By Francis Mooney
Niall Conlon’s courage made Moy’s day. He took the big hits and came back for more, unflinching and unwavering in his pursuit of a provincial dream.
The Tír na nóg centre back had the game of his life on the biggest day of his career, and it doesn’t come much better than that.
Throwing himself into every challenge, committing to every tackle, covering space and organising those around him, Conlon was the man around whom Moy’s Ulster Club IFC triumph was built.
They had just a point to spare in a tight and tense decider against Rostrevor, but that slender margin was priceless in the end.
“Just take a look at the scenes around you, what it means to everybody in the club, not just to the 15 boys on the field and the other fifteen on the bench. It means just as much to the community,” Conlon said as the throngs of jubilant supporters spilled on to the Athletic Grounds playing surface following the final whistle.
“We have had some tough days, but to see scenes like this is absolutely brilliant.”
Conlon was on the receiving end of a couple of shuddering collisions in the first half, both of which earned his opponents yellow cards.
But he picked himself up and grew stronger as the game progressed.
And in the closing stages, when Moy were protecting a one point lead against 13-man Rostrevor with a high-risk strategy of possession football, he was a steadying influence.
“It was dangerous football. When a team goes down a man or two, they step things up themselves, and it showed the great character that that Rostrevor team has. They fought tooth and nail to get here, the same way as we did, and it just showed there at the end with them also, they were just unfortunate that there can only be one winner.”
Early on, it was the Down champions who had the upper hand, having successfully curtailed Moy’s danger men with carefully considered match-ups.
But after going three points behind, the Tyrone men found another gear to go level at half-time.
“They kept our men very quiet, and we knew that at half-time. We just came back and scored the last two points to get in level at half-time.
“We weren’t happy with our display in the first half, but we knew we had a lot more in the tank. We had a lot more to do and a lot more to give.”
Rostrevor came strong in the final 10 minutes, despite the dismissal of two players, but with the Cavanagh brothers, Colm and Sean, dropping back to help out a hard-pressed defence, the Tír na nóg men were in a good place.
“In the heat of the moment, when the ball is kicked into the square, when you know you have men like Colm and Sean around you, men that can catch it and drive out with it, and surge up the field, it’s a great thing to have. It’s unbelievable what those men can do.”
Conlon isn’t ready to turn his thoughts to an All-Ireland semi-final, but as they prepare for an extended break from action, the Moy men will reflect on the contribution of managers Audi Kelly and Gavin McGilly.
“Audi and Gavin have done a great job with us all year, they put in some hard hours with us throughout the year and they have been absolutely fantastic. We’ll look forward to the new year.”
