Newbridge and Dunloy to meet in Ulster Championship at Owenbeg

Ulster Ulster Senior Club Championship, Preliminary Round

Newbridge v Dunloy at Owenbeg, Saturday 6pm

EIGHT years ago Dunloy came to Owenbeg but it was to play Slaughtneil in hurling. This time it is to play Newbridge in football.
A Dunloy quote was heard: “We are really hurlers but we play football for the craic.” They showed that it was more than ‘craic’ when they displayed, skill, pace and confidence to take the title from Cargin with seven points to spare.
Slaughtneil and others have shown over the years that clubs can be successful in hurling and football.
Back to that hurling game in Owenbeg and with an anticipated attendance of two or three thousand spectators expected the people kept coming and coming - resulting in over 5,000 being there. There is sure be another bumper attendance on Saturday.
The game was originally set for Celtic Park but the 6pm timing is a bit strange as the dark evenings surround us. The change to Owenbeg will shorten the journey for both teams by some 15 miles.
When the championships started Newbridge were outsiders to retain their title and in Antrim teams like Creggan, Portglenone and Cargin would have been fancied ahead of Dunloy who were one of the top seeds for the hurling title.
The ‘new’ game of Gaelic football now favours fast and athletic teams and that is why these two are county champions.
Dunloy won the Padraig McNamee Cup in Antrim when dethroning the holders Cargin by a seven point margin 3-12 to 2-8 at Corrigan Park. Their cavalier approach and ability to hit long range scores left the older Cargin team chasing shadows at times.
Noted hurler Seaan Elliot led the way with 1-8 with his brother Nigel and Keelan Molloy a constant danger in attack. In all, six players contributed to their final tally.
It was their first football title for 89 years going back to a period when they won six titles between 1924 and 1936.
Newbridge won the John McLaughlin Cup in their centenary year. Their first title came in 1937, a year after Dunloy won their sixth, and they followed that with another ten before holding on for back to back titles this year.

Family Fortunes

Rural GAA clubs all over the country rely heavily on families to make up the numbers and this Newbridge team is the perfect example.
Six McGrogan brothers and cousins on the team and one in the subs. Three Doherty brothers and one in the subs, two Young brothers and one in the subs and two McAteer brothers makes them an extremely close unit!
They have not been built through under age success which was limited for this group who would have mostly competed in the B and C grades.
They won the three adult leagues during which their astute management of Gary Hetherington and Kevin Brady used it to give experience to the up and coming players.
They have been strongly represented on Derry teams in recent years. They had five players on this year’s Derry under 20 team and have five players with All Ireland minor medals. Allied to that they have regular Derry seniors Conor Doherty and Paudie McGrogan.

Different Challenge For Dunloy

Dunloy will face a very different challenge against Newbridge than they have had in their own county. They will have to be very vigilant in defence against a team that has an average of at least nine scorers in most games.
While Dunloy came through fairly comfortably the Newbridge side had a few stiff hurdles to overcome.
They lost their first game to Dungiven and had to go through the qualifier route where they had to be at their best to see off Steelstown and Slaughtneil.
In between they had comfortable wins over Swatragh and The Loup.
One aspect of their play that the management will be looking at with Slaughtneil and Magherafelt in mind is that they do not always put teams away in their periods of domination.
In these games they had just two points to spare at the final whistle. To their credit they never showed signs of panic.
Last year they lost in their first Ulster game to Clann Eariann of Armagh but with Paudie McGrogan back form injury they look to be a stronger unit this time.
The main threat for the Antrim champions is half forward Seaan Elliot who has been carving up defences all year. He is likely to be shadowed by Paudie McGrogan, the tough Newbridge defender.
Conor Doherty and Conleth McGrogan will line up at midfield against the speedy Dunloy duo of Luke McFerran and Declan Smyth. The greater county experience of Doherty should tilt the battle in favour of the Derry champions.
The Dunloy full back line will have their hands full against the dangerous ‘Bridge inside line of Callum McGrogan, Sean Young and Oisin Doherty one of the top scorers in the Derry championship.
Newbridge will be strong favourites both in form and tradition.
The Oak Leaf have won the Ulster championship 17 times and Antrim four.
Since 2013 Slaughtneil three, Glen two and Ballinderry have won the Seamus McFerran Cup.
Newbridge will have ambitions but they will not be taking Dunloy lightly!