Sean O'Mahony's 1-11
St Fechins 1-8

Three late points from Conor Finnegan frees saw Sean O'Mahonys claim the Intermediate Championship title for the first time since 1998 at Clan na Gael Park on Sunday afternoon.

The No 11 kept his cool to edge the Dundalk men across the line and break St Fechins hearts in a game that ended in dramatic fashion.

Overall, the Point Road side deserved their win as they held their nerve at the end of a game that saw them play with the greater determination and hunger, while executing their game-plan to greater effect.

Ultimately, the Fechins were made pay for their more conservative approach and the lack of numbers in attack allowed the disciplined O'Mahonys defence to prosper. It wasn't until they faced a seven-point deficit that the South Louth side played with real freedom going forward and while that brought its rewards, they were unable to push on for victory.

The O'Mahonys looked to be cruising to victory when a Conor Crawley goal three minutes into the second half had them leading by seven points. However, Ronan Holcroft inspired the Termonfeckin men to get back on terms with five minutes remaining.

It was then that Finnegan landed three pressure kicks from distance to put his side back in the driving seat, but they still had to survive a late penalty claim and a Bevan Duffy shot that went wide before captain, Pat O'Brien, got his hands on the Seamus Flood Cup.

Finnegan also made an impact that the beginning of the game as he pointed a '45' and free inside three minutes as the O'Mahonys made an impressive start, before Ryan Sheridan pointed with the Fechins first attack of the game on eight minutes.

Stephen Kilcoyne restored the two-point advantage, but the Fechins gradually got back into the game and were rewarded with points from Holcroft and Bevan Duffy to draw level.

Finegan and Stephen Fisher raised white flags before Holcroft responded to leave the game finely balanced at 0-5 to 0-4, but it was the O'Mahonys who raised their game in the closing stages of the half.

Conor Crawley was denied a goal by a fine save from Keith McCarthy but points from Kilcoyne free and Fisher had their side in a good position when leading by 0-7 to 0-4 at the break.

It became even better for Brendan Nordon's team within three minutes of the restart as Liam Dullaghan pointed before the tactic of playing the ball high into Crawley finally paid dividends when he flicked the ball into the net to put his side 1-8 to 0-4 ahead.

He almost put the result beyond doubt a minute later with a similar effort, but that was the signal for the Fechins to begin the comeback. Three points from Holfcroft and another from Niall Devlin gave them hope before the pair combined to score the equaliser.

Devlin won a penalty which resulted in goalkeeper, Kevin Brennan, receiving a black card, before Holcroft blasted the ball past sub, Benny Traynor to level matters at 1-8 apiece.

The momentum was very much with the Fechins at that stage but the O'Mahonys showed the greater appetite for the battle in the closing minutes. It wasn't looking promising when Finnegan sent a free wide, but he responded in fine style by nailing the next three efforts to put the Seans three clear entering injury time.

The drama wasn't over as the Fechins threw everything into attack and had strong claims for a penalty waved away when Devlin appeared to be impeded, while Bevan Duffy's effort with the final kick of the game went the wrong side of the post.

SEAN O'MAHONYS: Kevin Brennan; Pat O'Brien, Mickey Clarke, Ronan Byrne; Keith McLaughlin, John O'Brien, Kurt Murphy; Conor Crawley 1-0, Shane Brennan; Peter Nixon, Liam Dullaghan 0-1, Conor Finnegan 0-6; Stephen Fisher 0-2, Conor Martin, Stephen Kilcoyne 0-2. Subs: David Dowling for C Martin, Brendan Traynor for K Brennan (BC), Conor Martin for C Crawley, Gary Mulligan for D Dowling.

ST FECHINS: Keith McCarthy; Richie McDonnell, Niall McCabe, Billy Fanning; Sean McConnell, David Collier, Jamie King; Bevan Duffy 0-1, Ryan Sheridan 0-1; Conor Haughney, Colm O'neill, Brian Devlin; Ronan Holcroft 1-5, Harry McCarthy, Niall Devlin 0-1. Subs: Marc Hynes for C Haughney, Paul Matthews for R Sheridan, Danny Burnell for H McCarthy, Eoghan Duffy for J King.

REFEREE: Stephen Johnston

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