Naomh Ultan edge past Letterkenny Gaels in dramatic Junior B final

Naomh Ultan’s captain Adrian Nesbitt blasted his side to victory in the most dramatic of Junior B Football Championship finals at O’Donnell Park. 

Naomh Ultan 3-6

Letterkenny Gaels 0-12 

Nesbitt rocketed the ball to the roof of the net after man of the match Darragh Murrin hit a high hanging ball into the Gaels defence.  The ball fizzed about like on a pinball machine and it broke to Nesbitt who rifled the ball to the roof of the net in the 60th minute. 

Plucky Letterkenny Gaels roared back in an all- out surge to snatch a draw, but Naomh Ultan held out for victory in four minutes of added time.  It was a tough ending for the Gaels as they had come back from a five points deficit at the break to level matters as the game drew to a close 

But, despite dominating the first 20 minutes of the second half and curbing Murrin, the Gaels just could not muster enough to recover from that final suckerpunch. The game began at a cracking pace which was pretty much maintained right to the break. 

Naomh Ultan were fastest out of the traps as full-forward Adrian Nesbitt arrowed over a point after just 30 seconds. But the Gaels, who were in their third final on the spot and who were hoping to make it two titles in a row, responded in a heartbeat with a well struck point from Liam Doherty.  Cormac Doherty increased the lead for the Gaels after three action-packed minutes. 

But the free-running south Donegal men got the first of their two goals when the brilliant Darragh Murrin speared through the Gaels defence and fisted the ball to Nesbitt who cracked home from close range. There was a suspicion of a throw in the pass - but the score stood. 

Gaels responded very well to this swift set-back with three points on the spin from Brendan O’Brien (45), Aidan Hanley and Darren Ferry to lead by 0-5 to 1-1 by the 16th minute. 

Magnificent Murrin went and hit 1-4 in the space of five minutes. It began with a well-struck point in the 17th minute, and he followed this up with a cracking goal a minute later to put Naomh Ultan into a 2-3 to 0-5 lead. Murrin hit two more points in the run up to half-time. 

Darren Ferry pegged one back for the Gaels as Naomh Ultan led by 2-5 to 0-6 at the break. 

It was a different Gaels who emerged for the second half as they managed to curb the previous strong impact of Murrin as they patiently pegged back the lead. 

Half time substitute Joe Friel converted a free for the Gaels and player manager Charlie Creevy added another point as the wind-assisted Gaels got on top. And points from the beavering Matthew Winters and Brendan O’Brien levelled matters with a minute left. 

Then, in a rare sortie, Murrin was fouled about 30 metres out and he converted the free to restore the lead.  And with time almost up captain Nesbitt delivered the killer blow. 

Liam Doherty got a point for the Gaels but they were just not able to get the goal they so badly needed. 

Naomh Ultan scorers: Darragh Murrin 1-5, 4f; Adrian Nesbitt 2-1. 

Letterkenny Gaels scorers: Cormac Doherty 0-3; Matthew Winters and Darren Ferry 0-2; Brendan O’Brien 0-2, 1f; Aidan Hanley, Shaun Monteith and Joe Friel 0-1.

Naomh Ultan: Gerard Boyle; Darragh Gallagher, Christopher Boyle, Aiden Fisher; Barry Murray, Paul Murrin, Matthew Huntley; Martin Shovlin (Jnr), Michael Breslin; James Byrne, Jonathan Bach, Ryan Rose; Darragh Murrin, Adrian Nesbitt, Mark Hutchinson. Subs; Paul Gallier for Murray (35), Emmett Kennedy for Breslin (49). 

Letterkenny Gaels: Shane Gildea; Aaron Stewart, Keelan Margey, Shaun McGilloway; Kevin Kilkenny, Darren Ferry, Nicky McGarrigle; Brendan O’Brien, Ben Gallagher; Cormac Doherty, Matthew Winters, Shaun Monteith, Charlie Creevy, Liam Doherty, Aidan Hanley. Subs: Joe Friel for Monteith (half-time), Danny Harkin for Hanley (42), James Callaghan for McGarrigle (49) 

Referee: John Ward (Dungloe)