All-Ireland Club SFC final: Glen (Derry) 2-10 St Brigid’s (Roscommon) 1-12
CONOR Glass provided the inspiration as Glen buried last year’s anguish to capture the All-Ireland senior club football title at Croke Park.
With Storm Isha approaching, conditions were wet and windy at Headquarters, but neither team was to be deterred from serving up a cracking contest.
It was St Brigid’s who settled quickest this afternoon, with Ben O’Carroll proving central to their play as they built up a 0-7 to 0-4 lead approaching the 30-minute mark. However, this was the cue for Glen’s Alex Doherty to set up Jody McDermott, who smashed the ball into the roof of the net to level the game.
At half-time, the sides were level, 1-5 to 0-8.
The Roscommon men were again fastest out of the traps following the break and were four in front within five minutes of the restart, Brian Derwin grabbing a goal and a point.
Glass settled Glen with a point but the game became scrappy and the Derry men couldn’t make any further dent in the Brigid’s lead. When Eddie Nolan pointed with 56 minutes on the clock to stretch the Brigid’s lead back to four, Glen fans may have been bracing themselves for more heartbreak.
But cometh the hour, cometh the man – Glass collected an awkward pass and let fly from just past the 21 to find the back of the Brigid’s net. That, coupled with a Michael Warnock point shortly before, had the game level.
Entering injury-time, Emmett Bradley and Conleth McGuckian made it a two-point game and, although Brigid’s managed to pull one back, a last-gasp Shane Cunnane free drifted wide and Glen were All-Ireland club champions for the first time ever.