Graham Tarmac Antrim Junior Football Championship final
Pearse's 1-15 O'Donnell's 0-7
AFTER years of knocking on the door, Pearse's kicked it open at Dunsilly on Friday night as they ended a long wait for silverware to claim the Antrim Junior Football Championship title at the expense of O'Donnell's.
The North Belfast men started superbly to put themselves in the driving seat and finished in style to quell the charge from the West Belfast men as Naoise O'Cuilin's 55th-minute goal put the game to bed.
Pearse's had stars all over the field on the night with their defence tigerish and won countless turnovers, breaking from the back at pace and finding their forwards who thrived on the night with Stephen Fitzsimmons, Fionn Grew and Liam Campbell delivering big performances on the big stage.
But it was team captain Piaras Donaghy who really drove them on from the middle of the field, winning countless ball and always seemed to take the right option in a man-of-the-match performance and his influence was crucial when they lost James Begley to a black card on 47 minutes just as it seemed O'Donnell's were beginning to get on top.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, their lead was only reduced to four and that goal followed by a flurry of points ensured it would be their night and a fully deserved one as they seemed fired up and played some excellent direct football.
Comhghairdeas @patrickpearses Junior Championsssss 🏆 pic.twitter.com/mBQRGyqE5y
— Antrim GAA (@AontroimGAA) October 7, 2022
"With the attacking talent we have, it's important to utilise it," said a delighted joint-manager Marcus Kelly.
"We tried to be aggressive and attack the game, push up and play on our terms. We ooze quality up front and those boys delivered for us.
"We talked at half-time that they (O'Donnell's) would get a purple patch and it would be about game management. The boys dug into their experience to get us vital scores."
A big crowd descended upon the Antrim venue for this cross-city affair and from the off, both teams made their intentions clear that they were here to get on the front foot with O'Donnell's in front after just 30 seconds when Ciaran Ferran kicking a beauty of a point.
But this would be the only time they would have their noses in front as Pearse's put their stamp on proceedings and Liam Campbell was in for a goal straight away only to see Conor Murphy make the first of some big saves, turning the ball out for a 45 that Campbell lashed between the posts to level.
Campbell would then convert from a mark on three minutes and he was a threat any time he got on the ball as the New Lodge men would lead for the rest of the game as they completely dominated the opening half.
Man-of-the-match Piaras Donaghy breaks through an O'Donnell's challenge 
Fitzsimmons kicked the first of his six points and the subsequent kick-out was won by Donaghy who was lording out at midfield, sending the ball into Fionn Grew who opened his account.
O'Donnell's were struggling as any attacks were cut out although a Padraig McKissock free on 15 minutes hinted they were settling, but Pearse's continued to dominate and had a couple of big goal chances.
First, Aidan Bannon had a shot blocked that fell to O'Cuilin whose follow-up shot flew over the bar and then O'Cuilan was denied by the crossbar with Fitzsimmons pointing the rebound and then landing a free to one a 0-7 to 0-2 lead at the half.
It took just 20 seconds for the North Belfast side to increase their lead after the restart as they turned the ball over with the impressive Campbell cutting onto the left and curling over.
It was looking rather bleak for O'Donnell's, but things then began to change as McKissock kicked a free and on 34 minutes, it seemed they were about to be put away as Grew was hauled down inside the area by Caoimhin Doherty for a penalty, but Grew was denied by Murphy and this seemed to give the St James' men a little belief.
The introduction of Kieran McKissock was also a factor and after Géaroid McKernan kicked a point, the substitute had a sight of goal but his shot just cleared the bar to narrow the gap to just three as it seemed we had a game on our hands.
A Fitzsimmons free was the Pearse's response, but straight after, it was the turn of their goalkeeper, Niall Largey, to be called into action as a great ball in by Ciaran Ferran appeared to be met by the fist of Padraig McKissock, but Largey was alert to smother on the line.
O'Donnell's were on the front foot but from a breakaway by Donaghy, Fionn Grew took the pass to score, while McKissock then saw a shot at goal flash just wide.
There was a sense O'Donnell's were still in it and when Bannon earned the black card for pulling down Kieran McKissock and a Padraig McKissock free narrowing the gap to four, there was still life.
That gap remained after Grew and Kieran McKissock swapped points, but then came the clincher on 55 minutes as Pearse's broke forward with Murphy making a point-blank save from Fitzsimmons, but this time O'Cuilin would get his goal as he gathered the rebound and blasted home.
That was that and a late flurry of scores from Fitzsimmons (two), Grew and Campbell put a final gloss on the board, but there was no denying Pearse's were worthy winners and they can now look forward to a meeting with the Fermanagh champions next month.
Naoise O'Cuilin celebrates finding the net in the 55th minute 
"It's massive for the club," Kelly added.
"To think they only started playing all-county football 11 years ago after a hiatus and these boys to bring it over the line today is massive. It will galvanise youth teams and push this team to achieve at a higher level.
"We will enjoy this week and maybe next week, but we have four or five weeks to prepare for Ulster.
"I read a stat earlier in the week that Pearse's was the first club to ever represent Antrim in the Ulster Senior Club Championship, so there is history there and we will look to build on that history."
It was a night of disappointment for O'Donnell's who will feel they took far too long to get into this game, but they have come a long way in 2022 and manager Joe Herald believes his team will regroup over the winter and come back with renewed ambition next year.
"We didn't really come out in the first half," he reflected.
"The lack of experience of a final probably told, but we'll come again.
"We've young lads there and sometimes you need to go back to move forward, but still this is hard to take.
"We weren't as clinical as we've been all year, but we'll dust ourselves down and go again.
"The lads are only going to learn from this. O'Dees have come a long way from last year when we finished in the bottom half of the table in the league and went out in the group stage of the championship."
PEARSE'S: N Largey; D O'Neill, C O'Neill, A Bannon; T McFarlana, A McCavana, N Gorman; R Bannon, P Donaghy; P Murray, S Fitzsimmons (0-6, 4f), S Moreland; F Grew (0-4), L Campbell (0-4, 1 45, 1m, 1f), N O'Cuilin (1-1).
Subs: J Begley for T McFarlane (19), J Smyth for R Bannon (59), C Hughes for N O'Cuilin (60+2), B Harper for P Donaghy (60+3).
O'DONNELL'S: C Murphy; C Doherty, J O'Donnell, J McKenna; G McKernan (0-1), S Seawright, K Kennedy; S Thompson, C Walsh; PJ Meenan, F McFerney, J Rafferty; P McKissock (0-3f), C Ferran (0-1), K Loughran.
Subs: R McAvoy for J O'Donnell (25), K McKissock (0-2) for S Thompson (35), M Close for J Rafferty (60).
REFEREE: Danny O'Neill (Gort na Móna)
