It's a hard to put into words what victory means to a team, parish or community. Sometimes you simply have be there to witness it for yourself. Last Sunday's County Final triumph is definitely fall into that illustrious category. The outpouring of emotion after 33 years of failed attempts and near misses coupled the events of the last 18 months was pure euphoria for all present.
The match itself began in a whirlwind fashion with goal chances at either end inside sixty seconds, firstly the ball kindly to U20 star Billy Seymour who while bearing down on goal unleashed a rasper of a shot which was blocked on to the crossbar and then the post before the ball was eventually being scrambled clear. The ball was then played long down into the far right corner to Kevin Maher who danced past Decky McGrath before racing toward the Kiladangan goal, his shot was expertly blocked by Alan Flynn resulting in the ball being played to Tipp Football star Dan O'Meara who struck over a fantastic long range point from under the Kinane Stand. A big score for the Kiladangan men.
The lads responded fantastically rattling off three scores on the trot with strikes from JD Devaney and Jerry Kelly along with a Kevin Maher free. Willie Connors accuracy from placed balls got the Kiladangan men back on level terms before two excellent long range scores from centre back Brendan Maher and Dan McCormack put us 0-05 to 0-03 after the opening quarter. The game continued to ebb and flow in what was a tentative first half, another fine Devaney score along with another Maher free kept the margin at two.
A fine Jerry Kelly score from in front of the dugouts extended our lead out to three before one the games defining moments. A booming James McCormack puckout to the left hand sideline under Ardán O'Riain broke off Conor Kenny to the onrushing JD Devaney who somehow managed to evade the grasp of three Kiladangan defenders before darting towards the opposition goal, his initial shot was blocked before he expertly doubled on the rebound in to the bottom corner past Barry Hogan. He pointed again three minutes later to put us firmly in the driving seat as we lead 1-09 to 0-07 at the break
Devaney took his high impressive tally to 1-04 for the day with another excellent score to push the gap out to six. But the Kiladangan men weren't going anywhere fast, a long ball forward broke behind our full back line into the path of the onrushing Dan O'Meara who flicked the ball past James McCormack into the corner of the net. Game on. The lads responded brilliantly once more getting the next two scores, firstly from a well struck Brendan Maher free followed by a fantastic individual score from Niall Kenny. The scoreboard reading 1-12 to 1-07 after 40 minutes.
Another Kevin Maher free maintained our lead before another of the games definitive moments. Kiladangan were awarded a penalty with thirteen minutes after a tug on Sean Hayes inside the large rectangle. Up stepped goalkeeper Barry Hogan who struck a fine shot down to the left hand side of the goal producing a second top drawer save of the afternoon from James McCormack. Willie Connors dispatched the resulting '65 to leave three between the them going into the last ten. A point from substitute Andy Loughnane put two between but the lads showed the form of champions to finish up with two big scores firstly from Jerry Kelly followed by a long range Brendan Maher free under enormous pressure. After three tense minutes injury minutes referee Fergal Horgan finally blew the final whistle to bridge 33 long years and seal our 7th County Title.
After the all the pandemonium on the field the players eventually climbed the steps of Ardán O'Riain where joint captains Sean McCormack and Conor Kenny raised Dan Breen high, a just reward for both players and supporters alike.
Team and Scorers:
James McCormack
Seamus Burke, Paddy Stapleton, Liam Ryan
Sean McCormack, Brendan Maher (0-03(0-02f)), Ray McCormack
Tommy Ryan, Dan McCormack (0-01)
Kieran Maher, Niall Kenny (0-01), Conor Kenny
Kevin Maher (0-03(0-03f)), Jerry Kelly (0-03), JD Devaney (1-04)
Subs Used: Jack Hogan for Tommy Ryan.
