By Terry McLaughlin

IT needed all the experience and cohesion of title holders Bryansford to come together in a superb second half performance before they were able to edge out derby rivals Castlewellan and collect a second successive league crown.

Games between two such fierce rivals are rarely open and flowing affairs and Sunday’s clash followed a predictable pattern of tight marking and hard tackling.
To the credit however of both sets of players there was absolutely no malice in any of the on pitch duels, despite the intensity of the desire to win.

The result was always going to hang on a piece of opportunism being conjured to unhinge the opposition.

And it came after just seven minutes of the second half courtesy of the lethal Conor Gribben.

It was the instinctive knack that Gribben has of being able to snap up half chances that makes him such a natural finisher.

A slick sideways pass from the foraging Ciaran Brannigan sent Gribben in on the Castlewellan danger zone.

And although a forest of defenders blocked his first shot, the corner forward was able to gather the loose ball before rifling a vicious angled shot to the roof of the net.

It was that score that gave the Ford the extra momentum they were searching for and it proved to be a psychological hammer blow from which Castlewellan were never able to recover from.

In a game that was dominated in each half by the swirling wind, both sets of players tried to play constructive and intelligent football.

At times however the elements took control to ensure that the football served up was always going to be based on possession percentages.

It was that greater quota of strength in the core of the Ford machine, especially when the towering midfield skills of Michael Nugent took the game by the scruff of the neck in a crucial third quarter, that made the difference.

Two magnificent points at the start of the second half by the big number nine underlined that when he gets his mental focus in tandem with his muscular physique, he has the ability to act as the catalyst to fire the rest of the Ford.

Over the hour it was a fascinating battle between the respective midfield sectors, with Castlewellan captain Niall McArdle always ready to lead by ferocious example.

Time after time McArdle launched a series of attacks on the Bryansford defence as well as stroking over some excellent dead ball opportunities.

The problem for Castlewellan was that they simply did not have enough players of similar physical stature to match the example provided by their captain.

It was significant that as McArdle inevitably tired in the later stages of the match the potent threat that had come earlier from his inspirational running left Castlewellan trying to answer increasingly difficult questions.

For this was a game that above all else asked demanding questions of the respective defences.

Nothing can be taken away from either set of back-line units in the context of commitment and determination and courage.

A key factor that has to built into the final result however is that Bryansford had no less than eight players that were regular members of the club’s Senior Championship winning squad on duty.

Players like skipper Andrew Kane, Stephen Toner, Brian McVeigh, and Niall and Darra Neeson, are all seasoned performers in relation to the hard-edged defensive demands of club and county football.

And with the fast raiding abilities of impressive half-backs Dylan Murphy and Luke Howard, Bryansford had those important additional options in terms of supply routes to men like Donnelly, Valentine and Gribben.

Both packs of defenders did their job superbly over the course of a difficult afternoon. In particular the two goalkeepers responded to the challenge facing them by pulling off some vital stops.

One save from Ford net minder Sean James Brannigan 12 minutes into the second half to deny Castlewellan danger man Daniel Morgan was built around razor sharp reflexes.

Overall however it was Brannigan’s counterpart, Brian McAlinden, who took the honours in terms of the goalkeeping art.

His handling under pressure, despite the swirling wind was always safe and assured.

But it was his ability to narrow the angles and get down superbly to claw away at least two gilt edged goal chances that made him such an important factor in the Castlewellan defence.

With just nine minutes gone he was able to make a super stop to keep out a stinging shot from the free running Conor Gribben after the Ford hit-man had burst through from 12 yards.

And in the closing stages of the match it was the ability of McAlinden to come off his line and fling his body in the path of a low shot from the jinking Kieran Brannigan that kept alive Castlewellan’s hopes of at least salvaging a draw.

In the first half it was Castlewellan that had the bonus of the blustery wind at their backs, pinning down Bryansford for long periods.

Playing confidently it was Castlewellan who hit the front after a minute, Aidan Burns whipping over a super point before Paddy Keown stretched the lead with a great long range free.

Castlewellan wasted a glorious chance to hit a goal when Colm Og Crilly’s clever shot wasn’t cleared by the Ford defence, the ball being stabbed wide from the tightest of angles by Conor Kelly.

It was a vital let-off for Bryansford for although Castlewellan, through McArdle and Morgan went close, the only additional scores from the Town side were two magnificent frees floated over by Keown.

Playing with the wind behind them in the second half it was Bryansford that looked the sharper and more balanced outfit as the second period unfolded.

They were boosted by a point after ten seconds by the rampaging Nugent, the midfielder bulldozing his way straight down the middle before drilling the ball over the bar from 30 yards.

But again the sheer class of McArdle came to the rescue of Castlewellan, the captain leading by example to slot over two frees into the teeth of a stiff breeze and leave his side leading by five.

Castlewellan however could not sustain the pace or cope with the more inventive play from a Ford side that refused to buckle under the pressure.

A neatly worked short 50 move caught out Castlewellan before Nugent muscled his way through to hit his side’s second point.

Then came that golden goal strike by Gribben before a foul on Nugent allowed Brannigan to level with 20 minutes left.

Castlewellan , with another delightfully struck free from McArdle got back in front.

But the Ford’s tenacious defensive covering technique, typified by the way centre half forward Niall Neeson made three textbook clearances deep in his own half had the hallmark of a player and a team that only had the objective of winning.

In between it was the elegant running Gribben that twice sliced open the Castlewellan defence late on to nail on the insurance scores that gave Bryansford yet another title in what is turning out to be a glorious Down centenary season.

Bryansford scorers: Conor Gribben 1-2, Michael Nugent 0-2, Ciaran Brannigan 0-1, Daryl Valentine 0-1.
Castlewellan scorers: Niall McArdle 0-3, Paddy Keown 0-3, Aidan Burns 0-1.