Ballinderry (Derry) 1-13
Glenswilly (Donegal) 2-6

Ballinderry recovered from the concession of a Michael Murphy goal after just 25 seconds to capture their third Ulster club football title in front of a bumper 6,809 attendance at Healy Park, Omagh.

The Derry champions showed their quality and experience to battle back and lead by 1-6 to 1-2 at the break. Glenswilly scored an unanswered 1-2 within three minutes of the restart to retake the lead, but with midfielder James Conway producing a man of the match performance and Colin Devlin and Dermot McGuckin kicking fine scores, Martin McKinless' men weren't to be denied.

Making their first Ulster final appearance, the Glen got off to a dream start when Donegal captain Murphy cut in from the right before lobbing Ballinderry goalkeeper Michael Conlan for a first-minute goal. Murphy followed up with a '45 as the favourites struggled to settle.

Devlin eventually opened their account in the 11th minute and further scores from Conway and McGuckin closed the gap before Caolan Kelly pointed to leave Glenswilly two clear. But the Shamrocks scored 1-2 without reply in the final 10 minutes to leave themselves in a strong position at the interval.

Wing back Michael McIver netted his second goal in as many games in the 26th minute after Ryan Bell's initial effort had been blocked. Conleith Gilligan also got in on the scoring act as the 2002 All-Ireland champions finished the half strongly.

Whatever Glenswilly manager Gary McDaid said to his players in the dressing-room certainly had the desired effect as they restarted with a goal from Caolan Kelly and points from Murphy and Darren McGinley to regain the lead.

But they would only manage one point in the final 20 minutes as Aaron Devlin, Darren Conway and former county star Enda Muldoon all came off the bench to score for Ballinderry. Glenswilly's brave challenge was finally ended when Conway and Gilligan landed late insurance points for the men from the shores of Lough Neagh.

Ballinderry - M Conlan; R Scott, C Nevin, M McIver (1-0); R Wilson, G McKinless, D Lawn; Kevin McGuckin, J Conway (0-2); D McKinless (0-1), Kevin Moss McGuckin, D McGuckin (0-2); C Devlin (0-3, 1f), R Bell, C Gilligan (0-3, 2f). Subs: E Muldoon for K McGuckin, A Devlin (0-1) for Lawn, D Conway (0-1) for M McIvor, R Wilkinson for C Devlin.

Glenswilly - P O'Donnell; B McDaid, J McFadden, C Kelly (0-1); E Ward, R Crawford, J P McDaid; N Gallagher, C Bonner; C Kelly (1-1), J Gibbons, M Murphy (1-3, 1'45); K McFadden, G McFadden, D McGinley (0-1). Subs: A McDevitt for J McFadden, B Farrelly for K McFadden, B Molloy for J McDaid, L Kelly for J Gibbons, R Diver for R Crawford.

Referee - P Hughes. Tweet

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