Ballinderry topple O'Neill's

Derry boys deservedly take Dale Farm Ulster Minor Club Championship title

Ballinderry 3-7

Clontibret 1-9

Publication: Northern Standard

Date: 13th January 2002

Thomas Maynes gave watching Ballinderry supporters plenty to cheer about by netting the all important winner in the final of the Dale Farm Ulster Minor Club Championship last Saturday at Shaw's road, Belfast.

In an interesting game, Maynes managed to find the net with six minutes left when Clontibret still held out slight hopes of salvaging something after a battling performance.

A first half goal from Conor Devlin gave the Derry champions a 1-5 to 0-6 advantage at half time. Clontibret battled hard in those opening 30 minutes but the result always looked like going against them and they finally succeeded to Maynes' late goal.

Clontibret were beaten in the semi-final of this competition seven years ago.

Ballinderry deserved it. They smothered the life out of their opponents in certain sectors of the field. Their defending at times was excellent and they strung together intelligent counter attacking raids to create havoc in the Clontibret rearguard.

The final whistle also brought with it a bit of history for the Derry boys in that their club is the first to win provincial titles at senior and minor in the same year.

With the central defensive pairing of Conor Wilkinson and Michael Bell outstanding, Ballinderry looked well organised and inventive attack-wise with playmakers in the hard working Ronan Devlin, Brendan Conway, Colin Devlin and Thomas Maynes. They contrived to stretch the Clontibret defense repeatedly with the two Devlins and Maynes getting the goals that spelt the end for Clontibret's aspirations.

Goals win championships and Ballinderry effectively wrapped up the title with three strikes, one in the first half which helped them to a two points half time lead.

For Clontibret it was always going to be a major challenge in that they were on average younger than Ballinderry with as many as three of their players being under 15 this year. That said, however, it did take Ballinderry some time to come to grips with Clontibret, particularly the Corey brothers in midfield with Vincent emerging as one of the best players on view during the entire game with his great fielding and strong surging runs.

Clontibret centre back Brendan Og Magennis again underlined his potential with some great spontaneous play demonstrating the range of his game by breaking forward effectively on a number of occasions, one of which saw him hit a magnificent point at a vital stage in the first half to bring Clontibret level for the third time. Paul McGuigan worked hard on the 40 while Dessie Mone at corner forward was always a threat although life was particularly difficult for the Clontibret attack given the effective, disciplined approach of the Ballinderry full-back line who never allowed them space or time to carve out openings.

As a contest the game never rose to any great heights and was most interesting in the first half with the sides level on no less than four occasions before Ballinderry struck for two late points to go in two up at the break.

Ballinderry drew first blood with a point by Michael McIvor in the 2nd minute but only after Clontibret had been denied by to early attacks.

They were soon on level terms however when Vincent Corey went on one of his strong runs to create the chance for Noel Morgan who looked momentarily to have a goal chance on but his opted for the point at that early stage.

Colin Devlin restored Ballinderry to the lead in the 6th minute as he cut in from the left wing but Clontibret responded with a good spell that yielded two points in quick succession; the first to put them back on level terms when Dessie Mone converted a free for a foul on Darren Murphy that looked like a penalty call at the end of a sweeping five man move and the second in the 13th minute when Vincent Corey converted another free.

Corey had a chance a minute later to extend Clontibret's lead but was off target this time from around the same distance.

Ballinderry re-grouped with full forward James Bateson moving to midfield in a temporary switch with Michael Muldoon to try and loosen the Corey grip in that area and they got a great tonic in the 18th minute when Colin Devlin rifled in goal number one at the end of another run by him down the left wing.

Clontibret responded magnificently to this setback and struck almost immediately for two good points, Paul McGuigan from a free and then Brendan Og Magennis charging through the centre for a great equaliser that set the game up for a riveting final ten minutes of the first half.

An exchange of points between Thomas Maynes and Martin Corey had the game deadlocked again in the 27th minute but Ballinderry struck for two late points to go in two up at the break on a half time score of Ballinderry 1-5, Clontibret 0-6.

In the second half Ballinderry increased their lead within two minutes of the restart with a point by Thomas Maynes and they had a glorious chance to go further ahead when full forward James Bateson was put clean through but blasted wide of the Clontibret goals.

Play continued to swing from end to end but no further scores until the 12th minute when Vincent Corey converted a free to reduce the deficit to two points. That however was as good as it was going to get for Clontibret as Ballinderry began to exert increasing pressure.

It took a good tackle by Jonathan McGuigan on Ronan Devlin to deny him a shot at goal in the 14th minute but goal number two wasn't far away as Ballinderry drove forward with increasing intent. Another raid almost immediately saw James Bateson sent clear only to lose possession at the vital moment but a challenge on him by Paul McElroy saw them awarded a penalty which was converted by Ronan Devlin to give them a five points advantage on 18 minutes and underlying the task facing Clontibret in the final quarter.

Colin Devlin was wide of the target in the 19th minute when Ronan McCusker extended their lead when he fielded the kick out and things were looking very bleak for Clontibret.

But the Monaghan champions, to their credit, were still battling for everything. Paul McGuigan pointed from a free but any chance they had of making it a close finish was dealt a sever blow six minutes from the end of normal time when Ballinderry got their third goal, Thomas Maynes being on hand to slot home from close range to put the issue beyond any doubt.

In the final minutes Clontibret launched an all out attack, a free by Dessie Mone came back off the crossbar in the 26th minute and keeping up the pressure to the end they did pull back a late goal and a point, both from the boot of Dessie Mone but while they may be regarded as consolation scores and could not prevent Ballinderry being crowned champions for the third time they did however help to illustrate Clontibret's contribution to a very entertaining game and minor championship series.

Clontibret: Paul McElroy; Eoin Greenan, Jonathan McGuigan, Conor Evans; Marius McGarrell, Brendan Og Magennis (0-1), Paraic Duffy; Vincent Corey (0-2), Martin Corey (0-1); Shane Mulligan, Paul McGuigan (0-2), Darren Murphy; Noel Morgan (0-1), Daithi McKeown, Dessie Mone (1-2). Subs: James Greenan for D. McKeown, Rodney Gorman for S. Mulligan.

Ballinderry: Rory McGeehan, Sean McGeehan, Conor Wilkinson, John McGuckin, Michael McIvor (0-1), Michael Bell, Paul Scott, Ronan McCusker (0-1), Michael Muldoon, Ronan Devlin (1-1), Brendan Conway, Raymond Wilkinson, Thomas Maynes (1-3), James Bateson, Colin Devlin (1-1). Subs: Kevin Cassidy for R. Wilkinson.

Referee: P. Mullan (Antrim).

Photos of this game available in Minors section of Photo Gallery.