CAN’T remember the All-Ireland senior club finals ever being as dramatic as what we witnessed on Saturday, with the winning teams in both the hurling and football scoring goals in the dying seconds of their games.
Regardless of how good or bad you have been, the beauty of Gaelic games is that if you stay within reach of your opponents, you always have a chance for victory and that is why both Ballygunner and Kilcoo where crowned All-Ireland champions.
This certainly wasn’t the Kilcoo performance most of us would have expected, particularly their first-half display, but their attitude to work hard and grind away as a team when the chips are down has to be admired.
Uncharacteristically, they kicked some bad wides in the first half and this could have been caused by nervousness because there was a weight of expectation on their shoulders or, indeed, it may have been caused by shooting into the Canal/Davin Stand end goals.
Some teams find it a bit more difficult to hit the target there than they do at the Hill 16 end. This is generally because of the full stand behind those goals, which makes it more difficult to read the target.
That’s my take on it anyway.
The winning of this game for Kilcoo was kick-started by an excellent clearance by Micheál Rooney to deny Craig Dias.
This moment will no doubt live long in the memories of Kilcoo supporters and will go down in folklore as the years go by.
If the chance hits the net, it is game over for Kilcoo, but Rooney’s block reminded them in a timely manner that this is the scenario they have thrived on over the last 15 years or so, and that it was time to correct the wrongs from 2020.
Like most goalkeepers nowadays, Niall Kane (right) has a great ability to step up and slot freekicks over the bar, but he got very lucky during Saturday’s final when his greatest ever miskick took a deflection and found its way to the Kilmacud net.
Kilcoo started to control play more efficiently and the nervousness from the first half was gone and once it was a close contest again, they knew they would always get that one chance.
I thought in the last minute of normal time, when the game was level, there was an opportunity for Kilcoo, but there was also a reluctance to risk taking a chance and concede possession to Kilmacud.
There were a few things about the lead-up to Jerome Johnston’s winning goal that, when you look back. were absolutely crazy from Kilmacud’s point of view.
The goalkeeper’s long clearance to concede possession to Kilcoo in a central position was madness. He would have been better holding onto possession and conceding a free for overcarrying to allow his side to get set up again.
‘Mickey Moran has suffered a lot of heartache in finals in the past at Croke Park with Mayo, Slaughtneil, and Kilcoo from two years ago, so it was a poignant moment to see him to go to the Hill 16 end and kiss the hallowed turf’
SHEALAN Johnston’s solo run should have been stopped at source as in those dying moments, you must do what you have to do to get the result.
If the shoe was on the other foot, you would have bet your life on it being stopped. His pass to his brother Ryan, though, was a touch of class.
How two of Kilcoo’s most dangerous forwards, Ryan and Jerome Johnston, were left unmarked inside is beyond me and there was only ever going to be one outcome once the ball was heroically blocked but found its way into Jerome’s hands.
Players dream of getting the winning score in an All-Ireland final, and Jerome Johnston can now add his name to the list of players who have lived that dream.
As a manager, Mickey Moran has suffered a lot of heartache in finals in the past at Croke Park with Mayo, Slaughtneil, and Kilcoo from two years ago, so it was a poignant moment to see him to go to the Hill 16 end and kiss the hallowed turf at the spot where the winning goal was scored.
He has achieved legendary status in Kilcoo and will go down as one of the great managers of all-time, particularly in the club scene.
All-Irelands don’t come around too easy and sometimes it takes years of endless effort and work to get you across the line.
Three years ago, myself and my family spent our holiday in Lake Garda, Italy.
Aidan Branagan and his family happened to be on the same flight over and back, and they stayed in the same resort as ourselves.
Everyday, I witnessed Aidan out running and doing his training. Just because he was on a family holiday, it did not deter him from trying to see out his end goal.
On Saturday, Aidan’s hard work paid off, as it did for everyone in Kilcoo.
