Stewartstown see off dogged Drumragh in Junior Reserve Final

Drumragh 1-13

Stewartstown 3-13

DRUMRAGH’S three year grip on the Junior Reserve Championship came to a conclusion at Garvaghey on Thursday when a more polished Stewartstown sealed the silverware with six points to spare.

The Harps had powered into an eight point lead with five minutes of the first half left, only for Drumragh to claw back into the contest before the interval with Ben Monk sliding in to turn the ball to the net with his first touch.

Cathal Devlin was outstanding through the centre for the Harps. Ryan O’Neill, Gerard O’Neill, Kyran Robinson, Sean Gallagher and Caolan Coyle worked tirelessly and the introduction of veteran Peter Armour came at just the right time to push Stewartstown over the finish line.

Drumragh were always chasing and while they missed several chances they caused plenty of problems. Kian Murphy, Andy Colgan and Tommy Mullin carved out openings while Martin Taggart was deadly accurate from then dead ball.

An early exchange of points kick started the contest after both teams tested each other with frantic exchanges in front of goal. Kian Murphy and Devlin were on target although by the end of the first quarter Harps had pulled away. Devlin pointed and then turned provider for Shea Burke. He also played a hand in the opening goal as he collected from the kick out before releasing Daire Coyle who sent Sean Gallagher in for a goal.

Taggart latched on a point at the other end but within a minute Devlin had teed up Theo Lowe on the right. The attacker still had work to do but was able to cut inside to beat Paul Maguire for a second goal. The Harps extended their lead with points from Devlin and Gerard O’Neill while Taggart’s double kept Drumragh in the contest.

In the closing stages of the half Daniel O’Neill dropped over a close range Sarsfields free before Ben Monk with his first touch after coming off the bench beat Feargal O’Neill. Mullin drove through from the left. His shot came off the keeper and Monk was there at the post to bravely slide the ball home. This ensured there was three points between the sides at the break .

A rejuvenated Drumragh took the second half by the scruff of the neck and were within a point within six minutes of the restart. The very impressive Kian Murphy carved out several openings. One of his blocked efforts spun to Sean Diamond and he pointed while Taggart split the posts after being teed up by Murphy.

The loss to a black card of Barry Kirwan rocked Drumragh, before an exchange of points between O’Neill and Alex McGlinchey.

Coyle landed a mammoth point for the Harps from the right with the introduction of Armour adding to their challenge, before a score from Burke opened the gap to three again. Points by Monk and O’Neill left the status quo on the scoreboard but with Taggart and McGlinchey registering the minimum separated the sides heading into the final ten minutes.

Armour settled Stewartstown nerves with a fine score from the left and the gap was five when Owen Coyle stole in to grab a goal after Maguire made the initial stop. To their credit Mc Glinchey’s point threw the Sarsfields a lifeline yet with their noses in front Harps looked assured and comfortable. Blake Smith and Burke added points.

Taggart added his sixth point in the closing stages but the last word went to O’Neill who topped scored for the champions with his fourth point.