Ulster Club Football Championship blown wide open after weekend of sesmic shocks

Last season’s Ulster club champions Errigal Ciaran bowed out on a weekend when Clann Éireann, Crossmaglen, Glen and Cargin were also beaten

It started with Madden on Friday night and finished with Trillick on Sunday evening. One-by-one, a host of leading contenders for the Ulster Club Championship were tumbled. Three defending county champions lost their titles while two other former All-Ireland winners crashed out on a glorious weekend for the underdog.

Of the top eight teams in the betting to win the Seamus McFerran Cup this winter, only three remain as holders Errigal Ciaran, Glen, Clann Éireann, Crossmaglen and Slaughtneil all lost out in their respective county championships.

Perennial Antrim winners Cargin lost out to Dunloy, who won their first Antrim SFC title since 1936.

The weekend began with a surprise rather than a shock as Madden ended a run of three successive semi-final loses by beating Clann Éireann.

In the grand scheme of things, the result wasn’t as big an upset as some of the other results across the province as the defending Armagh champions were minus the services of county star Barry McCambridge.

Still, Madden weren’t being tipped to reach their first county final since 1998, but a point within 10 seconds from Niall Grimley set the tone for a famous win, although they were indebted to goalkeeper Jamie Sheridan for making a fine save in stoppage-time to deny Conor Turbitt from scoring what would have been a match-winning goal.

When Cullyhanna fell nine points behind to Crossmaglen, they would have been a huge price in running.

Yet, they managed to salvage a win in the most dramatic of circumstances with a brace of Aidan Nugent two-pointers helping them over the line against their neighbours.

Again, the 2022 and 2023 county champions had a last-gasp chance to win the game, but Rian O’Neill dropped his two-point free attempt short of the posts and St Pat’s held on for a famous win.

A new name will be on the Gerry Fagan Cup at the end of the month when Cullyhanna meet Madden.

Glen have enjoyed remarkable success in recent time, culminating in their brilliant All-Ireland club victory in 2024. They lost out to Newbridge in the Derry final last season in what was Malachy O’Rourke’s final game before taking up the reins with Tyrone.

Under the guidance of former Donegal star Rory Kavanagh, they were heavily tipped to regain the John McLoughlin Cup and were as short as 9/2 to win a third Ulster title in four years.

However, they were completely outplayed and outclassed by a rampant Magherafelt side with Gavin Devlin’s men claiming a 10-point win to set up a meeting with holders Newbridge next Sunday.

Despite being the defending champions, Sean O’Leary’s were also underdogs against Slaughtneil, but they too upset the odds, winning 0-21 to 1-16 at Owenbeg on Sunday afternoon.

Perhaps the biggest shock in Ulster was at Corrigan Park on Sunday. Cargin were bidding for their seventh in eight seasons this afternoon and a fourth successive title.

Dunloy, a proud dual club, have enjoyed remarkable success in hurling in recent times, completing a four-in-a-row between 2018 and 2022.

Led by captain Seaan Elliott, who scored 1-8, they started with a brilliant Keelan Molloy two-pointer and were relentless from the first to the last minute with Cargin scoring two late two-pointers from the McCann brothers Mick and Tomás to reduce the gap to a more respective seven points.

A weekend of shocks and surprises ended with Errigal Ciaran losing their Tyrone and Ulster crowns in Omagh.

It is 20 years since a team retained the O’Neill Cup and that record will remain for at least one more year after Trillick claimed a 1-12 to 1-11 win in O’Neills Healy Park.

Trillick might not be underdogs in the truest meaning of the word, having been champions themselves as recently as 2023, but they were around 15/8 to win on Sunday.

All eyes will now be on Carryduff this Sunday as they seek to end Kilcoo’s reign as Down senior football champions with the Magpies bidding for seventh title in eight years and a 13th win in the last 14 seasons.