Urris capture U-16 B crown after penalty shootout

Urris won the U-16 B county final on Sunday night in Convoy in the most dramatic fashion with 80 minutes of football failing to separate them and Termon before the Inishowen club took the title via a penalty shootout.  

The men from the Burn Road asked questions the whole way and deserve huge credit for their never-say-die attitude, with them coming from seven points behind at one stage to take the game all the way to penalties, with them also snatching the county tile along the way.  

But Urris held out, with six different scorers and a solid defense proving key to their title success in Convoy following a 2-15 to 4-9 victory.  

Urris were the far stronger team from the off, landing the opening three scores in the first 10 minutes with Adam Doherty firing over from distance in the opening play after his side won the throw-in and charged down the field.   

Half-back Joe Doherty nailed over from a free moments later as Urris looked the much more comfortable and controlled team on the ball.   

That was highlighted on the seventh minute when the boys in red raised a green flag after full-back Dylan Doherty won his side’s kickout, sprinted down the length of the field before kicking into the Termon box where he found Danny Óg Cooney inside who punched home with total ease and calmness.   

Termon needed a reply to make a game of what was an already very one-sided match, and they got one with Gavin Gallagher hitting over, but Urris would nail the next three scores with Patrick Doherty, Adam Doherty, and Joe Doherty all raising white flags to make it 1-5 to 0-1 after 12 minutes.   

Termon eventually eased their way into the game and started to find space inside to create some dangerous attacks with Shea Boyle, Damhain McGettigan, and Ronan Cunningham all finding space to kick over some close-range points, following three long diagonal kicks inside.   

But despite these attacks, even with the men from the Burn Road being denied a goal chance through some supper Urris defending, the Inishowen side kept their scoreboard ticking with Joe Doherty scoring a 30-metre free before Odhran Lagan kicking over a ‘45’.   

As the floodlights turned on, Urris seemed to take their foot off the gas a small bit to Termon’s satisfaction, and with five minutes of the half remaining Termon found that all-important goal with Gavin Gallagher driving through the centre of the Urris defense to square it to John Cannon to slotted home into the bottom corner of the net.   

Termon didn’t stop there and managed to level matters on the 29th minute after Fionn McGrenra, like Gallagher moments earlier, drove through the heart of the Urris defensive wall, only for his shot at goal to be stopped by goalkeeper Sam Coyle, but Cunningham was on hand in the box to tap it home to make it 2-4 to 1-7 at the break.   

Like the first half, Urris were the more dominant side at the restart with the Inishowen club nailing six scores in the opening five minutes, with Gillespie, Patrick Doherty, and Tadhg McDaid all raising white flags before the latter fired home his team's second goal when Cooney found McDaid inside who punched the ball past goalkeeper Ryan Devine who came out to collect the ball.   

It took Termon until the 43rd minute to land their first score of the half with Alex Mullins kicking off his right to point over but it looked like they needed it if they wanted to give themselves any chance of winning.   

But Urris kept plugging away at the scoreboard with Doherty and Cooney nailing a point apiece over with the latter rattling the crossbar in that time when he fired for a third Urris goal.   

Cunningham fired over two more points for Termon to leave it 2-13 to 2-7 with five minutes remaining, but like they did in the first half, once again the men from the Burn Road came out of the blue to put a goal between the teams when Cunningham broke the Urris line to fire home for his side’s third goal as the game approached injury time.   

Termon were getting their chances but it never looked like the winning score was going to fall for them until the last play of the match when a long ball was launched into Damhain McGettigan who punched the ball as goalkeeper Coyle came out to collect it in the air, which resulted in the ball rolling slowly into the net to force extra time on a 4-7 to 2-13 scoreline.   

The boys in maroon upped the ante in extra time with Cunningham and McGettigan hitting the only two scores of that 10-minute period as bodies began to tire.   

But Urris refused to die and hit the next two scores in the second half of extra time with Cooney raising white flags on both occasions to level the match and with neither side hitting a winning score the match was decided on penalties.  

And with the match to be decided on spot kicks, it was Urris who claimed a 100pc rate, landing five to Termon’s four with half-forward Gavin Gallagher nailing his side’s fifth penalty wide before Joe Doherty kicked the final shot for Urris to win the county title.  

Scorers – Urris: Tadhg McDaid 1 ‘45’ and Danny Óg Cooney 1-3 each; Patrick Doherty 0-4, 2fs; Joe Doherty 1f, and Adam Doherty 0-2 each; Jayden Gillespie 0-1. Termon: Ronan Cunningham 2-4, 1f; Damhain McGettigan 1-2, 1f; John Cannon 1-0; Shea Boyle, Jamie Toland, and Gavin Gallagher 0-1 each.  

Urris: Sam Coyle; Sheá O’Donnell, Dylan Doherty, Niall O’Donnell; Jack Doherty, Joe Doherty, Aodhan Harkin; Tadgh McDaid, Odhran Lagan; Keelan Doherty, Alex Mullins, Patrick Doherty; Jayden Gillespie, Danny Óg Cooney, Adam Doherty. Subs: Adam McDaid for Mullins (50 mins); Dermot McGonagle for Gillespie (55 mins); Donough Power for Doherty (55 mins)   

Termon: Ryan Devine; Cormac Sweeney, Jake Burrowes, Lee McGettigan; Adhamhnán Gibson, Fionn McGrenra, Anthony McCole; Charlie Gallagher, John Cannon; Shea Boyle, Jamie Toland, Gavin Gallagher; Ronan Cunningham, Damhain McGettigan, Caolan McTaggart. Subs: Michael Moore for McCole (45 mins)    

Referee: Paul Martin