Derry SFC: McQuillan goal clinches title for Loup
October 05, 2009

Loup celebrate their Derry SFC final win over Dungiven
Loup 1-8
Dungiven 0-10
A late goal from substitute Enda McQuillan helped a Joe O'Kane-inspired Loup side claim their first Derry senior football championship title in six years at Dungiven's expense yesterday afternoon at Celtic Park.
In what was an overall tight decider, it was Dungiven that edged the opening stages to move into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead after 22 minutes, with their opening point from Fergal McGuigan and a brace each from Paul Murphy and Cathal Grieve outweighing the efforts of Shane McFlynn and O'Kane.
The would-be winners came back into after that through Paul McVey and blood substitute Ciaran Devlin cutting the difference to one, before wing-back Fintan Devlin raced forward to level the sides.
Loup had dominated the centre of the field for the closing stages of the half, but Dungiven managed the lead at the interval when Liam Hinphey shot over with his right boot for a 0-6 to 0-5 advantage.
In the second-half, the game adopted a real see-saw nature to it and Loup had went ahead for the first time in the 40th minute through a McVey free. Murphy squared the sides soon after, but the game was scoreless for ten minutes before the crucial turning point arrived.
With eight minutes to go, O'Kane made up 40 yards from his own full-back line and aimed for the posts where the ball dropped short and McQuillan was on hand to nudge the ball past Peter McCaul and to the Dungiven net.
Dungiven battled back with points from Rian Kealey and a Grieve free, but Loup managed to weather the late storm just enough to record their first McLaughlin Cup success since 2003.
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