Sean MacCumhaills 1-10 Termon 0-9
Sean MacCumhaills retained the Manus Kelly Memorial Cup when they defeated Termon in the Senior ‘C’ Championship Final at Páirc Naomh Columba this evening.
An early goal proved crucial for MacCumhaills who were 1-5 to 0-5 ahead at the break.
Barry Nelis’s Termon tried hard to claw back their deficit but the Twin Towns side were able to keep them at arm’s length and were deservedly crowned champions.
It was Termon who opened the scoring from Adam McElwaine after a great pass from Ronan Harkin.
Gavin Doherty equalised before MacCumhaills grabbed a goal in the sixth minute. Christopher Gallen’s shot at a point dropped short but Paddy Hannigan showed good strength to fend off his marker, collect the ball and instinctively fire it to the net.
McElwaine went close to grabbing a goal for Termon after that but his effort went wide. The play was brought back for an attacking mark which the Termon full-forward converted.
Dougie McDaid’s MacCumhaills were able to deal with the slippery ball better than their opponents and Hannigan fisted over before wing-forward Jacob Malone sold a nice dummy before curling over.
Ronan Harkin and Kieran Thompson swapped frees and MacCumhaills came close to grabbing a second major in the 29th minute.
Another effort at a point dropped short and wasn’t dealt with by the Burn Road side.
Stephen Summerville saw his palmed effort hit the crossbar, but he did very well to get the rebound over the bar.
Termon needed a good finish to the half and they got it.
Harkin landed an exquisite score and there was a bit of controversy before the break.
MacCumhaills were guilty of only leaving two players up the field before Connie Doherty blew his half-time whistle.
However, linesman Cathal Gallagher saw the indiscretion, and the players were called back to watch Mark Gallagher tap over a free.
MacCumhaills were still three ahead at the break and they extended that advantage with a Thompson free.
Mark Gallagher replied with a point from an acute angle but Termon were living dangerously at the back.
Thompson missed a good goal chance before Gavin Doherty ghosted through for his second point.
Termon kept battling and Ryan McMenamin notched a good score before Mark Gallagher was denied a major by a fine save from MacCumhaills ‘keeper Daniel Crawford.
Nelis’s men had plenty of the ball but were wasteful and they were further punished when Gallen put MacCumhaills four ahead again.
Termon went 15 minutes without a score before they pointed through senior manager Caolan McDaid, who came on as a sub.
That left a goal between the teams but MacCumhaills held their nerve.
Summerville fisted over before Gallen nailed a free after Termon were guilty of a breach.
Jamie Gallagher punched over for Termon but the night belonged to Sean MacCumhaills.
Sean MacCumhaills: Daniel Crawford; Kieran Barron, Brendan Heeney, Dan Donnelly; Gary O’Donnell, Gavin Doherty (0-2), Cathal Cannon; Pauric Kelly, Stephen Summerville (0-2); Conor Murphy, Peter Sweeney, Jacob Malone (0-1); Kieran Thompson (0-2, 2fs), Paddy Hannigan (1-1), Christopher Gallen (0-2, 1f). Subs: Joe Dunnion for Thompson (52 mins), Kyle Rutledge for O’Donnell (57 mins), Brian Lafferty for Sweeney (62 mins), Shane Thompson for Summerville (63 mins), James Beirne for Cannon (66 mins).
Termon: Thomas Cannon; James Crumlish, Shaun McDaid, James Lee McLaughlin; Kieran Black, Shane Doherty, Marty Steel; Aaron Gallagher, Jamie Gallagher (0-1); Rian Nibbs, Ronan Harkin (0-2, 1f), Nathan Grant; Mark Gallagher (0-2, 1f), Adam McElwaine (0-2, 1m), Ryan McMenamin (0-1). Subs: Kevin McDaid and Joe O’Donnell for McLaughlin and Nibbs (37 mins), Caolan McDaid (0-1) for Harkin (57 mins).
Referee: Connie Doherty (Naomh Conaill).