Slaughtneil 1-10 Omagh 1-9
Slaughtneil have wrapped up the perfect season by winning a first Ulster club football title – neatly dispatching Omagh at the Armagh Athletic Grounds.
In front of a bumper attendance of 9,230, the Derry champions played a high-tempo and ambitious game throughout, and were rewarded for their efforts and persistence with a one-point victory at the death in what proved a surprisingly entertaining game – at least by Ulster club standards.
Chris Bradley hit the late winner for Slaughtneil, recently crowned football and hurling champions in Derry, and with that finally seeing off the Tyrone champions.
Omagh had already taken out perennial Ulster favourites Crossmaglen, plus Donegal champions St Eunan’s, and despite a high-tempo game of their own fell just short of the line.
Slaughtneil get off to the perfect start when, after 60 seconds, Cormac O’Doherty caught a high ball over Hugh Gallagher, the Omagh captain, then finished it off with a confidently struck goal.
Conor O’Donnell got a point back for Omagh, moments later, although Slaughtneil maintained their good start with a point from Gerald Bradley.
Soon, however, Omagh’s dominance in possession began to bear fruit: the Slaughtneil defence – built on the McKaigue brothers Karl and Chrissy – were under constant pressure, Joe McMahon leading many of the charges from midfield, picking off a first-half point in the process.
Aaron Grugan hit another excellent point, before Gallagher chipped in from corner back with a sweetly struck point. Then, just before half-time, Conan Grugan made a beautifully insightful run from midfield, then passed off to centre back Barry Tierney, who picked his spot in the top left corner with was arguably the best goal of the Ulster club championship. That left it 1-5 to 1-2 for the Tyrone champions, at half-time, in no way flattering.
However Slaughtneil did raise their game early in the second half, points from Barry McGuigan, O’Doherty and then Ronan Bradley suddenly putting Omagh under fresh pressure.
Then, 39 minutes in, Ronan O’Neill scored the first free of the game, followed by a point from Cormac O’Neill, giving Omagh a little more breathing space, at 1-8 to 1-5.
Again, Slaughneil weren’t done yet, with Patsy Bradley leading the way at midfield: a free from Paul Bradley, then points from Chris Bradley and Cormac O’Doherty, levelling the sides up again, on 48 minutes. There was no stopping them now, and a third point for Chris Bradley suddenly put the Derry champions in front again.
Omagh, under severe pressure, finally got back on the scoreboard with another free from O’Neill, levelling it again, with four minutes left to play. But up stepped Bradley for the winner, his fourth from play, with 62 minutes on the clock – with what was one of the last plays of the game.
So, Slaughtneil now march on to play Kerry and now Munster champions Austin Stacks, that All-Ireland semi-final fixed for next February, the prize there being a date in Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day, 2015.
Mickey Moran has probably been through more managerial roles that he cares to remember, although guiding Slaughtneil to their first ever Ulster club football title is one he won’t easily forget, and for a couple of reasons.
It was certainly a proud moment if not a slightly mixed emotional one for the Derry man, who stood quietly on the sideline throughout, despite the hectic pace of the game and even more hectic finish. Moran had previously managed Omagh to the last county title, in Tyrone, in 1988.
Indeed Moran declined interview requests afterwards, preferring his players did the talking for the club. “Mickey doesn’t even talk much in the changing room,” explained corner forward Gerald Bradley.
“He’s from a neighbouring club, the Glen, but he is an honest man. He came in with us, sat us down and gave us a game plan to use this year and every man bought into it.
“No words can explain what a legend he is. He deserves more credit than he actually gets. After we won the county final, our first in ten years, he was away collecting the balls, and away from the celebrations. That’s the man he is. It’s the same here. He’s nowhere to be seen. He does his job and goes away.”
Bradley was one of the several Slaughtneil players who demonstrated their will their win, even when Omagh looked to be in a winning position: “We know how to come back. There is also hurt in our team, as Mickey Moran always talks about. It’s about hard work and honesty and it came through for us in the end.
“We noticed in the first-half that they were running at us and we were more lateral across the pitch, we decided to let’s just push up the pitch, go man to man and run at them. If you run at any team you can beat them. Mickey is a smart man, he tells us what to do at half-time every time what to do and that was exactly what happened, and now we’re Ulster champions.
Joe McMahon summed up Omagh’s deep disappointment, admitting Slaughtneil took more of their chances, but pointing towards one incident in the second half which he felt went against them.
“We could maybe look back to the Jason McAnulla incident when he was going through and he got a push in the back and I think everyone in the ground saw it bar the referee,” said McMahon. “Maybe we could feel aggrieved at that. It could have been a big turning point with Jason through for a goal or a point that might have made a difference but we are not going to get hung up on decisions like that. Credit to Slaughtneil, you can’t take it away from them, they worked hard fair play to them.”
SLAUGHTNEIL: A McMullan; C Cassidy, K McKaigue, B Rodgers; F McEldowney (capt), C McKaigue, B McGuigan; P Bradley, P McGuigan; P Kelly, C Bradley (0-4), R Bradley (0-1); G Bradley (0-1), P Bradley (0-1, a free), C O'Doherty (1-3).
Subs: P Cassidy for Kelly (40 mins), P McNeill for Rodgers (43 mins), S McGuigan for R Bradley (47 mins).
OMAGH: R Clarke; H Gallagher (capt) (0-1), Justin McMahon, S Mullen; C McLaughlin, B Tierney (1-1), C McMahon; Joe McMahon (0-1), C Grugan; A Grugan (0-1), J McAnulla, C O'Neill (0-1); C O'Donnell (0-2), R O'Neill (0-2, two frees), C Meyler.
Subs: J Colton for O'Donnell (50 mins), C Clarke for O'Neill (24 mins), D Kerr for McLaughlin (60 mins).
