OB Construction Intermediate Football Championship Final
Saturday 11th October
Report by Niall Kelly from Dunsilly
Naomh Eargnait, Muine Glás 0-14 Pádraig Sáirseil CLG 0-08
Moneyglass are the Antrim Intermediate Football Champions for 2025 courtesy of a six-point victory in the latest instalment of their rivalry with familiar foes, Sarsfields. As finals so often can be, this one was somewhat a war of attrition with both tactically deployed to stifle the other. The difference in the end was the battle in the middle third and it was the men in blue and yellow who dominated under both kickouts as their triumph was well and truly forged in their engine room with Ferghal Duffin, Seanchan Duffin and Kevin McCann winning countless possession and breaks to provide the fulcrum for attacks. With frees proving the source of half the Moneyglass tally and five from eight of the Sarsfields total, scores were hard-earned in this one and again further illustrates the combative nature of the game.
In the opening quarter, there wasn’t much to separate the sides. Both showed glimpses of their best offensively, but the final touch was often eluding them. It was Moneyglass who drew first blood and established a three-point lead after ten minutes as their captain and talisman Colum Duffin notched all three thanks to two from the placed ball followed by a curling effort from play.
Sarsfields had been huffing and puffing but were finding it hard to make their efforts count on the scoreboard. Towering midfielder Cormac Murray remedied this with a fantastic two pointer from beyond the arc to cut the gap to the minimum on the twelfth minute before Garry Lennon tapped over a free from close range to square things up.
The Paddies’ tails were up now but they struggled in maintaining possession with Moneyglass so prolific under both kickouts. One such high field in the middle third on the twentieth minute enabled Tiernan McCormick to embark on one of his trademark bustling runs. The young number five evaded tackles all around before angling over to retake the lead.
The Stewartstown Road men were inches from an emphatic reply as Sé Ferris catapulted Brian Healy through on goal. The Sarsfields ace opted to take his shot at goal early as it agonisingly dragged just wide of Jamie McLaughlin’s left post. Moments later, the South-West Antrim side pounced again as Seanchan Duffin negotiated just enough space to fire over from close range.
With the game approaching the interval, momentum was very much in Moneyglass’ favour as they endeavoured to keep their opponents camped in their own half. Their ability under the high ball in midfield was coming up trumps again, providing the source for a further two frees to be won which Aidan McErlain made no mistake in converting.
With Paul Burn’s short whistle imminent, Sarsfields sought to make a dent in the deficit. Again, it was Brian Healy causing problems with his direct running. After being brought down in a promising position, he took on the responsibility of tapping over the resulting free before the teams retreated under the stone tunnel with Moneyglass 0-07 to 0-04 to the good at the break.
The Belfast side knew they needed to be a bit more potent in front of the posts to have any chance of opening the door for a comeback. They started the second half with a real spring in their step as Healy assumed free-taking duties again to arrow over before Daniel Smyth put the finishing touches on a flowing move involving Tomas Skillen and Caolan McKernan.
With the gap back to the minimum, all signs appeared that an intriguing battle was in proposition for the final twenty minutes. However, this failed to materialise as that really was as good as it would get from a Sarsfields perspective. Their opponents would dominate the next fifteen minutes and again it was their ability to constantly emerge with the ball under the kickout which really was the winning of the game and in this case, trophy.
Centre forward, Aidan McErlain found his bearings for the second period with a perfectly flighted free before Sean Boyd blasted over from close range. The young number ten though could easily have seen the net ripple but just got too much elevation on his effort. The signs were ominous though for the men in green and black as Moneyglass began to purr. The Loughbeg side would hit the next five scores in succession as the game entered the final five minutes.
Frees from Duffin and McErlain further extended the lead before the former embraced his captain’s role by grabbing two fine scores from play. A feature of Moneyglass’ season has certainly been the devastating pace at which they attack, Tiernan McCormick showcased this string to their bow once again with a surging run from deep before fisting over to surely seal victory with his side now eight up with four minutes remaining.
Sarsfields now had to respond with haste and desperately needed to find a goal from somewhere. The dismissal of Matthew Mullan for the men in blue gave them a little more impetus going forward but not enough. Healy pointed from a close range free to cut the gap to seven before he called Jamie McLaughlin into action. A slaloming run forward paved an opening for a shot at goal but the Moneyglass number one thwarted the Sarsfields dangerman with a superb fingertip save. There was just enough time on the clock for Healy to convert once again from a free before the final whistle.
Congratulations to Moneyglass on their achievement. With Sarsfields pipping them to the Division Two title, this one was always going to have a real edge to it. Both sides were imperious throughout their respective league and championship campaigns, and it seemed fitting that they would meet again for the decider. Both will ply their trade at the top table of Antrim Football next year and a new chapter in their conflict awaits in Division One.
Teams:
Moneyglass:
J McLaughlin; M Mullan, Z McCaughan, J McCormick; T McCormick (0-02,) P Duffin, C McCann; K McCann, S Duffin (0-01;) S Boyd (0-01,) A McErlain (0-04,) F Duffin; C O’Kane, C Duffin (0-06,) T Cassidy
Sarsfields:
M Brady; M McPolin, J McNally, C McDonnell; P McPeake, L Mitchell, C Loughran; C Murray (0-02 – 1 t.p,) C McKernan; T Skillen, D Smyth (0-01,) S Ferris; G Lennon (0-01,) C Glenholmes, B Healey (0-04)
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