Tír Chonaill Gaels 0-13 North London Shamrocks 3-07
Two goals from Michael O'Reilly helped North London Shamrocks defend their London Senior Football Championship title as they beat Tir Chonaill Gaels in the London decider 3-7 to 0-13.
Played against the backdrop of the west London wind and rain, it was a thoroughly enjoyable final that could have gone either way.
North London Shamrocks were the side that struck the first couple of blows when Ben McKenna opened the scoring with a point inside the opening minute, before Joe McGill doubled the north Londoners' lead moments later.
Tir Chonaill Gaels responded well to their opponents' fast start with a Shaun Wogan point and a Calum Gardiner free, following a defensive breach, levelled things.
However, North London Shamrocks would soon wrestle back the lead when Michael Carroll put them back in front with eight minutes on the clock gone. Things would get even better for the Shamrocks when Joe McGill's free got a touch from O'Reilly and nestled in the Gaels' net.
The experienced Liam Gavaghan offered a reply after his side went four points down. Still, TCG would soon find themselves six points down after North London Shamrocks broke away and attacked, and Daniel Clarke was then given time and space and gobbled up the chance to put his side further ahead with an emphatic finish.
However, following a McGill free, TCG dominated the final 10 minutes of the first-half and found themselves right back in the game thanks to the pair of Gardiner and Gavaghan, which included a lovely two-pointer free from Gardiner, while the former London captain Gavaghan made it a one-point game by the half-time whistle with the defending champions NLS leading 2-04 to 0-09.
Ciaran Diver helped Shamrock start the second-half well when he pushed their lead with a nicely taken point, and things would get better for the reigning champions moments later.
A poor TCG kickout was swiftly punished when O'Reilly was fed the ball and burst the net for the second time to grab a third goal for Peter Witherow's men.
Josh Crowley-Holland was then perhaps lucky to stay on the field after his late challenge on Liam Kelly with just over 10 minutes in the second-half gone, receiving a yellow card from referee Mark Hanley to the astonishment of the north London Shamrocks support.
TCG would have hoped to have come out all guns blazing after half-time after their impressive finish to the first set of 30 minutes but remarkably only scored their first point of the half 16 minutes through Gavaghan.
Crowley-Holland then made up for his moment of madness with another Gaels point, while O'Reilly topped up the NLS tally following the two scores for the Gaels.
With six minutes on the clock remaining, TCG weren't going away and once again brought themselves back into the game with a Gallagher point and a Gardiner free; the gap between the two teams was suddenly two points.
It looked for a brief period like that North London Shamrocks were in danger of throwing the final away.
You have to dig deep to win a county title, and that's exactly what North London Shamrocks did as they controlled the remaining few minutes. A McGill free put three between them and TCG, which allowed them to breathe a little easier, especially when they saw Gallagher's free from two-pointer range sail wide deep into the five minutes of injury-time.
A second title a year after their senior maiden title in 2024 means the London club will now take on the winner of the Mayo Senior Football Championship final between Westport and Ballina in the Connacht championship.
Tir Chonaill Gaels: Jake Turley; David O'Donnell, Aidan McGarvey, Ryan McCready; Conor Halloran, Ernan McDonagh, Daragh Moran; Kevin Rafferty, Liam Gallagher (0-01); Kieran Clarke, Shaun Wogan (0-01), James Boyle; Calum Gardiner (0-06, 4f, 1tpf), Josh Crowley-Holland (0-01), Liam Gavaghan (0-04)
Tir Chonaill Gaels substitutes: Ciaran McKeon for Kieran Clarke (38'), Brendan Rice for David O’Donnell (50’), Ryan Kearney for Shaun Wogan (59’)
North London Shamrocks: Ronan McGeehin, Conor McKelvey, Ben McKenna (0-01), Eoin Flanagan; Daniel Clarke (1-00), Marc Friel, Liam Kelly; Liam Murphy, Michael Carroll (0-01); Tom Lenihan, Joe McGill (0-03, 2f), Michael Miller; Ciaran Diver (0-01), Michael O’Reilly (2-01), Darragh Spillane
North London Shamrocks substitutes: Rory Morrin for Darragh Spillane (27’), Nathan McElwaine for Liam Murphy (35’), Paddy Dolan for Liam Kelly (44’), Adam Dunne (45’)
Referee: Mark Hanley (Cú Chulainns)
