CO. MONAGHAN CREDIT UNIONS SENIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE FINAL.

Ballybay 3-11, Castleblayney 1-10.

A more clinical Ballybay finished their season on a winning note when they staged a strong finish to clinch the senior football league title for the 6^th time at the expense of Castleblayney in an absolutely cracking contest that was played in mild, if somewhat greasy, conditions in St Oliver Plunkett Park, Emyvale on Sunday afternoon last. Ballybay were only headed once in the entire contest and that after 2 ½ minutes when Castleblayney opened the scoring with a point by Dermot Malone from a free, but once Ballybay got off the mark with a peach of goal by top scorer Hugh Malone in the 7^th minute they went on to hold an edge for most of the remainder of the game. That goal helped Ballybay to 1-5 to 0-4 half-time lead but in truth that margin could have been greater although Castleblayney themselves did miss a couple of chances but overall found scores harder to come by. A 2^nd goal by Hugh Malone 4 minutes into the 2^ndhalf put Bally 7 points in front with Castleblayney then staging a strong period from midway through the 3^rd quarter to hit 4 points without reply to reduce the deficit to 2 with seven minutes of normal time remaining. That though was as good as it got for Castleblayney as the majestic Paul Finlay, aided and abetted by Hugh Malone, Christopher McGuinness and Dessie Ward in particular, upped the tempo entering the final straight to hit 5 points without reply between the 27^th and 32^nd minutes to clinch victory with 7 points to spare.         Teams and Scorers: Ballybay: Sean Gorman, Brent Wylie, Ryan Wylie 0-1, Colm Lennon, Dessie Ward 1-2, Mark McArdle, Evan Rutledge, Thomas O’Neill, Paul Finlay 0-5 (4f), Michael Hannon, Christopher McGuinness, Shane McQuillan, Shane McGuinness, Hugh Malone 2-2, Thomas Kerr 0-1. Subs: Fergal McArdle for S McQuillan, Eoin McKearney for B Wylie, Brian McCabe for M McArdle.

Castleblayney: Bart McNamara, Peter Treanor, Mark Kelly, Brian Flanagan, Martin McElroy 0-1, Barry Hanratty, Fergal Rafter, Mark Treanor, John Beattie 0-1, Patrick Finnegan, Ronan McNamara, Brendan McElroy 0-1, Ciaran J Hanratty 1-3, Dermot Malone 0-3, Dermot McArdle. Subs: Patrick Tavey 0-1 for P Finnegan Brian McGuigan for P Treanor, Mark Hanratty for R McNamara.                             Referee: Patrick Caulfield (Blackhill).