Gall's reign in Ulster

St. Gall's (Antrim) 0-16 Loup (Derry) 0-5

St. Gall's were very impressive winners of today's AIB Ulster Club SFC final in Newry, dashing the hopes of Derry champions Loup with a thumping 0-16 to 0-5 defeat.

The Belfast side oozed quality as the game progressed and will provide tough opposition for newly-crowned Connacht champions Corofin come their All-Ireland semi-final clash in February.

Loup, who beat Gall's in the 2003 provincial decider, were able to keep track in the early stages and were level at 0-4 apiece before the Antrim champions moved up through the gears.

Indeed, Ciaran Devlin's point with eight minutes remaining proved to be Loup's only score of the entire second half.

Kevin Niblock got stuck in early on for Gall's, pointing after only 12 seconds and almost winning a subsequent penalty for his side.

He appeared to be brought to ground by Loup goalkeeper Shane McGuckin but match referee Pat McEnaney turned down the passionate appeals from Gall's.

With the Antrim men clearly angered by that decision, Loup took the opportunity to move ahead on the scoreboard as Paul McVey and Johnny McBride converted frees.

Gall's replied quickly through Aodhan Gallagher, who pointed after a superb solo run, and CJ McGourty (free), and while Loup got back level on the quarter-hour through McFlynn, another CJ McGourty over kept Gall's ahead.

McVey kicked his second point to square up the tie again, but Gall's had the better of the second quarter as they moved into a double scores lead by half-time - 0-8 to 0-4.

CJ McGourty pointed twice as he increased his influence in attack, Rory Gallagher also split the posts when a goal looked on and Kevin McGourty teed up Sean Burke for a well-taken score as Lenny Harbinson's men ended the first half in fine fettle.

Gall's cantered into a seven-point lead early in the second half, with Niblock winning a free which CJ McGourty pointed and Anton Healy and Kieran McGourty adding their names to the scoresheet.

Their dominance around midfield was telling, with Gallagher, Burke and Kevin McGourty mopping up ball after ball, and there was clear daylight between the sides when Terry O'Neill registered another Gall's score.

Having beaten Fermanagh champions Derrygonnelly and Down winners Kilcoo on the way to the final, Loup were struggling to show any sort of form.

They did threaten to score a much-needed goal on a couple of occasions. A McFlynn free was dropped by Gall's goalkeeper Ronan Gallagher but the defence was able to scramble the ball to safety, and Gallagher had to use his feet to parry a deflected shot after another McFlynn free had put pressure on the Gall's rearguard.

Devlin's point ended a 31-minute scoreless spell for the John Brennan-managed Loup, but it was certainly a case of too little, too late as Gall's were out of sight by that time.

Late scores from CJ McGourty, who top-scored with 0-6, Rory Gallagher and substitute Sean Burns capped off a pleasing afternoon at the office for Harbinson who was able to empty his bench in the closing stages.

The result saw Gall's lift the Seamus McFerran Cup for the third time in their history. They were also champions in 1982 and 2005.