Templeport claim junior title in style

Junior Football Championship final

Templeport 2-11

Denn 1-10

Paul Fitzpatrick at Kingspan Breffni

Templeport claimed the Junior Championship title for 2020 with a merited four-point win over Denn in this entertaining decider at HQ.

The St Aidan’s were the better side over the course of the hour; they held the upper hand in the middle third and won most of the key battles. While Thomas Edward Donohoe shone for Denn, overall they struggled with the pace and skill of the west Cavan men.

At half-time, Templeport were seven to the good, 2-5 to 0-4, having held Denn scoreless for the final 20 minutes of the half.

That was the key period. Having been a point in arrears, 0-3 to 0-2, with almost a quarter of an hour played, Templeport completely took charge of the contest.

They routed the Denn kick-out, winning five in a row at one stage, and pinned the Crosskeys-based side back for long spells. And their danger men, the two Eoins, Doonan and McCaffrey, were moving very well and looked dangerous every time the ball came near them, which was often in this dominant spell.

Denn started the second half on the front foot and battled manfully but they had left themselves too much to do and Templeport caught them on the break a couple of times late on, with speedster McCaffrey capitalising on the space with some crucial late scores.

This will be a particularly satisfying win for Templeport, under the guidance of Declan Farrell and Gary Donohoe, as they were forced to start without county man Benjamin Kelly and captain Donal Maguire, who were both injured.

Thomas Edward Donohoe opened the scoring for his side and set Mark McSherry up for the second, which he fisted over.

Templeport drew level when Man of the Match Doonan pointed after a well-worked short free and Dillon Raythorne fired over a fine point off the left.

Donohoe sent over a stylish point but again, the St Aidan’s came back with a good score, Liam Galligan getting on the end of a super move.

After a foul on Eoghan Martin, Doonan registered from a free as Templeport began to dominate on kick-outs. The first goal arrived just before the first water break when Conor Galligan played a nice ball to McCaffrey, who was fouled in the square; Doonan stepped up and nervelessly found the bottom corner.

Templeport were buzzing; Martin won the resulting kick-out and Doonan curled in another.

The sting went out of the game a little over the following minutes but Templeport struck again five minutes before the break when Denn made an error coming out with the ball and Doonan pounced, burying a great finish to the net.

Denn were reeling at 2-5 to 0-3 but Donohoe stopped the bleeding with another from play just before half-time to leave seven in it at the midway point.

And Stephen Baxter’s men started the second half brightly, Cavell Keogan pointing off the left and then flicking the ball down for Donohoe, who scorched up the end-line and squared for Ben Conaty to bundle home after a scramble.

That goal cut the gap to three but if Templeport were rattled, they didn’t show it. After a good move, flying wing-back James Rudden split the posts.

James Brady replied but a lovely free from Conor Galligan and another from play for Doonan, after Mark Fegan had saved well, left five between them again on 43 minutes.

Back came Denn with a marvellous point from Donohoe and a Keogan free after Conaty out-jumped a defender. The game was in the melting pot again. McCaffrey kicked a lovely score from a tight angle but Keogan cancelled it out with a well-struck free; Oisin Kiernan then swung in a beauty with the outside of the boot but again, McCaffrey, whose direct running was brilliant, raised another white flag.

Denn pressed as best they could in the closing stages but the Templeport defence was excellent and they put the game to bed with a swift counter-attack, McCaffrey tearing into acres of space to clip over the insurance point.

Denn: Mark Fegan, Cormac Cusack-Smith, Tomás Corr, Micheál Gaffney, James Brady (0-1), Bernard Gaffney, Mark McSherry (0-1), Brandon Keogan, Oisin Kiernan (0-1), Conor Smyth, Thomas Edward Donohoe (0-4), Cian McCann, Sean Donohoe, Cavell Keogan (0-2f), Ben Conaty (1-0)

Subs: Jamie Reilly for Smyth (ht), Eoin Reilly for Kiernan (58)

Templeport: Joe Kiernan, Brendan McGoldrick, Sean Dolan, Jack Kelly, James Rudden (0-1), Oran Duffy, Gavin Donohoe, Eoghan Martin, Dillon Raythorne (0-1), Liam McAweeney, James Murphy, Liam Galligan (0-1), Conor Galligan (0-1f), Eoin McCaffrey (0-3), Eoin Doonan (2-4, 1-0 pen, 1f)

Subs: Luke Donohoe for J Kelly (50 mins), Benjamin Kelly for Murphy (53)