Stewartstown claim Ulster honours after dramatic penalty shootout

Stewartstown 1-12

Drumlane 0-15

(Stewartstown win 5-4 on penalties)

STEWARTSTOWN are in dreamland. After a truly remarkable game of football, they prevailed after a nail-biting penalty shootout against Drumlane to clinch their second ever Ulster Junior Football Championship.

For long stretches of the first-half at a chilly Clones, Stewartstown looked like they were on the ropes.

Drumlane were out-muscling and out-playing them in every sector, and their captain Ryan Connolly was pinging over frees from all angles.

Stewartstown hung in there and trailed by only two points at the break, but disaster struck shortly after the interval when talismanic forward Gareth Devlin hobbled off with a hamstring injury. To rub salt in the wounds, Tiarnan Rush was harshly dismissed for a second yellow only minutes later.

The Harps hadn’t performed anywhere near their ability – bear in mind they hadn’t lost a single game all season across league and championship – and even their most optimistic supporter must have feared for the worst.

What followed was simply sensational. Stewartstown grabbed the bull by the horns with their substitute Anton Coyle floating over a string of points from frees, Dan and Theo Lowe starting to exert themselves on proceedings and the entire team going for every ball like their lives depended on it.

They entered the lead for the first time when corner-back Connor Quinn scored an heroic point with 61 minutes on the clock but a gallant Drumlane side responded with a late free from the exceptional Ryan Connolly to send the game into extra-time.

It looked like Stewartstown were about to push for home when Dan Lowe won and converted a penalty deep into the first-half of stoppage time, but Drumlane full-forward Michael Owens scored a couple of remarkable efforts to keep his side in contention.

The two teams still couldn’t be separated so penalties, that most cruel of mistresses, were required. The tension was almost unbearable and 13 penalties (yes, 13) were taken before Drumlane skipper Ryan Connolly’s shot crashed back off the crossbar and sent the Stewartstown players and supporters into raptures. What a magnificent achievement – and spare a thought for Drumlane, who more than played their part in an unforgettable day at Clones.