Inter-county star Conor McCluskey captains Magherafelt to glory

There were remarkable scenes at the final whistle of Sunday evening’s O’Neills Derry Senior Football Championship final, as a sea of red flooded Fibrus Celtic Park after O’Donovan Rossa Magherafelt ended a seven-year wait for the John McLaughlin Cup with a hard-fought 3-17 to 0-20 victory over back-to-back champions Newbridge.

Since their one-point victory over Glen in the 2019 final, Magherafelt had fallen short in three subsequent deciders, suffering defeats to Slaughtneil a year later, Glen in 2022 and Newbridge last season.

This time, however, there was to be no repeat of those disappointments, as Magherafelt exacted sweet revenge on Sean O’Leary’s three-in-a-row hopefuls to secure an eighth Derry senior crown and book their place in the provincial quarter-finals in a fortnight’s time.

Speaking after etching his name onto the John McLaughlin Cup, Magherafelt captain and inter-county star Conor McCluskey admitted that the pain of coming up short in previous years had helped drive his side over the finish line.

“It’s been a long seven years. We’ve been back here in the final three times, and we never managed to get over the line. It does hurt; it really does, but it makes days like today that little bit extra special. Newbridge are back-to-back champions for a reason. They are a seriously accomplished side; they’re real dogged and hard to put away, and that showed in how they kept chipping away at us.”

“I was in tears at the end of it, meeting boys who aren’t playing anymore. You can just see what this means to everyone. It means everything to the club. I’m so proud to be from Magherafelt. This is my town, my home. The sea of red that you see here today. I love being from here, and I can’t wait to bring the McLaughlin Cup home.”

Playing into the breeze, it initially looked as though Newbridge were in control of proceedings, leading 0-7 to 0-4 with seven minutes remaining in the first half. However, Magherafelt suddenly clicked into gear, producing a devastating scoring burst that saw them register 1-10 without reply and establish a commanding 1-16 to 0-7 lead within six minutes of the restart.

As great champions so often do, though, Newbridge roared back into contention, cutting the deficit to a goal with five minutes remaining. O’Donovan Rossa responded at the crucial moment, with a superb Aidan McCloskey goal halting the comeback and allowing Magherafelt to reassert their grip on the contest before eventually running out six-point winners.

Before throw-in, manager Enda Muldoon had highlighted the ferocious intensity with which Newbridge tend to start games, identifying the opening 10 minutes of each half as a crucial period. That pattern was reflected on the scoreboard, with Magherafelt restricting their opponents to just two points during the opening stages of the first half before outscoring them by 1-4 to 0-1 during the corresponding period after the restart.

Reflecting on his side’s tactical approach, Muldoon explained how they had prepared specifically for Newbridge’s explosive starts.

“Some of the stats that we spoke about before today were Newbridge’s intensity in the opening 10 minutes of both halves. You’ve seen it right throughout the year. In those periods of the game, they have managed to just blow teams away, and that’s what has really set them apart.”

“We had that well highlighted, and we were really aware of it coming in today. We had to make sure that our intensity was at the right level for the start of both halves, because that is where they have killed teams. Thankfully, we managed to win a few big kick-outs at the right times while they were starting to get on top of us, and that was our kryptonite last year. That was just enough to help us get over the line today.”