Banda magic wins Ulster Junior Cup for Letterkenny Rovers against Kildrum Tigers

A moment of sheer magic from BJ Banda was enough to see Letterkenny Rovers capture the Ulster Junior Cup with a single-goal victory over Kildrum Tigers.

The former Finn Harps striker scored the only goal on 52 minutes - his 30th of the season - which separated the sides at the final whistle. Kildrum finished what was at times a tempestuous encounter when McBreaty was shown a red card for a late challenge.

The Ulster Junior Cup will now join the Premier Division trophy at Leckview over the winter, with Rovers still to contest the Letterkenny Area final of the Brian McCormick Sports Cup against Swilly Rovers as they aim to win the trophy they won last season.

Banda latched on to a throw-in on the right-hand side and coming in at an angle he let fly from just inside the box to give Michael Lynch no chance. A super strike lit up what was at times a foul-riddled final at Ballyare and was just one of a limited number of chances created by either side.

The first 15 minutes was stop-start with the team medics the busiest men in Diamond Park as the two teams set about laying down markers. The Tigers played with the aid of a strong wind in the first half and before a huge crowd, estimated in the region of 1000, they did the bulk of the early pressing and did create one or two scoring opportunities too.

The best of those fell to Luke Toland 11 minutes into the game when he stole in at the back of Keith Cowen, who seemed to think the ball was going wide.

From 10 yards on the right hand side, Toland drilled low and hard across the Rovers goal line, with Mark Anthony McGinley beaten but just wide from a tough angle. But it was a definite chance for the opener.
Toland had another half chance later on and the other Kildrum chances fell to Tiernan Brown and Frank McBrearty. But the Rovers keeper McGinley was equal to them.

As the half wore on, Rovers came more into the game, where the pacey Adrian Delap was causing problems down the right wing

The best chance of the opening half fell to Banda, but his effort after cutting in from the left side ended up in the netting. Lee McMonagle also had a chance for Rovers opener late in the half, but Lynch pulled off a decent save.

Tiernan Brown went close to breaking the deadlock five minutes into the second half and drew a good save from McGinley. And four minutes later, Banba magic turned the tide and shortly after Padraic Gilsenan went close from heading Rovers two up. Kildrum never gave up the ghost and Johnny Robb went close twice to level it up but Rovers did enough. A member of the Kildrum Tigers management team was shown a red card at the end.

Letterkenny Rovers: Mark Anthony McGinley; Padraic Gilsenan, Dean McCarry, Keith Cowan, Rory Gallagher (Caolan McConnell, 76); Adrian Delap (Gareth Doherty, 80), Chris Malseed (Dylan Woods, 18), Joel Gorman (David Shovlin 85), Nathan Plumb (Ryan Lonergan, 83); Lee McMonagle, BJ Banda.
Kildrum Tigers: Michael Lynch; Jamie McKinney, Keenan Diver, William Lynch (Callum Gillen 55), Tiernan Brown; Frank McBrearty, Shane McGinty; Luke Toland, Keelan Gillen, Brian Breslin; Johnny Robb.
Referee: Marty McGarrigle.