Kilcoo make history with seven county titles in a row

Pairc Esler turned black and white this Sunday evening when the final whistle blew, as the young Kilcoo supporters swarmed onto the field to celebrate their heroes seventh Down Senior Football Championship title in a row.

Burren stopped the Magpies in 2018 the last time they were aiming to make history as the first Down club ever to achieve that mighty feat, but Martin Corey's men did it this time with a six-point victory over Carryduff.

It hasn't been an easy championship run for Kilcoo, with tough games against Loughinisland and then Clonduff in the semi-final – the Yellas a kick of the ball away from the final – but they were worthy winners against a Carryduff side who battled bravely until the end, but leaving no doubt that Kilcoo are still the kingpins of Down.

It was a fairly close first half but while the Belfast side drew level midway through, a converted a penalty scored by Man-of-the Match Paul Devlin gave his side a 1-6 to 0-5 lead at the break.

With their tails up, Kilcoo upped their game in the second half and led by 10 points at one stage, but Carryduff had more in the tank and came right back at them with a goal of their own and a few good scores including a two-pointer to narrow the defecit to four.

Kilcoo showed no signs of panic however and helped by a few misses from their opponents, they scored two more points to seal a solid victory in the end.

There was doubt as to whether or not the final would be played at all on Sunday because of the heavy rain, but it was decided at lunchtime to play it later with brighter skies promised.

That turned out to be a good call, as the rain tailed off and while the ground was still slick, it didn't seem to have too much impact on the game.

And certainly not on the reigning champions who raced into a three-point lead with scores from Darryl and Aaron Branagan and Anthony Morgan.

Carryduff responded through brothers James and Daniel Guinness and then Pearse McCabe levelled with 19 minutes on the clock.

Kilcoo wiped out those scores however, when they were awarded a penalty during a goalmouth scramble where Owen McCabe was penalised for a throw-ball. Paul Devlin stepped up and drilled into the roof of the net. Shealan Johnston tagged on a point from a tight angle to give the Magpies a 1-4 to 0-3 lead and while James Guinness narrowed the deficit with the first two-pointer of the game as half-time approached, Kilcoo goalkeeper Niall Kane responded raising an orange flag from a free outside the arc, to leave four between the teams with Kilcoo leading 1-6 to 0-5 at the break.

Devlin scored the first point after the restart but Odhran Sherry replied in kind. The Magpies machine kicked into gear after that however, hitting seven of the next eight points via Jerome Johnston, Aaron Branagan (two), Devlin with two more – the second from an impossible looking angle, Ryan Johnston and another from his brother Jerome from just inside the arc, to lead 1-14 to 0-7.

Carryduff battled back with a point from Joe McFlynn who was just on as a sub and another from Michael McGrath but a roar went up from their supporters in Pairc Esler when a lovely overhead kick by John McGeough, landed at the feet of Eoin Donnelly by the left hand post and he planted the ball in the net. McGeough then nailed a two-point free to make it 1-15 to 1-11, but time was running out for Carryduff and Kilcoo finished the job with the last two scores of the game from Sean Og McCusker and Ryan Johnston for a 1-17 to 1-11 victory – and it was plain for all to see just how much this one meant to the entire village who came to Newry hoping for this historic win.

MATCH STATS

Kilcoo: N Kane (0-2, 1tpf); A Branagan (0-3), R McEvoy, N Branagan; M Rooney, D Branagan (0-2), C Rogers; Aaron Morgan, Anthony Morgan (0-1); C Doherty, R Johnston (0-2), S Johnston (0-1); P Devlin (1-3), E Branagan J Johnston (0-2)

Subs: J Devlin for E Branagan (35), S Og McCusker (0-01) for J Johnston (50), C Laverty for P Devlin (58), C Rooney for S Johnston (60+1)

Carryduff: R Lavery; L Toal, C Cassidy, O Sherry (0-1); M McGrath (0-1), D Guinness (0-1), P McCabe (0-1); E Donnelly (1-0), T McCarroll; G Henderson, J Guinness (0-3, 1tp), D McCabe; J Tunney, R Beatty, J McGeough (0-3, 1tpf)

Subs: C Clinton for Tunney (38), J McFlynn (0-1) for McCabe (42), L Blaney for McGrath (48), S McGonigle for McCabe (52), R Elliot for Sherry (57)

Referee: Colum Gribben (Glassdrumman)