20 November 2011
Creggan let a great chance of an Ulster title slip from their grasp at the Armagh Athletic Grounds on Sunday when Donegal champions Burt came from behind in the final minutes to snatch victory in the AIB Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship final replay.
When Conor McCann put Creggan ahead in the forty-eighth minute they appeared to be on course for their first Ulster title. They were playing ‘down the slope’ with the slight breeze at their backs, Burt were down to fourteen men (after the harsh sending off of their midfielder and captain Ardal McDermott), and they were dominating possession. However they failed to push home their advantage and when the Donegal champions were thrown a lifeline in the final minutes they grabbed it with both hands and brilliantly led by their full-forward Niall Campbell they scored 1-2 in the final five minutes to seal the win.
In an entertaining first half Burt held the upper hand in the early stages as Niall Campbell, Enda McDermott and Stephen Boyle replied to Oran McCann’s early point. Conor McCann and Aiden McKeown pointed to pull their side back on terms.
Campbell twice edged the Donegal men in front with points from frees, but on each occasion Creggan found an answer as Oran and then Conor McCann levelled matters yet again. Right-half forward Johnny Downey put Burt back in front before the same player gave them a firm foothold with a goal from a narrow angle but just before the break Conor McCann struck twice to leave the Antrim champions trailing by just a single point at the end of a great first-half.
After the turnaround Creggan looked much more dangerous and when Conor McCann was put clear in front of goal the Creggan fans must have felt it was going to be their day. However McCann’s first shot was saved by Burt goalkeeper Paul O’Brien and when it broke out to him again on his stronger left side he rifled a shot off the upright on the other side of the goals.
Perhaps this was the first clear sign that it wasn’t going to Creggan’s day but they pulled level with a Matthew Nelson point, and when Burt captain Ardal McDermott received a straight red card soon after wards the advantage appeared to swing in Creggan’s favour.
They couldn’t make it pay however and twice Burt pulled two points clear again with Campbell points from placed balls. Brian Joseph McKeown cut the gap to the minimum when he pointed from close range before Oran McCann hit the score of the day on the run from out on the sideline to draw Creggan level.
When Conor McCann gave them the lead in the fifty eighth minute that Ulster title seemed to be in their grasp, but the scoring dried up dramatically and by the time Conor McCann hit their next score in injury time the game was gone from them as a gritty Burt team battled back to take the title.
BURT – Paul O’Brien, Kevin Glenn, Ciaran Dowd, Conor McLaughlin, Brendan Harrigan, Joe Boyle, Chris McDermott, Enda McDermott, Ardal McDermott (capt), Johnny Downey, Ronan McDermott, Stephen Gillespie, Michael McCann, Niall Campbell, Stephen Boyle.
CREGGAN – Stephen Colgan, Brendan Maguire, Niall Robb (capt), Enda Maguire, Aiden Maguire, Thomas McCann, Martin Johnstone, Sam Maguire, Oliver Duffin, Patrick McAuley, Aiden McKeown, Oran McCann, Brian Joseph Maguire, Conor McCann, Matthew Nelson.
SUBS – James Dougan for BJ Maguire.
REFEREE – Pol O Brannuibh (Down)
