Desertmartin banish final ghosts to claim historic first Derry Intermediate title

Desertmartin made history on Sunday afternoon as they finally landed their first-ever Premier Electrics Derry Intermediate Football Championship title, having suffered defeat in five previous finals at this level with a 0-17 to 1-11 victory over Greenlough at Find Insurance Celtic Park.

Their last final appearance came in 2002, when manager Sean Brady was part of the Ballymacguigan side that broke the Yellas hearts after a replay victory over the St Martin’s men. This time around, however, there was to be no repeat, with Ryan McEldowney the hero on the day, finishing with an impressive haul of 0-7.

Greenlough will be bitterly disappointed with their slow start, particularly having played with the aid of a gale-force breeze at Celtic Park on Sunday. The St Oliver Plunkett’s men failed to register their first score until the twentieth minute. However, they roared back into contention, outscoring Desertmartin by 1-11 to 0-8 over the remaining forty minutes. Ultimately, however, it was not enough, as the St Martin’s men held on to claim a famous breakthrough crown.

Desertmartin made the perfect start, racing into a four-point lead with the wind at their backs and McEldowney central to their early dominance. The forward opened the scoring in the third minute before Ryan Henry added a point soon afterwards to settle the St Martin’s men into the contest.

McEldowney then landed a further brace, including a well-taken effort from play in the seventh minute, to push Desertmartin four points clear as Greenlough struggled to gain a foothold.

That almost changed in the thirteenth minute when Niall Loughlin split the Desertmartin defence before laying the ball off to Conor Mullan. However, the Greenlough full-forward rattled his effort off the crossbar, leaving the Oliver Plunkett’s men still waiting for their opening score.

At the other end, sharpshooter Lachlan Murray showed his class with a superb effort from play before Luke Grant finally got the four-time intermediate champions off the mark in the twentieth minute, making it 0-5 to 0-1.

Joe Connery and McEldowney added further scores in the closing stages of the half, but the contest was thrown wide open on the stroke of half-time. Desertmartin coughed up possession, allowing Conor Mullan to drive towards goal. Gerard Fullen made a good save, but Brian McCallion reacted quickest to stroke the rebound into the net, cutting the gap to a single score at the interval, with Desertmartin leading 0-7 to 1-1.

After the restart, Seoirse Lagan and Niall Mackle cancelled out a brace from Connery, only for Murray to land an inspirational two-pointer in the 42nd minute to push Desertmartin into a 0-11 to 1-3 advantage. Lagan and Loughlin added further scores to reduce the deficit to a goal, but once again the St Martin’s men stemmed the Greenlough momentum, this time through a Conor Murtagh point.

Jude Moore and Luke Grant then added a point apiece to cut the gap to two, but McEldowney delivered another crucial blow 11 minutes from time, landing a glorious two-pointer to halt the Greenlough surge. Loughlin and Eunan MacElhennon traded scores in the closing minutes, as did Loughlin and Murray in a frantic finish.

Loughlin and Stephen Bradley cut the deficit to two points as the clock ticked into injury time. With the last shot of the game, Loughlin went for a two-pointer into the breeze, but his effort dropped short and into the grateful gloves of Fullen.

From the resulting play, McEldowney drove forward and chipped over the insurance point to finally seal Desertmartin’s historic triumph. After five previous final defeats, the St Martin’s men had finally crossed the finish line, securing a long-awaited first intermediate crown. They will now go on to represent Derry in the Ulster Intermediate Football Championship, where they will face the Monaghan champions.

Greenlough: Brian Henry; Jude Moore, Conal McErlean, Paul Quinn; Luke Grant, Christopher Kearney, Caomhan McNally; Brian McCallion, Niall Loughlin; Gabriel Moore, Shea Birt, Cillian Moore; Niall Mackle, Conor Mullan, Seoirse Lagan.

Scorers: Niall Loughlin 0-4 (2f), Brian McCallion 1-0, Luke Grant 0-2, Seoirse Lagan 0-2, Niall Mackle 0-1, Jude Moore 0-1, Stephen Bradley 0-1.

Desertmartin: Gerard Fullen; Conor Martin, Dylan Ormsby, Dermot Breen; Lorcan Bradley, Conor Sheils, Paul McGovern; Marty Breen, Ryan McEldowney; Eunan McElhennon, Ryan Henry, Conor Murtagh; Joe Connery, Lachlan Murray, Rory O’Hagan.

Scorers: Ryan McEldowney 0-7 (1 2p), Lachlan Murray 0-4 (1 2p), Joe Connery 0-3 3f, Conor Murtagh 0-1, Eunan McElhennon 0-1, Ryan Henry 0-1.

Referee: Thomas Devlin.