Two clubs from very different settings enjoyed historic success in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon in two very different styles, as Steelstown Brian Ógs and Kilmeena were crowned the AIB Intermediate and Junior club football champions.
Steelstown Brian Ógs, founded as recently as 1987 and winners of their first ever Derry Intermediate title this year, were always in control of their contest with Trim, eventually prevailing by 3-14 to 2-05 despite conceding an early goal to Aaron Lynch and losing Eoghan Concannon to a red card early in the second half.
Ben McCarron, Cahir McMonagle, and Eoghan Bradley all racked up the scores for the Derry City club as they moved 0-10 1-02 clear by half-time, and that lead could have been even more extensive but for a high number of wides, particularly in the second quarter of the game. However the pace, movement and interplay of Steelstown was such that the chances kept coming.
They added the first score of the second half but then were forced to deal with Concannon's dismissal, which they did in fine style.
Ben McCarron played in Eoghan Bradley, who was then dragged down for a penalty, and McMonagle was decisive and emphatic from the resultant penalty, hammering it to the roof of the net.
Two minutes later Steelstown effectively put the game to bed with their second goal of the match when McCarron cut in from the right and curled a beauty of a shot into the top left corner to push his team 2-11 to 1-04 clear.
Trim, who were just the third ever Leinster club to reach the final of this competition, by now realised that the wait for a first ever All-Ireland champion at this grade from the eastern province was going to continue, but they kept plugging away and got some reward when Eoin O’Connor finished a soccer-style goal, though Emmet Deane replied in kind for Steelstown to ensure a double-figure margin by the end.
The junior decider was a completely different contest, with Kilmeena of Mayo overcoming a fancied Gneeveguilla side by 0-11 to 1-06 after extra time, Joey Smyth and Darragh Keaveny kicking the winning points in the second extra period of ten minutes.
Gneeveguilla travelled to Croke Park looking to become the seventh Munster club in succession to win this competition, and the sixth Kerry club in that period to be crowned All-Ireland champions.
At 0-04 to 0-03 ahead at half-time, Seán O’Keeffe and Pa Warren were moving well for the Kerry club in the half-lines, but Jack Carney was the game’s dominant influence and he really took over after half-time when the West Mayo village moved three points clear by the end of the hour, with Keaveny leading the scoring charge.
Goalkeeper Paul Groden had been called into action a few times, most notably to deny Shane Sullivan, but he couldn’t stop Pádraig Doyle from blasting the ball to the net in the second minute of added time for force a draw, and 20 additional minutes.
In the end however, it was merely glory delayed rather than glory denied for Kilmeena, who became the first ever Mayo club to win this championship.
