Steelstown Brian Ogs shine against Glenullin as championship sparring gets underway

Steelstown Brian Ogs 2-16, Glenullin 0-08

As far as championship statements go, this was as emphatic as it gets from Steelstown Brian Ogs.

Billed as a clash of the Group A favourites, O'Cahan Park witnessed more mismatch than championship marker after a game the Brian Ogs should have won even more comfortably than their eventual 14 point margin of victory. From the moment Ben McCarron burst through to split the Glenullin posts only 10 seconds after throw-in, this was one way traffic against a strangely out of sorts Glenullin.

Even the sight of Eoin Bradley coming off the Mitchel's bench failed to rouse a response and while it remains early days in terms of trophies, this was a worrying display for Glenullin.

Much of that though was down to a Steelstown performance that had a touch of everything - pace, power and panache, but no one will be getting ahead of themselves in Pairc Bhrid. Steelstown have been here before and know full well the pain of unfulfilled promise. The real test will be whether they can reproduce this type of display in the heat of the knock-out games. If they can, we have real contenders.

Eamon Gibson is developing a panel with plenty of depth, bolstered by young players graduating from a succession of successful underage teams. Crucially, the Brian Ogs have found themselves a spread of scorers with attacking threat arriving from various corners. Ben McCarron tends to fill the marquee forward slot that the media fixate on but Eoghan Bradley, Gareth Logue, Mark Foley and Cahir McMonagle are no longer simply a supporting act, they all vying for centre stage and that's before you consider the likes of Mickey McKinney, on the bench for this one, and Stephen Cleary who unfortunately hobbled off during the reserve game.

Then there was Rory Maguire. Sprung from the bench after the unlucky Bradley picked up ankle injury 10 minutes in, the young substitute staked his claim with 1-03 in a superb display that probably should have brought him a hat-trick. Like his team, Maguire's challenge is now one of consistency because this result will have teams sitting up and taking notice of the city men, even if this remains the sparring before the real fight begins after the groups.

McCarron had the Brian Ogs 0-3 to no score up after six minutes with Jacob Duffy tagging on another before Dermot O'Kane registered Glenullin's first of the day on 13 minutes, but it was an uncharacteristic off-day for the Mitchels free taker who was unusually wasteful from placed balls.

The match may have taken a different turn had Marty Dunne not produced a superb point blank save on to the crossbar from Paul Rafferty's first time shot 10 minutes in and when Gerard O'Kane slotted over Glenullin's second of the day to halve the deficit, it looked like the Mitchel's had steadied the ship but it proved only the eye of the Steelstown storm.

Mark Foley and Donal O'Kane swapped points for 0-5 to 0-3 before Gibson's team found another gear thanks to a goal from the excellent Gareth Logue. Logue's finish was superb, firing low into the corner after a brilliantly timed late run to the back post that was picked out by an equally superb pass from Shane O'Connor, marauding up from the back.

O'Kane responded with a free but Glenullin were increasingly struggling to contain Steelstown's runners from deep as highlighted by Ryan Devine's unchallenged solo effort.

That was good, but better was to follow as Duffy this time turned provider to find Maguire on another late run from deep. Again, the Steelstown player was afforded far too much space and he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity as he soloed through to finish in fine style.

Fearghal Close's late point stemmed the flow slightly for Glenullin but the 2-06 to 0-5 scoreline didn't flatter the Brian Ogs.

Eoin Bradley's introduction at the break was designed to galvanise the Mitchel's but the former Derry man was starved of any meaningful service and struggled to make an impact against a well drilled defence. Indeed, the only thing doubtful in the second half was the margin of Steelstown victory with Eunan O'Kane's last ditch diving block superbly denying Foley a third Steelstown goal.

Maguire had another gilt edged chance to grab a goal when he was sent clear only to see his fierce shot ricochet over the bar off the crossbar.

Those chances mattered little though as McCarron, Foley, Maguire and McDaid all added to their personal tallies with Mickey McKinney also getting among the scorers.

For all the plaudits, Eamon Gibson has been around too long, and felt championship pain too often, to be fooled by any scoreline in a group game. There is still plenty of 'cat and mouse' being played but they can take confidence from this. It shows, despite the truncated season, they are well prepared and have the potential to go far but the real hard work is about fulfilling that potential.

Similarly for Glenullin, this defeat wasn't terminal. The worry though is the manner of the defeat suggests they may have more ground to make up than they thought.

Steelstown scorers: Rory Maguire (1-3), Gareth Logue (1-0), Ben McCarron (0-5, 3f), Jacob Duffy (0-1), Mark Foley (0-2, 1 forty-five), Ryan Devine (0-1), Darren McDaid (0-1), Cahir McMonagle (0-2), Mickey McKinney (0-1)

Glenullin scorers: Dermot O'Kane (0-3, 2f), Eoin Bradley (0-2, 2f), Gerard O'Kane (0-1), Donal O'Kane (0-1), Conor Rafferty (0-1)

Steelstown Brian Ogs: Marty Dunne: Kevin Lindsay, Shane O'Connor, Ryan McCloskey, Cormac Mooney, Neil Forester, Eoghan Concannon, Darren McDaid, Ryan Devine, Oran McMenamin, Eoghan Bradley, Gareth Logue, Jacob Duffy, Mark Foley, Ben McCarron.

(Subs) Rory Maguire for E Bradley (inj), 10mins; Cahir McMonagle for J Duffy, 39mins; Mickey McKinney for M Foley, 42mins; Jason McAleer for C Mooney, 45mins; Morgan Murray for G Logue, 56mins;

Glenullin: Michael Og McKeown, Christopher Bradley, Eunan O'Kane, Gerard O'Kane, Niall O'Kane, Daniel O'Kane, Paul Rafferty, Conor Rafferty, Traglach Bradley, Fearghal Close, Caolan McNeill, Cathal Hasson, Dermot O'Kane, Brian Mullan, Donal O'Kane.

(Subs) Eoin Bradley for F Close, HT; Chrissy Dempsey for C Hasson, HT; Conor Mullan for G O'Kane, HT.

Referee: Alan Nash (D Trasna)