long range scores from Aidan Kelly were followed by a Carrickmore goal at the beginning of the final quarter.
Sean Og Grogan fetched Johnny Munroe’s delivery to turn his marker and finish clinically to the net, and they stretched the advantage out for four.
But a Matthew Mulgrew goal brought Eoghan Ruadh right back into it, and Casey levelled with a 65 metre free a minute from the end.
But the champions had the last say, and Aidan Kelly converted a stoppage time free to seal it.
Carrickmore: C McElhatton, A McKernan, B Begley, P McCallan, SP Begley, M Grogan, D Begley, J Kelly (0-2, 1 ’65), A Kelly (0-6, 2f), C Grogan, S Og Grogan (1-4), D Grogan, J Munroe (0-1), P Daly, R McKernan (0-1).
Subs: G Fox for McKernan, T Hughes for D Grogan, P Hughes for C Grogan
Dungannon: J Devlin, P McHugh (0-1), R Devlin, C Casey, C McNally, S Donnelly, M Winters, M Devlin, T Morgan, C McErlean, P Barker, P McKillion, T McIntosh, D Casey (0-11, 7f, 1 ’65), C McHugh.
Subs: M Mulgrew (1-0) for McErlean, B Molloy (0-1) for McKillion, K Morgan for McIntosh, B McGilloway for Barker
Referee: M Taggart (Tattyreagh).
