Killeshandra 1-10
Shercock 1-8

by Shane Corrigan
at Kingspan Breffni Park

A supreme second-half display proved just enough for Killeshandra to overcome Shercock this evening in an intriguing intermediate football championship final at Kingspan Breffni Park.

Stephen King's side recovered from a sluggish start that had them trailing by four at the halfway stage to produce their best football in the second period, which eventually saw them take (and hold on to) their first lead in injury-time through the deadly accuracy of Declan McKiernan.

Shercock's sizzling start looked to have them on course for victory as they ran up a 0-4 to nothing lead after 13 minutes and cancelled out Shane Murphy's goal with a sensational major of their own from Brian Sankey on the eve of half-time. Their opponents went about reducing their arrears from the 38th minute onwards via McKiernan's frees and a brace from centre-back Damien Higgins and were finally level with two minutes to go.

From there, McKiernan performed the heroics for the Leaguers as they captured a third intermediate title in their history.

Shercock were off the mark inside two minutes of this decider through midfielder Sankey, who was assigned to guard McKiernan over the hour. Michael McEneaney doubled the advantage a minute later and when Aidan Lennon slipped past his marker to raise a third white flag Killeshandra looked in danger of being overrun.

Killian Clarke roamed around the centre for large portions of the contest, pulling the strings and orchestrating everything good about Shercock's play in the first-half, and could have moved them six in front had his low effort not been blocked by the legs of Dara Tighe. Niall Clerkin cut in for their fourth before Killeshandra got themselves on the scoreboard in the 20th minute through livewire corner-forward Shane O'Reilly.

A Stephen Donnery free restored the four-point cushion for Shercock but the majority of their good work in the early stages would be wiped out in an instant when Shane Murphy buried in the rebound of Shane O'Reilly's shot, which had been brilliantly saved by Colin Courtney. Courtney looked to have got his team off the hook, but Murphy showed superb forward instincts to pounce quickly and raise the green flag.

The goal looked set to ignite the men in saffron and white. Three minutes from the break, however, a well-worked move created by Clarke's endeavours around the centre saw Donnery release Sankey on a darting run and the Cavan U21 ace flashed the ball past Joe Masterson off the inside of the post. The goal was as good a strike seen in Breffni Park this year, giving Killeshandra some food for thought at half-time as their opponents went in with a deserved 1-5 to 1-1 lead.

Shercock could predict a 'hell for leather' approach from King's men in the second-half and while they fended off the threat bravely during the opening stages of the resumption, it took eight minutes for the Leaguers to narrow the difference to three and by the final quarter mark they'd be level.

A pair of frees from McKiernan, who, along with Cillian O'Reilly, surely ran Colm Duffy close for the 'Man of the Match' award, was the perfect tonic for Killeshandra to start the second-half with and a fine long range score from his brother Sean brought them within one.

The momentum was entirely with Killeshandra by the time Higgins' equaliser sailed over, but Barry O'Reilly's team responded handsomely with a Niall Clerkin point and a well-executed '45' from Clarke. The former junior champions could well have went further in front when the aforementioned Clerkin was slipped through on goal but his shot was turned around the post brilliantly by Masterson.

Killeshandra went on to own most of the remaining 10 minutes with their talisman McKiernan salient. A quickly taken '45' from the midfielder released Higgins for a simple score and from there the wheels began to come off for Shercock. McKiernan's accuracy cancelled out Shercock's last score of the evening from substitute John McEnroe and a major turning point went the winners' way with four minutes to go when Paddy McPhilips saw his goal bound effort heroically cleared off the line by Tighe.

On cue, Tomas O'Reilly yielded a free which saw McKiernan spilt the posts and square the sides approaching the added minutes and from the resultant kick-out Killeshandra won possession and presented McKiernan with the chance to put his side into their first lead. He did so in style, converting a 35-metre free along the right flank to bring his second-half tally to 0-5.

Shercock were out on their feet, while their counterparts were thriving, and couldn't halt Murphy's injury-time point which put a seal on Killeshandra's first Tommy Gilroy Cup success since 1991.

Killeshandra: Joe Masterson; Conor Smith, Colm Duffy, Cillian O'Reilly; Rory Braiden, Damien Higgins (0-2), Dara Tighe; Declan McKiernan (0-5, 5f), Aaron Brady; Eamon O'Reilly, Sean McKiernan (0-1), Tomas O'Reilly; Shane O'Reilly (0-1), Austin Fitzpatrick, Shane Murphy (1-1). Subs: Ciaran Owens for E O'Reilly (42mins), Kyle Duffy for A Fitzpatrick (60).

Shercock: Colin Courtney; Dean O'Reilly, Liam O'Reilly, Joe O'Reilly; Damien McIntyre, Shane Clarke, Michael McEneaney (0-1); Brian Sankey (1-1), Sean Magee; Stephen Donnery (0-1), Killian Clarke (0-1, 1 '45'), Ryan Clerkin; Niall Clerkin (0-2), David Harpur, Aidan Lennon (0-1). Subs: Paddy McPhilips for A Lennon (35mins, blood), Lennon for McPhillips (39), John McEnroe (0-1) for S Donnery (46), McPhilips for Lennon (46).

Ref: Michael Lee (Drumalee) Tweet

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