Lisdowney 0-17
Bennettsbridge 0-6
Lisdowney strolled with effortless ease as they landed their third Northern Junior title with a crushing comprehensive trashing over a poor Bennettsbridge outfit.
Playing with the aid of a first-half breeze, Bennettsbridge were fortunate to trail by only a solitary point at the interval 0-6 to 0-5, as Lisdowney were playing with far greater purpose.
Bennettsbridge by contrast, were sluggish and slow, as they played with no penetration and the more Lisdowney extended their lead throughout the second-half, the bridge heads dropped alarmingly as they stood off challenges, and they were fortunate not to be defeated by a far greater margin, as Lisdowney could have won by anything up to 30 points as Bennettsbridge barely got out of first gear.
Lisdowney opened the scoring with points from Rory Hickey (2 frees ) and David Dowling, before Gary Hayes opened Bennettsbridge’s account in the 7th minute.
Rory Hickey added a point following a terrific sideline effort by Eddie Hickey, before Brian Lannon added a point in the 13th minute. 0-4 to 0-2.
Eddie Hickey and Gareth Hickey exchanged points, before Jonathan Cleere and Nicky Cleere (free ) levelled matters approaching half-time.
Rory Hickey pointed a free from distance as Lisdowney led 0-6 to 0-5 at the interval.
James McGarry added a point early in the second-half to level matters, before Lisdowney dominated and bossed matters afterwards as they added 11 unanswered points.
The exceptional Sean Phelan produced a five-star performance as he scored 0-4 of the highest order.
Centre-back Martin Phelan began a scoring spree, while further points from the industrious Peter Bergin, substitute Eoin Delahunty, Rory Hickey(3 1 free ) and also one from the magnificent Eddie Hickey.
It was a day to remember for Lisdowney as they celebrated a famous success, and despite Bennettsbridge’s failings, one can’t take away from the excellence of Lisdowney’s performance.
Goalkeeper Niall Grogan was commanding between the sticks. While the defence was led splendidly by the authoritative Brian Purcell, while Martin Phelan, Niall O’Hara and the hard-working Peter Bergin worked like trojans throughout the hour.
County minor Rory Hickey was five-star at full-forward and he was aided by namesake Eddie who pulled the strings at centre-forward, while Sean Phelan scored 0-4 in the second-half in a superb individual display.
Scorers – Lisdowney: Rory Hickey 0-7(0-3 frees ), Sean Phelan 0-4, Eddie Hickey 0-2, Peter Bergin and David Dowling 0-1.
Bennettsbridge: Garreth Hickey, Jonathan Cleere, James McGarry, Nickey Cleere( free ), Gary Hayes and Brian Lannon all 0-1 each.
