The Crossmolina Deel Rovers players and staff celebrate with the cup after the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship final match between Ballinderry of Derry and Crossmolina Deel Rovers of Mayo at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile.
AIB All-Ireland intermediate club football championship final
CROSSMOLINA DEEL ROVERS (MAYO) 1-12 BALLINDERRY (DERRY) 0-13
By Paul Keane at Croke Park
Mayo's Conor Loftus rose to the occasion superbly at Croke Park, dispatching a 69th minute penalty to secure the AIB All-Ireland club IFC title for Crossmolina.
Just over a fortnight on from the tragic passing of Loftus' partner, Roisin Cryan, the centre-back took on the responsibility for his club and delivered in dramatic circumstances.
Cross' were trailing by a point at the time and Loftus could have chipped the ball over to guarantee extra-time.
But he went for glory and was rewarded when, just like in the semi-final defeat of Caragh, he arrowed a spot kick to the corner of the net.
It was virtually the last play of the game and meant that 24 years on from winning the senior All-Ireland club title, Cross' had added the intermediate trophy.
Captain Mikie Loftus dedicated the win to Roisin Cryan while GAA President Jarlath Burns spoke movingly too about a difficult few weeks for the Mayo club.
On the field of play, Loftus played a leading role and finished with 1-1 while Niall Coggins struck three points and was named Man of the Match.
Ballinderry are former All-Ireland senior champions too though both sides were relegated to the intermediate ranks more recently, Ballinderry in 2023 and Cross' in 2018.
The two teams made positional tweaks to their published lineups in an attempt to gain an upper hand as the rain poured down, buffeted by gusting winds.
Kevin Mulhern, for instance, wore number three for Crossmolina but played in an advanced attacking role and clipped a great point in the 10th minute to put them 0-3 to 0-1 up.
County man Loftus locked down the centre of the Crossmolina defence but also got forward to boom over a long-rang point.
Ballinderry had a county stalwart wearing number six for them too in former All-Star Gareth McKinless who spent most of the game tracking Diarmaid Walsh.
Eoghan Rocks was a late addition to the Ballinderry lineup, replacing injured midfielder Niall O'Donnell.
The Ballinderry management opted for a Ruairi Forbes-Shea Coleman midfield combination with Charlie Crozier, wearing number one, detailed in the full-forward line.
Towering Crozier, marked by Matthew Gordetskyy, was a threat throughout, scoring two first-half points and finishing the period with the ball in his hand after breaking up a Crossmolina attack.
It was tight, tense stuff, no great surprise given the conditions, and the sides went in level at the break, 0-6 apiece.
The momentum swung back and forth in the second-half, Crossmolina firstly roaring 0-11 to 0-8 clear with a series of points in a row in the third quarter.
Coggins was excellent as the game wore on but five Ballinderry points in a row in response, between the 53rd and 59th minutes, looked set to be decisive, leaving them 0-13 to 0-11 up.
That's when the late drama materialised with goal king Loftus holding his nerve to the delight of the travelling Cross' supporters.
Crossmolina Deel Rovers scorers: Conor Loftus 1-1 (1-0pen), Fionan Duffy 0-4 (0-4f), Niall Coggins 0-3, James Maheady 0-2 (0-1f), Kevin Mulhern 0-1, Lorcan Loftus 0-1.
Ballinderry scorers: Charlie Crozier 0-3 (0-2f), Conor O'Neill 0-3 (0-2f), Ryan Bell 0-3, Daniel McKinless 0-2, Tiarnan Rocks 0-1, Ruairi Forbes 0-1.
Crossmolina Deel Rovers: JP Mulhern; Diarmuid Fox, Diarmuid Coggins, Matthew Gordetskyy; Mikie Loftus, Conor Loftus, Aaron Coggins; Darragh Syron, Jordan Flynn; Kevin Mulhern, James Maheady, Niall Coggins; Diarmaid Walsh, Patrick Leddy, Fionan Duffy.
Subs: Lorcan Loftus for Syron 26, Patrick Loftus for JP Mulhern 45, Cathal Carolan for Walsh 57, Stephen Duffy for Leddy 59, Cillian Fergus for Mikie Loftus 65.
Ballinderry: Ben McKinless; Ryan O'Neill, Eoin Devlin, Gareth McKinless; Ryan Bell, Oisin Duffin, Aron Mullan; Ruairi Forbes, Eoghan Rocks; Tiarnan Rocks, Conor O'Neill, Shea McCann; Charlie Crozier, Darren Lawn, Shea Coleman.
Subs: Daniel McKinless for Coleman 38, Matthew Smyth for Lawn 49, Oisin Mullan for Rocks 65.
Referee: Sean Lonergan (Tipperary).
