FonaCAB St Pauls Ulster Minor Football Tournament, Final 

Dromintee 1-12-1-8 Clontibret 

Kevin Herron reports from Paric Naomh Pol 

DROMINTEE landed their first ever FonaCAB Ulster Minor success with hard fought 1-12-1-8 win over Clontibret in the decider at Pairc Naomh Pol on Thursday afternoon. 

The Armagh Champions hit 1-08 without reply after falling behind, the crucial score coming in first half injury time when Michael O’Neill bundled to the net after a shot had clipped the large post and fell kindly. 

Man of the match Diarmaid O’Rourke gets past a Clontibret defender

Their goal led a charmed life in the second period until the 50th minute when Shane Byrne’s strike kickstarted a Clontibret fightback that brought them to within three-points in second half added time when O’Neill added to his goal with a point to seal victory, and ensure the trophy would be heading to the Orchard County for the first time in 10-years. 

Both teams were unchanged from their respective semi-final victories either side of Christmas Day. 

It took until the 10th minute for the opening score to arrive and it fell to Clontribret after Charlie Mone laid the ball off on the loop to Darragh Keenan to sweep over. 

Playing the opening half breeze, Dromintee responded immediately through a Ronan Martin point and it kicked off a run of seven unanswered scores bringing them up to the break. 

A dangerous Jarlath O’Neill run was halted by a foul and Diarmaid O’Rourke kicked the Armagh Champions ahead for the first time. 

The lead was extended when Calvin Mooney feigned a shot and then produced a fine score and midway through the opening half, a push on Fionn Toale allowed Diarmaid O’Rourke to convert his second free of the afternoon. 

Calvin Mooney doubled his account and opened up a 0-5-0-1 lead for his side who continued to make use of the elements. 

A Clontibret kick-out was gathered by Jarlath O’Neill to start an attack that ended with Keane McArdle fisting over. 

McArdle doubled his account- though he was all so close to finding the opening goal with his effort after Oisin Byrne slipped the ball into his path and the midfielders goal bound effort was pushed over the bar by a Clontibret full-back Jack Sullivan. 

Dromintee ended the half with the game’s opening goal. After going on one final surge in the 60-seconds added, Ronan Martin let fly with a shot that clipped off the inside of the far post and it landed into the hands of Michael O’Neill to bundle the ball past Conal Thornton to make it 1-7-0-1 at the interval. 

Clontribret almost made an ideal start to the second half when a goal chance opened up for Shane Byrne, only for a magnificent stop from Odhran Carnegie to deny him. 

Instead it was Dromintee who got the scoring underway courtesy of a Diarmaid O’Rourke free, with Daniel Boylan swinging over a reply for his sides first score since the 10th minute. 

10-minutes into the second half Charlie Mone bore down on goal and watched in agony as a fiercely driven shot crashed down off the underside of the bar and team-mate Oliver Kelly’s follow-up shot flashed past the post. 

At the other end a quickly taken Fergus Toale free found free-taker Diarmaid O’Rourke to drop over the game’s first two-pointed score and open up a 1-10-0-2 lead. 

Scores were traded in the aftermath with Mone landing his first of the afternoon after a one-two with Niall Fanthorpe and Ronan Martin clipping over his second score of the game with a quarter of an hour remaining. 

Dromintee thought they had found their second goal of the contest when Fionn Toale’s shot was helped to the net, but referee Sean Hurson disallowed it for a square ball. 

With 10-minutes remaining Clontibret found a lifeline back into the game. Stephen Hamill slipped the ball into the path of Shane Byrne to rifle a bullet of a shot into the top corner and make it 1-11-1-03. 

It kicked off a much needed purple patch with Malachy Treanor bending a high shot inside the uprights and goal scorer Byrne popping over in the aftermath. 

A two-pointer Evan Treanor shot dropped over and just as added time began Darragh Keenan converted a free to make it a score game. 

It was very much a backs to the wall job for Dromintee but the pressure lifted when goal scorer Michael O’Neill shot over the bar to ensure two scores were required in order to force extra time. 

It wasn’t for the want of trying as Clontibret sought a score- though Dromintee held out and upon Sean Hurson’s final whistle the Armagh outfit were able to celebrate their first triumph in the competition- following in the footsteps of Killeavy, Pearse Ogs, Armagh Harps and Crossmaglen and becoming the fifth Armagh side to taste success on the Shaws Road. 

Hollie Donnelly presents te Man of the Match award to Dromintee’s Diarmaid O’Rourke while her dad Aidan looks on

DROMINTEE: J McBennett, J O’Neill, C Dunne, D O’Rourke (0-5, 1×0-2pt, 0-3f), Fergus Toale. T Fox, M O’Neill (1-1), C Laverty, K McArdle (0-2), C Mooney (0-2), Fionn Toale, M Walker, R Martin (0-2), O Carnegie, O Byrne. 

CLONTIBRET: C Thornton, N Fanthorpe, J Sullivan, M McNamee, A Windrum. O Kelly, O Boylan, J Brady, S Hamill, D Boylan (0-1), E Treanor (0-2, 1×0-2pt), S Byrne (1-1), M Treanor (0-1), C Mone (0-1), D Keenan (0-2, 0-1f). 

REFEREE: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)

Dromintee team captain Conor Laverty recieves the Jimmy McConville Cup from Sean Walsh of tournament sponsors fonaCAB while looking on are St Paul’s chairman Mark Carey (left) and county chairman Seamus McMullan

St Paul’s chairman Mark Carey presents a sponsorship cheque to the Saffron Gael after Thursday’s final at Shaw’s Road.

TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

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TO SEE MORE OF BERT’S PICS FROM THE HALF TIME GAMES AT ST PAUL’S CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

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Paddy has added his New Year’s Day album at St. Paul’s. Click on the link below

https://myalbum.com/album/boMkUgDvnXkMHS

St. Paul’s/fonaCAB Ulster Minor Club Final

Dromintee (Armagh) v Clontibret (Monaghan)

Shaw’s Road Thursday 1.00pm

The New Year’s Day St. Paul’s/fonaCAB Ulster Minor Club football final has all the ingredients of a classic as the champions of Armagh, Dromintee take on their Monaghan counterparts, Clontibret.

Both sides have impressed on their way to Thursday’s decider with Clontibret producing a strong second half comeback to overcome the challenge of Bredagh in their semi-final while Dromintee came from behind to edge out a fancied Dungiven a week later to book their place in the New Year’s Day decider.

Clontibret looked in deep trouble against Bredagh in the first semi-final and conceded 3-2 in a five-minute period in the first half, but staged a strong comeback to overturn the Bredagh lead.

 Midway through the first half, Tiernan Conway shot home and gave Bredagh the lead for the first time and it coincided with a five minute period of dominance where two further goals from Jack McConville had their side in front at the break. 

However, the Belfast side went over 30-minutes without a score and Clontibret pressed on after hitting the front midway through the second half as they booked their return to the Shaw’s Road on New Year’s Day

It will have been a matter of concern for the Clontibret management that their defence was so easily pierced in the opening half but they seemed to have resolved that problem after the break and produced an exhibition of point taking that was mighty impressive. 

The Monaghan champions hit 0-21 over the hour as an early Shane Byrne angled score had Clontibret on the front foot after the restart with Darragh Keenan adding a further point 60-seconds later. 

The bare minimum separated the sides following a floated Oliver Kelly point and by the 42nd minute the Monaghan men were back on terms after Keenan’s long range attempt dropped short and Jack Brady fisted over the equaliser.

Clontibret hit the front for the first time since the 15th minute midway through the second half after Charlie Mone switched the play to Evan Treanor to pop over. 

Treanor brought his tally to three for the afternoon and having already hit six-unanswered points, Darragh Keenan fisted over from close range. Mone and Treanor clipped over and Daniel Boylan split the posts in the 57th minute as Clontibret pushed on to win by four.

Armagh champions, Dromintee booked their place in the final with a 1-13-1-10 comeback win over 2022 champions St Canice’s Dungiven on St Stephen’s Day. 

Dungiven started this one as slight favourites having taken out reigning champions, Four Masters in the quarter final and  Paddy Higgins 23rd minute goal helped the Derry side to a 1-6-0-5 lead at the break, but after extending their half time advantage within the first ten minutes of the second half, they then went 22-minutes without a score. 

In the intervening period Dromintee hit 1-5 without reply, Michael O’Neill’s scuffed shot finding the net in the 48th minute to draw his side level for the first time since the 12th minute. 

The Armagh natives three-point lead was whittled down to a point after back-to-back Padraig Hagan frees in added time, but late points from Oisin Byrne and Calvin Mooney booked their sides place in the final.

Fionn Toale, Oisin Byrne, Calvin Mooney and Daniel Martin carry a serious scoring threat for Dromintee with Byrne one in particular to watch despite only scoring a point in the semi-final

Dromintee, on the semi-final evidence, look stronger in defence than Thursday’s opponents with Dunne a solid full-back and O’Rourke, O’Neill and Toale strong defenders who add a serious scoring threat.

Charlie Mone, David Boylan, Evean Treanor, Shane Byrne have the scoring prowess to trouble Dromintee and if the Monaghan side’s defence can tighten up from the start then there is unlikely to be much between the sides but a tentative vote goes the way of the Armagh side.