Drumhowan are just one step away from making history when they booked their place in the final of the Ulster club junior football championship with relative ease over Antrim side McDermotts, in Enniskillen on Sunday last. Drumhowan were superior in practically every position and they made that superiority count in a brilliant third quarter during which they simply blew the opposition away. McDermotts had come into the game with quite strong credentials having beaten St Terèsa's in an incident packed Antrim junior championship final and then accounted for Armagh side Middletown in the quarter final of the provincial series. On the day though they proved no match for the Monaghan champions in a game that was peppered with a number of incidents that saw the Antrim champions finish with 13 players and Drumhowan with 14. The contest was even enough in the first half but that was due more to the fact that Drumhowan were a little off colour in their finishing as opposed to the strength of the opposition as McDermott's seemed to lack any penetration or at times any real game plan. Drumhowan on the other hand settled into their usual pattern quite easily, moving the ball swiftly from defence into attack and such was the fluency of their game that had their finishing been better they could well have opened the scoring with two goals in the opening four minutes. The goals did eventually come in the second-half with two from Paddy Mulligan in a great six minutes spell and they helped set Drumhowan up for a memorable victory. Drumhowan reached the semi-final of the junior club championship back in 2005 but on the day they were caught at the death in a close contest but that was never in prospect on Sunday last as Drumhowan put real daylight between themselves and the opposition in the opening minutes of the second-half with veteran Stephen McGinnity netting their third goal in the final stages to underline that there is no substitute for class and experience. Stephen McGinnity was delighted with the outcome and spoke of the dedication and the desire that is in the Drumhowan club for everyone to play their part and contribute what they can and with his 38th birthday looming he epitomises all that is best in club spirit.. Drumhowan now have two weeks before they meet Derry champions Lissan in the final and they will be well aware that this will be a totally different prospect than the one they faced on Sunday last. ULSTER CLUB JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI FINAL Drumhowan 3-12 McDermotts 0-5 A more accomplished Drumhowan experienced little difficulty in booking their place in the final of the Ulster junior football club championship at the expense of Belfast side McDermott's in what was overall a fairly one-way contest in Brewster Park in Enniskillen on Sunday last. A scintillating third quarter during which they hit two goals and five points as against one point by the opposition created the platform for this victory and a winning margin of 16 points does not unduly flatter Drumhowan's superiority. Drumhowan possessed a far greater range to their game in both defence and attack and had they capitalised on a number of chances in both the first and second halves, particularly for goals they would have won by an even greater margin. Just three points separated the sides at half-time but that was down more to the fact that Drumhowan's finishing was a little off-colour rather than anything that McDermotts produced. The scene changed in the second-half however which Drumhowan getting off to a lightning start and two goals by Paddy Mulligan in the fourth and ninth minutes were blows from which McDermott's never recovered. Play became a little scrappy thereafter with McDermott's allowing a degree of frustration and indiscipline to creep into their game and they were reduced to 13 players with the dismissal of a centre half back Paul Turley on a straight red card following an incident with James McElroy and Charlie Nugent on a second yellow in the 16th and 23rd minutes, respectively, with Drumhowan also reduced numerically when Martin McElroy was sent off on a second yellow card at the same time as Nugent. Drumhowan simply possessed too much power and pace all around for the Antrim champions with Liam McGurk at full and Niall Mooney at centre back stringing their defence together very effectively aided and abetted by excellent performances from Damien Duffy and minor star Kevin Mooney, the latter often the catalyst for telling counter attacks as he drove at pace at the McDermott's defence. Enda McElroy and Dermot McDermott worked hard in midfield but it was upfront where Drumhowan were simply in a different class, possessing a far greater degree of penetration and scoring ability than their opponents. James McElroy at full forward was a constant threat that McDermotts found difficult to contain, Gerard Duffy's accuracy contributed four points while Paddy Mulligan who was a late replacement for Colm Lambe crashed in the two goals that sent McDermotts reeling out of the competition. Veteran Stephen McGinnity also played his part and finished with a goal and a point to his credit and he might well have finished with more as he repeatedly found space when Drumhowan were attacking but was not always seen by the player in possession. For McDermotts it was a case of trying to plug gaps all over the field, centre back Paul Turley was doing well until the red mist came down, Gerard Nugent on the '40 also tried hard as did Chris Rafferty and Charlie Nugent but their best efforts repeatedly ran into heavy traffic and they were a well beaten side finish. Teams and Scorers: Drumhowan: Enda Duffy, Darren Duffy, Liam McGuirk, Martin McElroy, Damien Duffy, Niall Mooney 0-1, Kevin Mooney 0-1, Enda McElroy 0-1, Dermot McDermott, Rodney Mooney, Gerard Duffy 0-4 (2f), Paddy Mulligan 2-0, Kieran Mooney, James McElroy 0-4 (2f), Stephen McGinnity 1-1. Subs: Kieran Deery for J McElroy, David Miller for R Mooney, Paddy Duffy for Damien Duffy, Gavin Sheridan for D McDermott, Dermot Mooney for K Mooney. McDermotts: Damien Nugent, Colm McDonald, Gérard Chapman, Eamonn McCaughey, Dermot McShane, Paul Turley, Kevin Maguire, Christopher Turley 0-1, Brian Maguire, Chris Rafferty, Gerard Nugent 0-3 (2f,I'45), David Nugent, Charlie Nugent 0-1 (f), Patrick Reid, Gerard Turley. Subs: John Paul Stitt for C McDonald, Fergal Doherty for K Maguire. Referee: Con Reynolds (Down). Tweet

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