Cuchulainns finish year on a high with U20 Division 3 title

U20 Division 3 Championship final

Cuchulainns 0-14

Dernacrieve Gaels 0-8

Paul Fitzpatrick at Kingspan Breffni

Cuchulainns claimed the U20 Division 3 Football Championship title with a deserved if unspectacular six-point victory over Dernacrieve Gaels in mild conditions, producing a more cohesive performance in a game that rarely caught fire.

The west Cavan amalgamation of Kildallan, Shannon Gaels and Swanlinbar found scores hard to come by throughout and were further hampered by the early loss of joint captain Ezra McGovern to injury in the first half.

Cuchulainns, while not consistently fluent, had match-winners in key areas, notably attacker Conor O’Reilly. Niall Magee linked a defence and attack well and Keith Kelleher was composed at crucial moments in goals. The winners, for whom joint-captain Adam McKenna was a physical presence at the back, had the edge on conditioning, with a large proportion of the team involved with the senior panel who reached the Ulster final.

Cuchulainns settled quicker and struck the opening score when impressive wing-back Tom Smyth read the play superbly, intercepted and fed Eoin O’Reilly, who drove over confidently.

O’Reilly was central to much of what followed, pinching a kick-out moments later to release Niall Magee, although Feargal McGovern denied him with a superb save.

Magee soon made amends with a fine individual point and Cuchulainns led 0-2 to 0-0 before Dernacrieve registered, Clive Moffitt pointing neatly from the corner off the left.

Any momentum was quickly checked as the lively Donagh Lynch and O’Reilly combined for a smart response, while Smyth added a lovely score with the outside of his boot.

Dernacrieve were guilty of lateral build-up play and found little joy against a disciplined Cuchulainns defence, though Shaun Gallagher’s excellent two-point free briefly lifted them. Gallagher’s kicking from distance was a stand-out feature of the contest and he would add another superb two-pointer from play early in the second half.

By half-time, Cuchulainns had built a 0-8 to 0-3 lead, with Conor O’Reilly – an excellent two-pointer - and Smyth, with a fisted effort, again on target.

They probably should have had a goal just before half-time when, after a great run from Magee, the county U20 man squared it to county minor Lynch but the Gaels scrambled and cleared off the line.

Dernacrieve showed more bite after the break and had a goal chance blasted wide after a terrific move before Gallagher reduced the gap to a single score with another two-point free after a three-up transgression.

Cuchulainns spurned another goal chance when Conor O’Reilly found Lynch, who wriggled into space and returned the pass only for O’Reilly’s low effort to strike the butt of the post and rebound into the grateful arms of goalkeeper Feargal McGovern.

The decisive spell came when O’Reilly landed a pressure two-pointers the left wing and then took a return pass from another and drilled over, stretching the lead and draining belief from Dernacrieve, who continued to rack up wides despite forcing turnovers and creating openings.

Eoin O’Reilly and Tommy Óg O’Reilly added well-taken late points on the counter to seal matters.

It was drab enough fare overall but Cuchulainns deserved their success after an excellent year which has also produced IFC and U14 titles for a club which is clearly on the up. Dernacrieve battled honestly but lacked the penetration and composure needed on the day, registering 12 wides to Cuchulainns’ six.

Full report in next week's print edition.