St. Paul’s-fonaCAB Ulster club tournament final
Erin’s Own Lavey (Derry) v Termon (Donegal)
New Year’s Day 1-00pm
The meeting of Erin’s Own Lavey and Termon in the final of the St. Paul’s-fonaCAB tournament on Wednesday looks an intriguing encounter and one that should bring a big crowd to Shaw’s Road as the champions of Derry and Donegal meet to decide who will become Ulster minor club champions.
Strong arguments could be made for both of these sides and before last week’s semi-finals I fancied Termon to go on and win the tournament and at half time against Down champions Kilcoo I was feeling a bit smug about my prediction when the Tir Connaill side led 2-2 to 0-2 and were looking comfortable.
Kilcoo staged a strong second half comeback however with Termon only able to add two points to their first half total. Kilcoo finished the game strongly, pinning Termon back in their own half and a 47th minute goal from Jason Morgan saw the Down side back in contention.
Johnston converted a free in the aftermath and added his third with 3 minutes remaining to make it a two-point game approaching the dying embers at the Shaw’s Road (2-04-1-05).
Johnston added a further free four minutes into added time and the Down side could have clinched extra-time but Jamie McKee shot inches wide of the post with the last kick of the game.
Lavey had a much easier passage into Wednesday’s final when they defeated Enniskillen Gaels with Matthew Downey converting six frees in a comfortable 0-11 to 0-5 win over the Fermanagh champions. Matthew Downey kicked three successive placed balls to bring his first-half tally to 0-04 and give his side a 0-07-0-01 half-time lead.
Lavey and Downey picked up where they left off before the break as he cut inside and popped the ball over for his first score from play and the Gulladuff side went on to run out winners by six points but over the hour their shoot on site policy didn’t produce the total that their overall play deserved.
The strength of any side is the sum of its parts and Termon’s success to date has been based on possession football with slow deliberate build ups with a lot of players behind the ball followed by decisive breaks forward when the opportunity arises.
They are a strong side with Emmet Maguire in goals, Jamie Grant, Marty Steele and Conor McFadden strong in defence with Grant prepared to break forward if the opportunity arises. At mid-field Ryan McFadden is their go to man and much of the play revolves around him and he has a strong partner in Jason Alcorn.
Against Kilcoo twins, Stephen and Conor Black were sprung from the bench early in the game, both making telling contributions and I’d be surprised if both don’t start against Lavey while Bobbie McGettigan and Steve McDaid are other useful performers in a big mobile Termon side.
Lavey play a similar but more expansive game than Wednesday’s opponents and will go into this fonaCAB final in confident mood and certainly look to have the fire power to trouble Termon and their mentors, Michael Hasson, Brian Scullion and Seamus Scullion will surely have addressed the number of wides they kicked against Enniskillen Gaels.
Jack Scullion looks a confident keeper and Shea O’Neill, Ryan Farell and Ryan Magill all impressed in a strong defence. Cormac Collins and Jamie Duggan form a strong mid-field partnership while the Downey clan, Matthew, Enda and Calum with the McGurks form a potentially lethal attack.
Prior to half time against Kilcoo my money was on Termon to go all the way but if they sit back as they did against Kilcoo in the second half of that semi-final then Lavey have the mobility and fire power to win the day and bring another Ulster Minor club title to the Oak Leaf county.
