McMahon the hero as Magheracloone secure crown in style
palm home. That was followed in the next breadth by an Ethan O’Donnell high ball in. Kieran Gallagher kept it in play and it fell to Charles McGuinness who stepped over Kilcoo goalkeeper Martin McCourt to tap home.
Just over a minute later Naomh Conaill compiled a neat move along the endline and Ciaran Thompson crossed in and while Gallagher tried a backheel, it popped up to McKelvey to roof a shot to the net, leaving the half-time score with just a point in it to the Down men, 1-8 to 2-4.
At that point, you might imagine some choice words being deployed in the Healy Park dressing rooms. Not so.
Mickey Moran is not a man given to rants and according to selector Conleith Gilligan, all was serene before they went back out.
“For 26 minutes we were brilliant and then conceded two bad goals,” the former Derry player reasoned.
“That’s not unusual, we’ve done that before. Half time was actually really calm, it was the calmest I’ve seen Mickey in a long time because he knew the performance was very good and if we could do a bit more of that in the second half we knew we had the beating of them in the full-forward line.”
So having built up a lead and frittered it away, Kilcoo set
MANOFTHEMATCH
Conor Laverty (Kilcoo): From the overall tally of 2-11 scored by Kilcoo, Laverty (right) had a direct hand in 2-6 of it. Over the last 100 minutes of Championship football, Kilcoo have hit only three wides. When you have players as clever as Laverty orchestrating things, you are halfway to victory in every game. Got a delightful point five minutes into the second half in his best performance of the year.
TALKING POINT
Mickey Moran (Kilcoo): How do you even square the circle of a man like Moran? We are racking our brains to think of one, but we are fairly certain no one manager has dominated a club provincial Championship in the manner he has. And to move club in the middle of it shows what elusive quality he has.
MAGIC MOMENT
Kilcoo’s first goal: An exceptional example of how a goal can be scored through a maze of defenders, with quick hand passing and superb vision to put Aidan Branagan in.
REF WATCH
Sean Hurson (Tyrone): Did a great job on the day. Helped immensely that both teams did not bring a great deal of niggle to the table.
MATCH STATS
WIDES
Kilcoo: 3 (one in first half) Naomh Conaill: 5 (one in first half)
FREES
about stretching it out again. Ryan McEvoy nailed a pressure free. Laverty got a ball down the wing from the creative Devlin and sent marker Kevin McGettigan sprawling on the turf trying to read his jinks, before curling over a pretty point.
And then another goal. Once again, Daryl Branagan was at the source of it and when they looked to be penned in along the endline, they opened up space for Branagan to carry. He remained calm and took a bounce that left Naomh Conaill goalkeeper Stephen McGrath committed and
Kilcoo: 10 (first in first half) Naomh Conaill: 21 (nine in first half)
YELLOW CARDS
Kilcoo: 3 — N McEvoy (3m), Aidan Branagan (44m), D Ward (61m)
Naomh Conaill: 2 — E McGettigan (4m), C McGuinness (43m)
BLACK CARDS
Kilcoo: 1 — R McEvoy (64m)
Naomh Conaill: 1 — A Thompson (67m)
REDCARDS Kilcoo: 0 Naomh Conaill:
ATTENDANCE
4,785
0
WHAT’S NEXT
Kilcoo now will face the winners of the Leinster club football final this Sunday between Ballyboden St Enda’s of Dublin, or else Carlow champions Eire Og, that game slated for the first weekend of January. They will be going light on the goose fat spuds around Kilcoo this Christmas.
on the floor when he laced home past two defenders on the line.
Seven points in it, 20 minutes to go. Naomh Conaill had peppered Kilcoo’s full-back line with high ball all day but suddenly it lost all effectiveness.
The side that beat Clontibret in the semi-final with a clever running game tried to impose themselves just as they had done in Donegal.
They changed tack. Brendan McDyer hit one from distance. Thompson clipped over two frees and Ethan O’Donnell and Anthony Thompson registered from out the field.
They just ran out of time. The final score finished with another spectacular effort from Daryl Branagan.
The impossible was made possible.
Magheracloone Galbally 1-15 0-13
FROM wandering nomads to high kings of Ulster.
Magheracloone’s transformation could hardly be more dramatic as the south Monaghan club emerged from the most traumatic period in their history to carry off the provincial intermediate club football title in stunning fashion at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh.
Left homeless after a collapsed mine devastated their headquarters a year ago, James Kieran’s side dug deep into a seemingly bottomless well of will power and effort to thunder into the All-Ireland semi-finals.
It was perhaps fitting that Kieran should have best encapsulated a riveting contest that was played on the front foot by both teams from start to finish.
“It was hard, fast and entertaining throughout — the way Gaelic football should be played with not a dirty stroke.
“Galbally are a serious footballing side and they really put it up to us,” declared Kieran.
But while more than happy to embrace success, a string of first-half wides tended to undermine the winners’ confidence although three points from the irrepressible Tommy Freeman and a brace from the lightning-fast Padraig McMahon helped to bolster their 0-8 to 0-6 interval advantage with Daniel Kerr, Seamus Og Mulgrew and Ronan Nugent (above) epitomising the
Tyrone side’s resistance.
It was in the 49th minute of the tussle that Magheracloone put one hand firmly on the trophy when McMahon scorched in from the right wing before planting the ball past a helpless Liam Og MacAuley in the Galbally goal.
From then on, Magheracloone began to play with a swagger, McMahon and Allan Kieran nullifying a superb brace of points by Galbally substitute Michael Murphy and another from Seamus Og Mulgrew.
Disappointed Galbally manager John Moylan was philosophical at the finish.
“I think we have been on a great journey.
“We have played positive football at full tilt and I know that even neutrals have been impressed by what they have seen from us.
“My lads gave their all in this final as they did in every game,” said Cork native Moylan.
Galbally: LOg MacAuley; A Carberry, K McCrory, S Hurson; L Rafferty 0-2, R Nugent 0-1, S Og Mulgrew 0-2; C Quinn, E McGarrity 0-1; M Donnelly, D Kerr 0-4 (4f), C Donnelly; S Murphy 0-1, C Donaghy, D Murphy. Subs: M Lennon for Hurson (37), M Murphy 0-2 for Donaghy (44), F McGarrity for M Donnelly (53), Conor Donnelly for Carberry (53), P Rafferty for S Murphy (60).
Magheracloone: D Kirk; M Jones, P Ward, P McArdle; C McKeown, J Ward 0-1, K Rudden; J Kieran, G Doogan 0-1; B Kieran 0-1, A Kieran 0-3, P McMahon 1-4; A McCahey, M Metzger, T Freeman 0-4. Subs: J Doogan for McKeown (30), R Farrelly 0-1 for McCahey (half-time), L Og Murray for Metzger (56), J Lambe for B Kieran (59), N Marren for Freeman (61).
Referee: K Faloon (Armagh).