An emphatic first-half rout by St Conor’s Kilrea/Clady blew Magh Ene Bundoran away on Tuesday Danske Bank Gerry Brown Cup final.
The East Derry side, that was created just four months ago from the amalgamation of St Paul’s Kilrea and St Mary’s Clady, secured its first trophy.
Six well-constructed goals by led to a half-time score of 6-3 to 0-3, but that didn’t reflect the overall pattern of play.
However, those goals, five of which came in the 11 minutes before the break, really settled the destination of the Cup.
After 10 minutes, Eoin Mullan struck for the first goal of the game, but St Conor’s were just 1-3 to 0-1 ahead after 17 minutes. Then everything changed.
Oisin Casey started the blitz with his goal in the 19th minute, Sedgae Melaugh added two more, Casey converted a penalty and Tommy Rodgers hit the sixth goal, while Joe McGloin tried to lift Bundoran slightly with two points right on half-time, but the game was up at that stage.
Segdae Melaugh completed his hat-trick ten minutes from time with Magh Ene’s battling qualities rewarded with a late goal for their best player, Matthew San Pedro.
In the second half, the pace of Ciaran McAleese was proving a huge problem for Bundoran and the half-forwards and midfielders coming through in support benefited from those runs.
St Conor’s: O Johnston, Cathair Kearney, S McAteer, O O’Neill, Conor Kearney, A Bradley, E Kelly, S Melaugh (3-1), E Mullan (1-0), T Rodgers (1-1), O Casey (2-2), C O’Neill, R McCormick, C McAleese (0-1), J-P Hasson
Magh Ene: R Wiggs, D Kerins, C Clancy, M Tierney, L Clancy, A Gallagher (0-1), E Gallagher, R Barrett (0-1), S McNiece, Jack Warnock, R McGloin (0-1), L Smyth, B Higgins, J McGloin (0-3), M San Pedro (1-0)
Subs: Jayden Warnock for L Clancy, S Kerins for L Smyth, K McMahon for R Wiggs, D McGloin for D Kerins, M Gallagher for B Higgins.
Referee: Alan Nash (Derry)
