Under 17 A Championship Final
Irvinestown 1-13
Newtownbutler 2-06
As the St Molaise supporters rushed on to Canon Maguire Park as the full-time whistle sounded, decked out in their green and white attire and flying their Irvinestown flags, it was clear just how much the championship final meant to the club.
From start to finish, Irvinestown were the dominant side and with 15 minutes on the clock, the St Molaise men had opened up a 1-05 to 0-02 lead.
In the early stages, both sides traded scores with Mattie McDermott opening the scoring with a well taken shot on the right foot and Newtownbutler hit two scores in succession through Keelan Fitzpatrick, who pointed from play and a free.
Those two points were as good as it got for Newtownbutler in the first quarter and they were left to rue a number of missed chances as Irvinestown rattled off the scores. Conor O’Hanlon and Mattie McDermott hit two points apiece and the breakthrough score came in the final move of the quarter when McDermott hit the back of the Newtownbutler net.
After a good spell of possession in the middle, the ball travelled through the hands of O’Hanlon, Maye and Hughes and a long ball cut through the Newtownbutler defence for Mattie McDermott to slot the ball past the goalkeeper and into the back of the First Fermanagh’s net. The Newtownbutler sideline called for a push in the back and a foul on their defender but their calls were waved away by referee John Murphy and the lead stood at 1-05 to 0-02 in favour of Irvinestown.
Despite conceding the goal, Newtownbutler did manage to get themselves back into the game following the restart and Irvinestown found their lead pegged back to just three points at the break.
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