Saturday, October 11 2008 was a red-letter day for St. Oliver Plunkett's, Greenlough who celebrated their first Derry intermediate football championship success since 1976 following a replay victory over Ballymaguigan. Here, midfielder and club chairman Paul Downey shares his memories on the triumph, and Greenlough's subsequent run to the Ulster club final. There were joyous scenes at Ballinascreen last October when St. Oliver Plunkett's, Greenlough were crowned Derry intermediate football champions for the first time in 32 years following their defeat of Ballymaguigan after a replay. Having been denied victory in the drawn match by a long-range injury-time free from former county star Gary Coleman, the Antrim-border club made no mistake at the second time of asking, with a first half scoring blitz paving the way for their 1-10 to 0-9 victory. Greenlough subsequently enjoyed an extended run in the Ulster club championship which ended with a narrow defeat to Tyrone champions Trillick in the provincial decider. "It was a marvellous year overall, despite it ending in disappointment," says Paul Downey, who doubles up as Greenlough chairman and midfielder. "We haven't had that much adult success down the years, so to win the intermediate championship was a huge thing for us. Unlike in most other counties, it didn't earn us promotion to the senior ranks, but 2009 is our 70th anniversary and we'll be hoping to mark it with promotion through to the league," he adds. Downey, who at 25 is one of the youngest, if not the youngest, chairman of any GAA club in the country, admits that promotion from Division 3 of the league had been the Plunkett's main objective at the start of the year. And while they were disappointed not to achieve this (they finished fourth), that was quickly forgotten about when they ended their long wait for championship honours. "Our aim was to gain league promotion and we were obviously disappointed when we missed out on that. But winning the championship more than compensated for that. There's talk about the county board changing the format which would see the intermediate champions get promoted, but it looks like we're going to be in Division 3 for another year and the aim again for the coming season has to be get out of that division and be playing at a higher level," he says. Greenlough's championship success was masterminded by manager Hugh Mulholland from Castledawson, coach Jude Donnelly from Bellaghy and selectors Patrick O'Neill and Anthony Letters. It was Mulholland's second coming as Greenlough manager, having previously had a three-year term in charge. Drawn in a group of four, the Plunkett's opened their campaign with a 1-12 to 0-7 victory over Slaughtmanus on May 11. This was followed by a 3-18 to 2-8 drubbing of Ogra Colmcille. Remarkably, this was the only time green flags were raised against the Greenlough men during the campaign. The red, whites and blacks secured their passage to the quarter-finals with a 2-8 to 0-8 victory over city side Faughanvale, who had competed in RTE's Celebrity Bainisteoir series earlier in the year. Corner forward Comac O'Neill kicked 0-7 in the 0-14 to 0-7 quarter-final win over Foreglen, while Enda Lynn's contribution of 1-2 proved all-important in the 'Lough's 1-9 to 0-10 semi-final defeat of a young Claudy side. The final, which took place at Celtic Park on October 4, pitted Greenlough against Ballymaguigan, who had recorded a surprise victory over Newbridge in the other semi-final. Ballymaguigan - the club of the late Eamonn Coleman - made the brighter start but Greenlough eventually settled down to play some good football and led 0-5 to 0-3 at half-time. While the sides were level on 0-6 each early in the second half, Greenlough began to dominate but were unable to translate it into scores and 1993 All-Ireland winner Gary Coleman ensured Ballymaguigan lived to fight another day when he made light of the wet and blustery conditions to slot over the equalising point from a 50-metre free in the second minute of injury-time. The replay was effectively won in the first half when the 'Lough outscored their opponents by 1-8 to 0-2. Ballymaguigan made a comeback in the second half and had reduced the deficit to just three points before Sean Mullan showed all his years of experience by fisting over the insurance score late on. Hugh Mulholland's charges came flying out of the starting blocks with Paul Downey's opening point being followed by the only goal from full forward Ciaran McCallion. Seamus Graham and Enda Lynn tagged on further scores to leave the 'Lough 1-3 to 0-0 in front after just six minutes. Ballymaguigan eventually opened their account in the ninth minute and Greenlough goalkeeper Vincent McDonnell was then forced to make the first of four vital saves. Two Lynn frees restored the winners' six-point advantage before three more points from Cormac O'Neill left them in a commanding position at the break. Despite having a player sent off late in the first half, Ballymaguigan resumed with four points within nine minutes to cut the gap to five. The St. Oliver Plunkett's men were beginning to lose their grip around midfield, and when the green and yellows got to within three points, the pressure was really on. But Greenlough steadied themselves in the final straight and the celebrations could begin when Mullan gave them valuable breathing space with his fisted effort in the closing stages. Amazingly, when Greenlough last won the intermediate championship in 1976, they also had four points to spare after a replay. Greenlough's first foray into the Ulster club intermediate championship resulted in a 0-11 to 0-9 victory over Armagh champions Cullyhanna. They continued their winning ways by accounting for Down's Annaclone on a 1-10 to 0-11 scoreline, but disappointment followed when they were beaten 0-7 to 0-8 by Trillick in the floodlit final at the redeveloped Athletic Grounds in Armagh, with Denis Connolly's late point giving the Tyrone champions the win. Greenlough also qualified for the intermediate championship reserve final, only to lose to Desertmartin. "The reserves only lost one game all year, which highlights the strength in depth that's in the club," explains Downey, who is a buyer with Patton Fit-Out, who have offices in Ballymena, Co. Antrim and Maynooth, Co. Kildare. Greenlough is the smallest parish in the Derry diocese, situated in the south-east of the county, close to the Antrim border. The club was formed by Michael Henry, Patrick Rankin and Louis Madden in 1939 and shares its ground - St. Oliver Plunkett's Park - with St. Columba's camogie club. St. Oliver Plunkett's Park was opened in 1984 - the GAA's Centenary Year - and host that year's county senior football final between Dungiven and Castledawson. The ground is one of the finest in Derry, consisting of a floodlit pitch, pavilion, dressing rooms, car park, press box and many more facilities. When Derry became the first team from the Six Counties to capture a National League title in 1947, Greenlough was represented by Thomas Edward McCloskey, Jimmy Cassidy and the McErlean brothers, Neil and Pat. In more recent times, the club has won numerous under 12, 14 and 16 leagues and championships, as well as several South Derry minor championships. There are three All-Ireland minor medal holders in the club - James Lynn (1989), and Ciaran McCallion and Martin Carey (both 2002). Enda Lynn, who was Greenlough's top scorer in last year's intermediate championship with 3-30, is regarded as a rising star of Derry football and recently broke into Damien Cassidy's senior squad. The Greenlough team and subs for the Derry IFC final replay were: Vincent McDonnell; Christopher Lagan, Gary Loughlin, Brian McCallion; Thomas McCann, Kevin McCann, Martin Carey(Capt); Niall Bradley, Paul Downey 0-1; Ruairi McGlinchey, John Og McPeake, Seamus Graham(Vice Capt) 0-1; Enda Lynn 0-4 (3f), Ciaran McCallion 1-0, Cormac O'Neill 0-3 (1f, 1 45). Subs: Damien McTeague for M Carey, Fintan Kelly for R McGlinchey, Sean Mullan 0-1 for P Downey; Ciaran Cassidy, Eugene Hutchinson, Joseph Kearney, Brian O'Neill, Michael Clarke, Fergal Clarke, Christopher Kearney, Paul Quinn, Darren Letters, Christopher Henry, John McCloy and Thomas McCloy. Tweet

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