Kingscourt retain senior title in style

Kingscourt, who were regarded as the most obvious team to win the Cavan senior football championship title this year, after a lapse of one year, duly lived up to their favourite's tag when ending Ramor United's challenge by 1-11 to 0-8 in the final at Breffni Park on Sunday last. There was an air of inevitability about the outcome from an early stage in the campaign and in the build-up towards this meeting. Featuring one of the most experienced sides in the county, Kingscourt duly lived up to their reputation. While there was a period in the third quarter when Ramor United looked like upsetting the formbook and got to within a point of their opponents, thereafter Kingscourt eased themselves out of trouble and were well on top in the final quarter. This is Kingscourt's sixth title but from the viewpoint of the attendance of 3,000 it was far from vintage football as they didn't witness an exciting encounter. Apart from a period immediately after half-time, when Ramor United mounted a concerted challenge, most fans in the park were justified in their pre-match predictions of a Kingscourt win and they were heading for the exits long before the final whistle. There's no substitute for experience and the big match atmosphere and temperament and Kingscourt had all these in abundance. For the champions, the next assignment is the Ulster club championship, a title which has eluded Cavan teams since its inauguration in 1969. They meet the as-yet uncrowned Antrim champions in O'Raghallaigh Park, Kingscourt on Sunday, 1st October. This final was important from a number of factors. Among these was to witness the current state of club football in the county and to elicit any evidence of emerging county players to bolster the panel for the forthcoming National League Division One campaign and the return meeting with Donegal in the provincial championship in Ballyhshannon next May. Overall, there were periods of good entertainment but like most finals in recent years, there was a lack of real excitement and good football was at a premium. For those who like their football direct and to the point, then Kimngscourt proved that it's much easier to accomplish their task through the shortest route to goal.Ramor United's ploy of feeding full-forward Deerek McDonnell paid dividends to a certain extent but without support, his lone role, valuable though it was, gained little advantage in the overall shape of the game. In this final, at any rate, everything was predictable. Kingscourt won the midfield battle through the efforts of Joe Dillon in particular with good support from Jim Reilly, and Brian McDonnell and Frank Comey could do little to make an impact. Dillon was named man of the match and who could quibble with his nomination. The 30-year-old, who has now eclipsed five championship medals, must have impressed the Cavan selectors presetn with his fielding, determination and fitness. This midfield advantage was just the topmic Kingscourt needed to launch their bid for honours and the rest would be up to the forwards. In this department, right half-forward Tommy McCaul also played a major role. The 25-year old finished up with four points but he played a prominent part in distribution and his all-round skills must have been another eye-opener for the Cavan selectors. With midfield and attack doing well, the reliance on the defence on keeping tabs on the Ramor forwards of the calibre of Derek McDonnell, Paddy McNamee and Martin Lynch was well-placed. With the exception of full-forward McDonnell, the attack made little impact, where the experience of such players as Paddy McNamee, Martin Lynch and Sean Cole was of little addition and made little impact. With this failure from such an experienced trio, Ramor United's task was very much one of struggling to gain their meagre rewards. To allow a side such as Kingscourt to gain a valuable start and to lead by 0-4 to 0-1 after thirteen minutes was a fatal error and while a three point deficit might not seem all that formidable, it was the manner in which the Kingscourt forwards were able to weave their way through with ease and assurance that was cause for concern. With the Kingscourt half-back line of Barry McArdle, Gerry Wynne and Joe McCaul rarely under pressure, they were able to feed the attack with a never-ending supply. While the forwards didn't always apply their finishing skill with conviction, nevertheless the grounds for optimism at this early stage were reassuring. Joe McCaul, in particular, set up a number of dangerous attack and one of these, in fact, almost led to a goal when he sent deep into Aidan Tierney in the fourth minute and on to Michael Faulkner, whose shot was deflected for a fruitless 45. Ramor United rarely got past the half-way line during these opening exchanges. There was one occasion the Ramor United attack managed to penetrate the opposing defence in the opening quarter and it came in the eleventh minute. John Brady, Paddy McNamee and Kevin McDonnell were involved in the move which led to Derek McDonnell shooting weakly and goalkeeper Glen McCormack smothered the ball. Ramor United began to show some response as the game entered its second quarter and Derek McDonnell had their first point in the twelfth minute. While Martin Lynch sent wide from a free, the same player gave McDonnell a good opportunity when he sent in ahead of the full-forward who, however, was a little slow and the ball was cleared. Although Jim Reilly made it 0-4 to 0-1 by the 13th minute, Ramor United thought little of the signifcance of this particular timing and enjoyed their best period of the game so far. It was 0-4 to 0-3 by the 17th minute through Martin Lynch and a great effort from Paddy McNamee and suddenly heads were raised among the Ramor United fans. When Michael Faulkner increased the lead to two points in the 18th minute, Ramor United countered with a missed point from Paddy McNamee and from the kick-out Kingscourt set up the crucial goal. The ball came to Aidan Tierney and while his shot seemed to be covered it bounced off the body of defender Michael O'Donoghue before entering the net in the 22nd minute. That score injected a little more pace into the game and also gained a response from Ramor, who now trailed by four points. At this stage O'Donoghue was switched to midfield with Brian McDonnell taking up a defensive role and O'Donoghue was given the job of trying to curb Joe Dillon, an impossible task for one of such inexperience. Derek McDonnell maintained his scoring opportunism with a point with five minutes of the half remaining. Towards the end of the half, Kingscourt begn to reassert themselves but wasted chances until Tommy McCaul pointed right on half-time and left Kingscourt leading by 1-6 to 0-4. Alan Reilly came into the Kingscourt attack for Michael Reilly at the start of the second half and took up the left corner-forward position, with Paraic McCormack on the 40. Now Ramor United put in a concerted effort as they endeavoured to turn the tide in their favour. Two unfortunate efforts, one from Paddy McNamee, when his free was intercepted, and another from derek McDonnell, which went wide, didn't help their confidence. In another attack, McNamee, working hard, managed to get the ball to Brian McDonnell, who sent it across the goalmouth but was cleared to Gary Wynne. The pressure was bound to produce a score and it came from Derek McDonnell in the fourth minute. Sean Cole was drafted into the Ramor Utd attack in the sixth minute but there was a fortunate escape for the Ramor defence when a shot from Tommy McCaul was stopped on the line by Conal O'Connell in the ninth minute. The fact that Kingscourt hadn't scored since just before half-time might have been worrying their fans, who felt that they should have been consolidating their position. Instead, Ramor United rallied with a good point from Derek McDonnell from 40 yards which was followed by a similar score by Sean Cole in the 11th minute. Now only two points separated the teams. Martin Tynan came into the Ramor attack as Joe McCaul was drafted back to full-back for Kingscourt to try and curb Derek McDonnell. If Kingscourt were displaying the jitters ever so slightly, when Aidan Tierney missed a free, Derek McDonnell put a different complexion on the game as he scored a magnificent point from far out on the right wing and now there was only the minimum between the teams. McDonnell's score came on the 16th minute. After soaking up this bout of pressure, Kingscourt brokem clear from the defence and as the Ramor defence allowed the loose ball go unchecked, Tommy McCaul ran in to shoot a crucial point. With the game entering its final ten minutes, so Ramor's challenge fell away and Kingscourt, now sensing victory, began to consolidate their position as Aidan Tierney, Tommy McCaul (two) and Jim Reilly pointed in turn. The closing couple of minutes saw Ramor's frustration become more evident as the tackles became reckless and rated the booking of Tommy McCaul and Paddy McNamee. In another incident, Michael Faulkner was struck away from the play. However, these isolated incidents apart, the game was played in a good spirit. While it wasn't a game of the highest calibre, Kingscourt fans won't be too worried about that in the midst of victory and will be making preparations for their Ulster club championship first round game. The defence coped very well throughout and in particular Joe McCaul, Barry McArdle and Maurice Rowntree. Goalkeeper Glen McCormack has taken over the goalkeeping role from Francis McKenna with plenty of confidence. Newcomer to the team Gary Wynne, in winning his first seniro championship medal, would be a big asset to the county team if he so declared. Brendan Farrelly also made a valuable contribution in defence. The fruits of this success will sound much sweeter for players like Joe Dillon, who has give valuable service to both club and county. He was head and shoulders above everyone else in both stature and fielding and got good support from Jim Reilly., In the attack, Tommy McCaul had an impressive game with Aidan Tierney and Michael Faulkner not far behind. There was good support from Michael Reilly, Cian Murtagh and Padraig McCormack. For Ramor United there was no chance of a repeat of their 1985 success. The team only played with conviction for a brief period in the second half but other than that, too few players responded as a unit for the big occasion. Conal O'Connell tried hard in defence along with Gary Farrelly and Niall Dolan. In the absence of a midfield advantage, it proved difficult for the forwards to make a real impact. With the exception of Derek McDonnell and, to a lesser extent, Martin Lynch, this area of the team lacked scoring power. Kingscourt: Glen McCormack, Brendan Farrelly, Pat Faulkner, Maurice Rowntree, Barry McArdle, Gary Wynne, Joe McCaul, Joe Dillon, Jim Reilly, Tommy McCaul, Michael Reilly, Cian Murtagh, Aidan Tierney, Michael Faulkner, Padraig McCormack SUBS: Alan Reilly for Michael Reilly Ramor United: Francis Maguire, Michael O'Donoghue, Conal O'Connell, Ray Cole, Gary Farrelly, James Cole, Niall Dolan, Brian McDonnell, Frank Comey, Michael Kermath, Paddy McNamee, John Brady, Kevin McDonnell, Derek McDonnell, Martin Lynch SUBS: Sean Cole for Brian McDonnell, Martin Tynan for John Brady, John Mulvaney for James Cole REF: Thomas McDermott