Kevin Lynch's hold off Na Magha to win thrilling Minor B Championship final

Kevin Lynch’s 2-17, Na Magha 4-10

The fantastic facilities at Fr. McNally Park, Banagher were the setting for a thrilling game of hurling as Kevin Lynch’s and Na Magha’s final went right to the wire, with the Dungiven side pulling through with the minimum to spare at the end.

In truth this was a game which either team could have won and it looked at the end as though extra time was waiting before an injury time free from Darragh McGilligan put Lynch’s on their way to the Minor ‘B’ title.

The Dungiven men starting quickly, racing into a 1-02 to no score lead on 10 minutes after Cealan O’Neill read a long ball into the corner over the defender’s head to go straight through and strike low into the corner.

It should have been closer as Na Magha shot three wides in succession which would have kept them in touch as the first half water break approached. Na Magha continued to pile on the pressure as the game flowed from end to end and with Kevin Lynch’s creating plenty of space in the last third of the pitch, this was creating problems for Na Magha on the counter attack.

Na Magha’s pressure was rewarded with a goal from the excellent Keelan Doherty which was followed immediately by a pointed free from Padhraig Nelis but another pointed free from McGilligan for Lynch’s left it 1-04 to 1-01 in favour of the Dungiven club at the first water break.

Any hope of a Na Magha revival seemed to be fading as Lynch’s continued to tag on points both from play and set pieces, building a 1-07 to 1-01 advantage by the 24th minute before Keelan Doherty scored his second goal after some good link play further out the pitch with the lively Ruardhaí McLaughlin.

Na Magha finished the half very strongly whilst significantly reducing space at the back to bring the game back to a draw at half time on a scoreline of 2-04 to 1-07. One of those first half scores came from the stick of Aidan Meehan after his well stuck penalty rose only inches over the bar for a point.

The second half saw a big increase in intensity from both teams, characterised by some excellent hooking and blocking but the impressive defensive play wasn’t enough to stop Tom Martin scoring another goal for Na Magha before Doherty scored a sublime goal to seal his hat-trick.

Kevin Lynches scored from two placed balls to draw level with a minute to go at 4-10 2-16 before Na Magha then produced another chance to seal the game as Doherty again beat the last line of defence only to see his shot heroically saved on the line by very steady Niall McGonigle after a deft hook from the Karl McGilligan did enough to weaken the incoming shot.

From the resultant save, the ball was delivered long to the right wing where Lynch’s were awarded a free which was converted by Darragh McGilligan, excellent throughout from dead balls, to secure the title after a titanic struggle between two teams with big potential.

Kevin Lynch’s scorers: D McGilligan (0-8, 8f), C O’Neill (1-02), T Devlin (1-0), C McElhinney (0-02), S Millar (0-2), O McKeever (0-01), M McGilligan (0-01), S Harkin (0-01).

Na Magha scorers: K Doherty (3-01), T Martin (1-00), P Nelis (0-6, 1 ‘65, 2f), A Meehan (0-01), A Rankin (0-01), R McLaughlin (0-01).

Kevin Lynch’s; N McGonigle, B Brolly, K McGilligan, PJ McVeigh, P Brown, T O’Neill, O McAteer, D McGilligan, C McElhinney, O McKeever, S Harkin, T Devlin, C O’Neill, M McGilligan, S McLaughlin Subs: S McElhinney, S Millar, S Quinn.

Na Magha; O Duddy, D Doherty, A Rankin, E McCloskey, O O’Kane, A Meehan, C Crossan, A Campbell, A Cutliffe, M Moore, P Nelis, A Breslin, K Doherty, T Martin, R McLaughlin. Subs not used: O Caulfield, R McAdams, O Canning, T McElhinney, E Moore, O Clenaghan, R Crossan, C McNicholl, R Donnelly.