SHELMALIERS AVENGED their defeat in the equivalent hurling final when beating GlynnBarntown to take the Captain Michael Baker Under-21 football Premier championship title in Wexford Park on Tuesday of last week.

It was all about excellent defensive work as the Over the Water side swarmed around their opponents at every chance, determined not to allow the likes of Mark Fanning, and later Michael O'Regan, the space in which they can thrive.

André O'Brien put in the usual captain's performance to keep first Seán Fortune, and then Fanning, quiet, while they only ever looked like getting caught out once, when Craig Doyle played Fanning into the clear in the second-half, but Shane Birney was on hand to get palms on the ball and shove it away out of play.

At the other end it wasn't always pretty. GlynnBarntown defended well to an extent, but their inability to pick up runners coming from deep was eventually their downfall, with several scores coming from men arriving late on the scene.

The game took a while to settle down, with the sides just feeling each other out in the opening twelve scoreless minutes. Yet once Kevin Quigley was adjudged to have picked the ball off the ground and Conor Byrne chipped over the resulting free, the Shelmaliers went on a scoring run.

Byrne added another placed ball when GlynnBarntown were penalised for not passing the required distance for a free before both wingbacks got in on the act. Liam Donnelly sent over a booming effort from just inside the '50 and Benny Barron latched on to a James Gordon layoff to send his side 0-4 to nil ahead after 19 minutes.

Finally Glynn-Barntown got their act together as three points in four minutes got them within one. Fanning added a brace of frees and also combined brilliantly with Fortune to give Alan Cowman the opportunity to grab a point.

The brief scoring spurt was the sum of their first-half efforts as Shels finished the half strong to take control. A foul on Joe Kelly allowed Byrne to slot his third free, and a minute later Kelly got on the scoresheet himself, reacting quickest when Stephen Corrigan's effort crashed down off the right upright.

That same pole was pinging again moments later as Gordon's shot careered off it just above the joining to the crossbar, but again he wouldn't be denied long as he scored from 35 metres two minutes later. Byrne added his fourth free of the half in injury time to send his side in at the break up by five (0-8 to 0-3), leaving their opponents with a big hill to climb.

They made a bright start too, pegging it back slightly, with Michael O'Regan grabbing a quick point after the re-start. Another eleven minutes without a score was ended by Fanning pointing another free and all of sudden GlynnBarntown were within three.

Substitute Eoin Doyle started and finished a move involving Kelly and Byrne less than 60 seconds after he had jogged onto the pitch before Fanning missed that only real goal chance in the match (0-9 to 0-5).

His free in the 49th minute again cut the deficit to three, but it didn't last long as Kelly latched onto a wayward Byrne placed ball to loop over his second minor.

A fifth Fanning point followed when well found by Craig Doyle, but both were lucky to stay on the field after a brawl erupted involving upwards of 20 players.

That distraction took the sting out of any Glynn-Barntown fightback, and Byrne and Benny Barron put Shelmaliers five ahead, their largest lead since just after half-time, with minors just before the end of normal time (012 to 0-7).

Their opponents kept piling forward and got one last score through Craig Doyle, but it wasn't enough to prevent Shels skipper André O'Brien picking up the cup on behalf of his side.

- DEAN GOODISON in Wexford Park