Dromore retain their Jim Devlin Cup title

Dromore 3-15 Donaghmore 2-7

DROMORE rolled through the gears in the second-half to clinch back-to-back Jim Devlin Cup titles last Wednesday evening over Donaghmore at Fr Peter Campbell Park in Coalisland.

Jason O’Reilly’s side held a one-point lead with 25 minutes remaining, but they assumed control of the contest thereafter, hitting 2-8 without reply against a Donaghmore side who found themselves entangled by a well-organised Dromore defence.

On top of that, Donaghmore, who were absent their Tyrone U20 contingent, racked up too many wides across the hour, whereas Dromore were neat and tidy in front of the posts.

Leading the way in that respect were Sean McNabb, who scored four fine points from play, the evergreen Niall Sludden and his brother Tiarnán, and Paudi Dillon, whose guile up front was evident throughout their run to pre-season honours.

The Jim Devlin Cup competition was revived last year to mark the 50th anniversary of the murders of Jim and Gertie Devlin, and the introduction of a plethora of new rules informed the decision to give it another airing.

Dromore seem to have taken to the tournament like a duck to water, and were deserved victorys on Friday night against Donaghmore, though they didn’t have it all their own way, and they actually conceded a goal in the opening seconds with Riain McAshea finding the net.

A fluid Dromore team who made clever use of their possession rattled off four points on the bounce, though, with Sean McNabb, Odhran Rafferty, Colm MacRory and Oran Sludden splitting the posts on consecutive occasions.

Donaghmore responded with a Conor Cush free, though already they had a couple of speculative efforts in front of the posts, and Dromore opened up a 0-6 to 1-1 lead when Tiarnán Sludden found the target followed by a superb ‘45’ from out on the flank by Paudi Dillon.

Cush tapped over a free after a rare lapse of discipline from Dromore which saw the ball brought forward by referee Justin McKenna, but Dromore, who repeatedly exerted massive pressure on Donaghmore high up the pitch, looked the more tuned-in outfit and plundered a goal when Tiarnán Sludden turned it in after an attempted point fell short.

Donaghmore responded well with a two-pointer from play from Cormac Drayne, but Sean McNabb was having an excellent game and got his second score of the evening to leave it 1-7 to 1-4 with 23 minutes on the clock.

The challengers finished the half well with another score from Drayne, a lovely effort with the outside of his boot, and Cush’s latest free, so for all Dromore’s good work they only led by a point at the break.

The on-song Dromore midfielder Sean McNabb got the first score of the second-half, ferrying the ball into a scoreable position before unleashing a pure and accurate shot at the posts, before Donaghmore responded with Cush’s latest
free.

For the remainder of the contest, it was basically all Dromore. the increasingly influential Niall Sludden fired over two points from play, Sean McNabb got his fourth of the evening (another classy score) and Paudi Dillon popped over.

Then Dillon floated over a lovely ball over the top to John MacRory, who picked his spot superbly to open up a 2-12 to 1-7 lead with quarter of an hour remaining. The game wasn’t quite done and dusted, but it was going to take something special from Donaghmore and they weren’t getting any joy on their own forays forward.

Dromore kept the show on the road with further scores from Dillon, Tiarnán Sludden, who finished his day’s work with 1-2 to his name, sub Emmett O’Neill and a further goal from Ryan McCusker, who also had a good game.

Donaghmore had the final say with a last-second goal from sub Niall McKenna, but it was completely immaterial as Dromore capped off a productive pre-season in quite some style.

Scorers

Dromore: Tiarnán Sludden (1-2), Sean McNabb (0-4), Paudi Dillon (0-3, 1 ‘45’, 1f), John MacRory and Ryan McCusker (1-0 each), Niall Sludden (0-2), Oran Sludden, Odhran Rafferty, Emmett O’Neill, Colm MacRory (0-1 each)

Donaghmore: Conor Cush (0-4f), Cormac Drayne (0-3, 1tp), Riain McAshea and Niall McKenna (1-0 each)

Teams

Dromore: Mark McGale, Cathal Colton, Tommy McCarron, Conor O’Hara, Odhran Rafferty, Ryan McCusker, Niall Sludden, Ciaran McCoy, Sean McNabb, Colm MacRory, Oran Sludden, John MacRory, Decky McNulty, Tiarnán Sludden, Paudi Dillon. Subs: John Edgar for McNabb, Emmett O’Neill for MacRory

Donaghmore: Fergal Donaghy, Ronan Donaghy, Paul McCann, Dermot McCann, Seanie Donaghy, Jude McNally, Shea McCartan, Thomas McGuigan, Pete McKenna, Ryan Cush, Tom Grimes, Philly Donaghy, Cormac Drayne, Riain McAshea, Conor Cush. Subs: Rory McGee for McAshea, Tiarnan Drayne for P Donaghy, Niall McKenna for McCartan, Shea Hamill for C Drayne

Referee: Justin McKenna (Dungannon)