Davitts clinch Division 5 Title

Ulster Club Senior Hurling League Division 5 Final:
Davitts 3-8 Glencar/Manorhamilton 0-8

The Davitts senior hurlers won their first ever Ulster hurling title when they accounted for Glencar/Manorhamilton in the Division 5 decider at a wet and windy Truagh on Saturday afternoon.

Davitts adapted well to the weather conditions quickly getting on the scoreboard with an opportunist goal from Anton McCaffrey giving them an early platform on which to build.  However, the Manor, playing with the breeze, responded with two points, one a long range free, before Davitt’s Sean Prenter opened his account as he  battled past two defenders to fire the sliotar between the posts. Both teams then traded point for point with Davitts Canice Mooney and Stephen McGivern getting on the scoreboard. Two further Canice Mooney pointed frees increased the Davitts advantage only to see the Manor battle back with pointed frees of their own. Another Sean Prenter point followed by a Rory McEvoy goal on the stroke of half-time gave Davitts a half time lead 2-6 to 0-5.

The second half was a low scoring affair as conditions deteriorated and heavy rain swept down the pitch. However, Davitts took a strangle hold on the game when Anton McCaffrey split the posts from a tight angle before firing to the net to give them a comfortable lead. At this stage Davitts were in total control of the game and no matter how hard the Manor came at them they showed resilience and character all over the pitch to withstand anything the Manor could muster. Two Manor points reduced the deficit but Davitt’s Canice Mooney’s fourth point of the game followed by a final Manor point left Davitts victors on a score of 3-8 to 0-8.

This was an excellent advert for hurling with both teams playing hard committed hurling in difficult weather conditions and the contribution of referee John Devlin, from Tyrone, enabled this to be an entertaining encounter. The trophy was presented by Martin McAviney, Ulster Vice-President to captains Martin Mooney and Gerard McNally signalling the start of much deserved Davitt’s celebrations.

Davitts Team: J Davis, G Cosgrove, M O’Brien, C McNally, M Rowntree, M Tully, M Brady, M Mooney, S McGivern ()-1), C Mooney (0-4), S Prenter (0-2), P Og Carleton, T Toland, A McCaffrey (2-1), R McEvoy (1-0).
Subs: G O’Neill, J George, K McGrattan, D Gray, G Dunlop, G McNally, P Carson, P Mor Carleton, G Burns