'Ulster Champions' was the chant of the large Bredagh following as captain Liam McCollum climbed the steps of St Tiernach's Park, Clones to lift the Ulster Hurling Division Three League trophy.

Bredagh were the only Down representative to lift silverware out of the 55 teams who entered the competition. The Bredagh heroes had fought their hearts out to earn that honour and they fully deserved it as they were the better side and had too much hurling class for the battling Mullahoran men.

First-half: Bredagh were unusually slow to start and it was the Cavan boys who registered the first point from a long distance free. The dose was repeated two minutes later before Bredagh started to settle with McLoughney firing over a brace to level matters. Mullahoran pointed again before Galway's long range effort split the posts to equalise. Bredagh pushed down on the peddle in the final ten of the half with McCamphill, Moriarty and Galway firing over points, with Galway's the pick of the three from far out on the right. A crucial score came when Donnelly won the ball on the left wing his pass inside was pulled on by McKillop and the ball broke to McLoughney and he gave the Mullahoran keeper no chance as the net shook to loud cheers from the crowd. Mullahoran were getting their fair share of ball but they met a brick wall in the shape of Hughes and McCollum where the Cavan boys simply could not breach the half back line with Hughes, in particular, fielding every ball that came near him, bursting out in his usual style and driving the sliothar long to set up another Bredagh attack. Anytime the ball got past Bredagh's half backline, Dillon and Connolly were there to clear with Sidebottom making a fine save from Mullahoran's Reilly. A long Sidebottom puck out found its way inside to McKillop who was up-ended in the square to earn a penalty which he took himself. The Mullahoran keeper made a fine save and they finished the half with a point from another free to leave six points in it at half time.


Second-half: Mullahoran took to the field all fired up with the intensity of the exchanges increased by a notch or two. However it was Bredagh who drew first blood with Murray finding McKillop who outjumped the full back, spun and crashed the sliothar into the bottom left hand corner. This goal was cancelled out as Mullahoran scored a goal of their own. Moriarty and McCamphill rattled over two nice points for Bredagh only to see Mullahoran strike another major from a goalmouth scramble that Bredagh should have cleared. The tempo of the game lifted again with Mullahoran thinking of a comeback but Bredagh dampened their spirits when McKillop won McGettrick's long strike. He found McLoughney inside and the net shook for his second goal. Bredagh were then reduced to fourteen men when Fergal McCamphill was harshly treated with a straight red. Shortly afterwards Mullahoran were awarded a 20-metre free and the weak shot managed to get past Sidebottom to close the gap to five and give renewed hope to the Cavan boys with ten minutes remaining.

Closing Stages - Bredagh closed ranks and McKillop took over, winning possession on the edge of the square and flicking the ball to the net to restore Bredagh's margin to eight. The same player won the ball again on the right, out on the sideline and under pressure he managed to land the sliothar over the bar for what was easily the best point of the game. Galway had the last say when he fired over a 40 metre free to leave a comfortable ten points between the sides as the referee sounded the final whistle to the roars of the Bredagh faithful.

Coaches Comments -Bredagh have played better, they didn't fire on all cylinders, maybe a touch of nerves among the more inexperienced players, but that said this was a tough, bruising battle, especially in the second half. No quarter was asked for or given and Bredagh gave as good as they got. The old guards showed no nerves, Hughes put on a Man of the Match performance and McKillop wasn't far behind him with a virtuoso display in the second half, while McCamphill and McCollum showed their hurling pedigree and led their lines by example. Defensively Bredagh were their usual miserable self with Mullahoran recording only one point from play. The three goals were disappointing as they all carried an element of luck but overall Whyte, Dillon and Connolly gave little away. The half-back line were simply superb with young McGettrick sweeping up anything McCollum or Hughes left behind, which wasn't much. Colin Murray and Paul Doole covered every blade of grass, showing a high workrate and giving their all. The half forward line contributed seven points, a brace apiece from Moriarty and McCamphill along with a hat-trick from young Ian Galway. His point from play was a joy to watch. The inside forwards were their usual deadly selves with 4-4 between them, Donnelly didn't make the score sheet but his pace and trickery caused plenty of headaches for his opponents and he had a hand in a number of scores. The McKillop/McLoughney double act was as potent as ever, it's a combination that will strike fear into any defence.


Celebration Time on the Ormeau Road - the chanting carried on into the wee small hours 'Ulster Champions, Ulster Champions..' - a first ever senior hurling trophy for the Ormeau Road outfit, it was worth shouting about.

That's one down and one to go as Bredagh wait to hear the date of their Down Junior Championship final against Ballyvarley. Could the Bredagh hurlers do the double, who knows but you can be sure they will be giving it their best shot.

Panel & Scorers: Mark Sidebottom, Michael Whyte, Charlie Dillon, Brian Connolly, Liam McCollum, Danny Hughes, Stevie McGettrick, Colin Murray, Paul Doole, Paul Moriarty 0-2, Fergal McCamphill 0-2, Ian Galway 0-3, Seamus McLoughney 2-3, Seamus McKillop 2-1, Eoghan Donnelly, Rory Galway, Paddy Byrne, Colin O'Neill, Fintan McDonnell, Paul Boyle, Lorenzo McMullan, Ultan Power, Michael McKervey, Paddy McGrenaghan, Rowen Smart, Donncha Hanrahan, Paul Johnston, Ciaran Nixon, Rory McCaughey, Michael Mullan, Matthew McAfee, Mark Heron, Mick Burke.

QUOTES FROM CLONES
Bredagh Chairman Paul Blaney: "This was an historic day for Bredagh. The work that these men have put into hurling in South Belfast over the past few years has borne fruit much quicker than we expected, the team and management deserve every plaudit. It has been a magnificient achievement'.


Coach Eamon Mulvenna - 'In my wildest dreams I didn't expect to win an Ulster title in only our second year in senior hurling. All 32 players on the panel put in a great effort and they deserve all the plaudits. There was no hurling in South Belfast before last year, but now you can be sure that this success is going to make sure that it's there for good'.

Captain Liam McCollum - 'We trained from January for that and I can tell you that it means a helluva lot for this club to get some silverware. Hopefully it'll give us momentum as we head to the Down Junior Final. There's a lot of effort from Under-8 up in Bredagh and in years to come we're gonna see them come through. That's what it's all about, those young lads supporting us today and some in the panel. They gelled brilliantly with the old boys!'

PICTURES FROM CLONES