AIB All-Ireland Club Intermediate Football Final

STEELSTOWN BRIAN ÓG’S 3-14 TRIM 2-5

By John Harrington at Croke Park

A superbly drilled Steelstown team are the AIB All-Ireland Club Intermediate Football Champions for 2022 after a convincing victory over Trim at Croke Park today.

The Derry club played a really eye-catching brand of attacking football that their Meath opponents simply couldn’t contain.

Forwards like Ben McCarron, Cahir McMonagle, and Eoghan Bradley all proved themselves to be finishers of a very high calibre as they profited from their team’s dominance of territory and possession.

Apart from the concession of a goal to Trim’s Mikey Cullen after just four minutes, this was a pitch perfect performance Steelstown who weren’t even troubled by being reduced to 14 men early in the second-half.

They recovered quickly from the early blow of that Cullen goal to draw level by the ninth minute, and as the first half progressed their confidence grew and grew.

Full-forward McMonagle especially caught the eye in the first quarter with his clever movement and accuracy from both frees and open play.

His left-footed point on 15 minutes was a really classy score and pushed an increasingly dominant Steelstown into a 0-6 to 1-1 lead.

The pace at which Steelstown attacked and their judicious use of possession, particularly their mastery of attacking marks, was seriously impressive.

The accuracy of their shooting diminished somewhat in the second-quarter, but they were still very much on top and took a 0-10 to 1-2 lead into the dressing-room at half-time.

They started the second-half on the front-foot too with another nice point from Eoghan Bradley, but Trim were then momentarily given hope when Steelstown defender, Eoghan Concannon, was red-carded for a high-tackle on Ciarán O’Rourke.

Aaron Lynch converted the resulting free to reduce Trim’s deficit to five points, but Steelstown immediately nipped any potential comeback in the bud by scoring their first goal of the match.

Eoghan Bradley was hauled down for a penalty after being put clear by a clever Ben McCarron pass, and McMonagle converted the resulting kick emphatically by blasting it to the roof of the net.

Two minutes later Steelstown effectively put the game to bed with their second goal of the match when McCarron cut in from the right and curled a beauty of a shot into the top left corner to push his team 2-11 to 1-4 clear.

To Trim’s credit, they kept plugging away, and scored a goal of their own on 54 minutes through Eoin O’Connor who finished smartly, soccer style.

Steelstown ened with a flourish, though, scoring their third goal of a match when a superb team move was finished to the net by substitute Emmett Deane.

The Derry side are very deserving champions and, on the basis of this performance, look like a young team capable of making some waves in the senior grade in the coming years.

Scorers for Steelstown Brian Óg’s: Ben McCarron 1-4 (2m, 1f), Cahir McMonagle 1-4 (1 pen, 3f), Emmett Deane 1-0, Oran McMenamin 0-2, Eoghan Bradley 0-2, Ryan Devine 0-1, Neil Forester 0-1

Scorers for Trim: Aaron Lynch 0-4 (3f, 1M), Eoin O’Connor 1-0, Mikey Cullen 1-0, Ciarán O’Rourke 0-1.

Steelstown Brian Óg’s: Eoghan Heraghty; Oran Fox, Kevin Lindsay, Diarmuid Baker; Donncha Gilmore, Jason McAleer, Eoghan Concannon; Oran McMenamin, Ryan Devin; Shane O’Connor, Neil Forester, Ben McCarron; Mark Foley, Cahir McMonagle, Eoghan Bradley. Subs: Morgan Murray for Mark Foley (24), Emmet Deane for Diarmuid Baker (58), Rory Maguire for Cahir McMonagle (60), Mickey McKinney for Jason McAleer (65)

Trim: Peter Farrell; Gerry Dwane, Luke Moran, Declan Dowling; Conor Quigley, James Toher, Ciarán O’Rourke; Rob Bourke, Seán Fitzgerald; Ciarán Caulfield, Alan Douglas, Daire Lynch; Mikey Cullen, Aaron Lynch, Eoin O’Connor. Subs: Ben Holden for Declan Dowling (40), James Murray for Daire Lynch (41), Ian Bermingham for James Toher (48), Owen McGrath for Mikey Cullen (47), Declan Dowling for for Gerry Dwane (57), Ciaran Joyce for Sean Fitzgerald (59),

Referee: Barry Judge (Sligo)