By Shaun Casey
RAMOR United picked up their first Division One league title since 1996 when they convincingly saw off Gowna by six points on Saturday evening. It’s their fourth ever top tier title, adding to the collection of the back-to-back glory in 19851986.
Two goals from Eoin Somerville and another major from Conor Bradley set Ramor on their way and all three goal came inside the opening half, giving Ramor an eight-point lead by the interval.
Having saw off Crosserlough in the league semi-finals by just two-points (1-9 to 0-10) Ramor were arguably the underdogs coming into the decider against the two in a row Senior Championship winners Gowna, who comfortably saw off Cavan Gaels in their last four clash.
Gowna, who were crowned league champions three years ago, the same year Ramor United collected the championship title for the fifth time in their history, battled back in the second half to make a real game of it.
But the eventual champions kept their opponents at arm’s length despite their comeback and ended their long wait for a Division One league crown.
Ballinagh saw off Lavey in the Division Two decider and like the topflight showpiece, it was a case of goals win games. Tristan Graham, Niall O’Reilly and Niall McDermott all rattled the net in their 3-9 to 0-13 victory, with two coming late in the game.
Ballinagh saw off Killygarry by the minimum of margins in the semi-final two weeks ago but could breathe a little easier at the full-time whistle last Saturday evening when they were five-points up, with McDermott making sure of the win with an injury goal.
The sides were all square at the interval, with Graham’s goal the score 1-5 to 0-8 but two second half goals saw the league title head to Ballinagh for 2024.
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