Drumlane claim U20 title after extra-time battle

U20 Division 2 Championship final

Drumlane 0-18

Blackwater Gaels 1-13

AET

Paul Fitzpatrick at Kingspan Breffni 3G

Drumlane are the U20 Division 2 champions for 2021 after they came through a tough battle against Blackwater Gaels in this entertaining final on the 3G pitch last night.

The Sons of O’Connell came into the match as favourites, with five county U20 players in their ranks, and they looked in a different class early on as they cruised into a 0-10 to 0-2 lead with just 16 minutes on the clock, with Michael Owens dominant at midfield and Daryl McGurren very accurate up front.

However, the Munterconnaught-Mountnugent-Maghera amalgamation grew into the game and managed to gain parity, with Ned Brunton outstanding and Enda O’Shea impressive after a quiet first half. Crucially, though, they never managed to get their noses in front and in extra time, Drumlane came up with a couple of key scores to bring home a second trophy to Milltown in the space of a month following the senior team’s ACFL Division 3 success.

Drumlane set the tone when Owens won the throw-in, went on a driving run and was fouled, with McGurren knocking over the resulting free. That was the story of the first quarter and although the big midfielder faded, he came back into the contest when the game was in the melting pot.

Enda O’Shea (free) and Cormac Flynn, with a great strike, traded scores before Drumlane, profiting off countless turnovers in the middle third, completely took charge of the contest.

A 40-metre left-footed McGurren free, after a foul on Owens, was followed by points from Jordan Galligan, McGurren (free, foul on Owens) and a terrific outside of the boot effort from James McCahill.

Blackwater were struggling hugely with Drumlane’s pace and power at this point. McGurren fired over two more, a well-struck free and a classy effort from play, to make it 0-8 to 0-1 with 13 minutes played.

Blackwater eventually stopped the rot when Paddy Matthews made a fine catch and Brunton won a free which O’Shea converted but Drumlane quickly added on two more points through Liam Belton and a lovely strike from McGurren to make it 0-10 to 0-2.

All of a sudden, though, the scores dried up for the west Cavanmen as slowly, Blackwater began to get back into the match. O’Shea sent over a free after Brunton was felled and 10 scoreless minutes followed, which took the sting out of Drumlane a little and allowed Blackwater to go in at half-time still just about in the game at 0-10 to 0-3.

On the restart, Cian McEnroe dispossessed an opponent and O’Shea finished stylishly to get Blackwater going again but Drumlane then strung together a hat-trick of points which seemed to put the game to bed.

The first was a monster effort from the wing by Ben Monahan, with McGurren adding another free and James McCahill swinging one in off the left to make it 0-13 to 0-4 on 39 minutes – and they could afford the luxury of two wides thereafter.

The cup seemed to be headed west but, suddenly, everything changed, with Brunton prominent and O’Shea now winning whatever came his way. The latter kicked two frees before the water break and on the resumption, another, to make it 0-13 to 0-7 and in the 49th minute, sub Samuel Ajala did well and laid off to Brunton who managed to find the roof of the net.

Just like that, it was a three-point game again and Blackwater were now dominating on kick-outs. A point from Tadhg Hagan and one for O’Shea after selling a dummy made it a one-point game and when Brunton was again taken down, O’Shea converted from 35 metres to tie the game with six minutes of normal time remaining.

A Cormac Flynn point after good work from Owens was cancelled out by one for Conor Hetherton after patient build-up play. Drumlane went ahead again with a McGurren free but a difficult long-range free from O’Shea forced extra time.

Drumlane began the additional period on the front foot, hitting a wide before McGurren converted a free and then hit the post from close range. A superb O’Shea point levelled the game again but Drumlane dug deep and mustered up two points to win it, McGurren with a free and Owens with a great score off the left to cap off what was an excellent game of football.

Drumlane: Harry Clarke, Sean Óg Flynn, Josh Marsden, Ciaran O’Brien, James McCahill (0-2), Mark Maguire, Ben Monahan (0-1), Michael Owens (0-1), Killian Freehill, Jordan Galligan (0-1), Liam Belton (0-1), Cormac Flynn (0-2), Daryl McGurren (0-10, 8f)

Subs: Ciaran Gunn, Jake Rogers, Oisin McGowan, Sean Óg Flynn

Blackwater Gaels: Caolin Hughes, Conor O’Brien, Eoin Gibson, Cejay Reilly, Cian McEnroe, Ben Maguire, Conor Hetherton (0-1), Ryan Tobin, Paddy Matthews, Corey Gilsenan, Fergal Keoghan, Ned Brunton (1-0), Enda O’Shea (0-11, 8f)

Subs: Tiarnan O’Reilly, Samuel Ajala, Tadhg Hagan (0-1), Luke Murphy

Ref: Padraig Sheridan