GLEN EMMETS 1-12

GLYDE RANGERS 0-14

Glen Emmets made up for the disappointment of losing last year's Junior Championship title when they got their hands on the Christy Bellew Cup once again with a dramatic victory over Glyde Rangers at The Grove on Sunday afternoon.

James Butler, who was the saviour in both semi-finals games against Lannleire, was once again the Emmets hero as he fired over a point deep into injury time to see his side come out on top. Ian Cusack also made a huge contribution as he fired in the only goal of the game to swing momentum in his side's favour just when Glyde appeared to be getting on top.

It was a bitterly disappointing end to great season for Glyde Rangers in which they won the Division 3 League and were unbeaten before Sunday's match. Although the entered this final as favourites, the experience of playing in Division 2 stood to the Tullyallen men who showed great determination to hold out for victory.

A game that was played in perfect conditions saw the teams produce a lively opening in which Niall Sharkey, Trevor O'Brien and Dion Conlon gave Glyde the lead on three occasions but each time those scores were cancelled out by Butler (twice) and David Bracken.

It looked as if Glyde were taking control of proceedings when Brian Duffy, O'Brien and Ciaran Sheridan all pointed to put their side 0-6 to 0-3 in front with 15 minutes on the clock.

However, Glen Emmets were in no mood to allow their opponents take charge and signalled their intentions with points from Butler and Andrew Mooney. The game was turned on its head in the 20th minute when Cusack got on the end of a fine move to fire home the only goal and see his side lead by 1-5 to 0-6.

A shell-shocked Glyde looked to have steadied the ship when Conor Sheridan and Niall Sharkey levelled the game. However, just when it appeared as if the sides would go into the break on terms, injury time efforts from Sean Byrne and Bracken had the Tullyallen men 1-7 to 0-8 ahead.

The Tallanstown outfit came out strongly in the secodn half and with Dion Conlon, Brian Duffy, Trevor O'Brien all hitting points in response to two Ronan Grufferty scores, the teams were level at 1-9 to 0-12.

It looked as if Glyde would kick on when O'Brien edged them ahead as the game entered the closing stages. Once again the Emmets proved they were made of strong stuff and Grufferty fired over an equaliser before Cusack had his team 1-11 to 0-13 in front on 60 minutes.

There was still nine minutes of added time following injury stoppages at the start of the second half and it proved to be a very tense spell for all at The Grove.

Conor Sheridan tied the game up once more before Butler responded with what proved to be the winner. Glyde threw everything they had into attack but despite Brian Duffy and Conor Sheridan both going close, Glen Emmets held out for a famous win.

GLEN EMMETS: Fergus Barnett; Keith Boylan, Tom Grimes, Niall Hackett; Ronan Carr, Stephen Healy, Andrew Mooney 0-1; Ronan Grufferty 0-3, Mark Garvey; Ian Cusack (1-1), David Bracken 0-2, James Butler 0-4; Keelan O'Neill, Seán Byrne 0-1, Damien Grimes. Subs: Evan English for T Grimes, Keith Lynch for K O'Neill.

GLYDE RANGERS: David Brennan; Conor McCullough, Cein Sheridan, Fiachra Sheridan; Gerard Farrell, Mark O'Brien, Aaron Devlin; Ciaran Sheridan 0-1, David Devaney; Niall Sharkey 0-3, Conor Sheridan 0-2, Dion Conlon 0-2; Trevor O'Brien 0-4, Brian Duffy 0-2, Gavin Duffy. Sub: Barry Sharkey for M O'Brien.

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