Stewartstown’s Devlin keen on Ulster run

THE inaugural winners of the Ulster Junior Football Championship-Stewartstown- are back to feature in the competition again this Saturday, with one of the stars of that breakthrough triumph still going strong.

Gareth Devlin enjoyed an unforgettable autumn in 2004 when he not only played a pivotal role in Tyrone Minors All-Ireland victory at Croke Park, but a few months later, was starring on the club front too with his beloved Harps, who accounted for Cremartin of Monaghan in the final to annex the very first official Ulster JFC title.

Eighteen years down the line and Devlin still knows where the posts are, sticking over half a dozen scores, from frees and open play, as Stewartstown last week saw off Aghaloo in the Tyrone decider to seal the 2022 Junior League and Championship double in the process.

Their reward is a berth in the Ulster provincial series at Junior level, a competition which has yielded plenty of success for Tyrone clubs over the past two decades (six victories in total, including a hat-trick of successes for the Rock)

The Harps start their quest to secure the Paul Kerr Memorial Cup with a trip to Pairc Esler in Newry this Saturday afternoon to face the Down champions Teconnaught in the opening round.

Gareth is relishing the challenge that awaits and stresses that the team should be able to play freed up from any inhibitions having attained their primary objective already.

“ Tyrone is always hard to get out of. Club football here is the pinnacle and so tough and physical. You know what you are going to get in every game. In Ulster you are meeting fresh teams and that unknown factor has worked in our favour before.

“ We won the League and had a six day turnaround for the Championship even after celebrating winning the League and getting promotion. That didn’t do us any harm but the two weeks now is a good enough break to celebrate and then refocus on the Ulster Championship.It’s not every day you win a trophy. We will knuckle down and give it a real crack.”

Devlin was one of the young whipper-snappers in that Stewartstown team which nearly twenty years ago enjoyed a memorable campaign which culminated in an appearance at Croke Park in the All-Ireland Final (they came up short against Kerry side Finuge).

With the passage of father time he now finds himself the beneficiary of the industry and enthusiasm of the current exciting crop of youngsters emerging at the club.

“ Them boys are full of legs, they are unbelieveable and that helps to make my job a bit easier to be honest. They will run all week for you and I just have to stick the odd one over the bar at the finish up. We are a match for any team when it comes to fitness.

“ It’s been unbelievable this season. I have been down this road before. I’ve won one and I’ve lost one in the Intermediate Championship and Junior. We have the experience there in abundance of getting to County Finals.

“ The Under-21 lads who won that competition five or six years ago so are now ripe to go and win something. Thankfully we did it this year.”

Ahead of their provincial title assault, Devlin states that the squad are desperate to maintain thir unbeaten run in 2022.

“ We went undefeated in League and Championship this year. You proably have to check the history books to see if any team has gone through Junior in Tyrone undefeated all year.

“ Even in the pre-season Ulster League we were undefeated and even playing some top quality sides in friendlies we never lost a game either. I know people mightn’t count those matches but they help to build up a winning habit. We just kept pushing on all year.”