Crosserlough saved their best till last as, on a wretched day, they delivered a performance full of heart and smarts to get their hands on the Oliver Plunkett Cup after a four-year wait.
While nine county finals around the country were postponed, including most neighbouring counties, Cavan, in their wisdom, decided to go ahead with theirs and the result was a very poor match played in appalling conditions for football.
That was not the fault of the teams, it must be said – well, certainly not the fault of Crosserlough, who brought much more energy and drive to proceedings and were the better side from start to finish bar a spell in the second half.
It was reported that Ramor’s preparations were disrupted by widespread sickness in the panel in mid-week and that must have been a factor, too; whatever the reason, the Virginia men just couldn’t match the ravenous hunger of Crosserlough.
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Ramor had the wind in the first half and didn’t make it count, registering 11 wides in that period, while the ‘Lough had the better individual performers on the day, with Man of the Match Conor Rehill turning in a brilliant display.
That was, to some extent, part of the plan, as Crosserlough assistant manager, Stephen Beatty from Tyrone, admitted.
“Believe it or not it’s the first toss that (Crosserlough captain) Peter Smith won this year and we had schooled Peter that we were going to play against the breeze. We made that choice,” Beatty revealed.
The tone was set as the teams were waiting to emerge and one of the children taking part in the guard of honour saw his cap blow off; the two were eventually re-acquainted about 30 metres away.
Midway through the first half, Crosserlough goalkeeper Shane McManus needed four attempts to place the ball on his kicking tee, which added an element of farce.
So, it was fair to say that this was a very difficult day for football but that shouldn’t take away from the winners, who last picked up the title in 2020 and swept all before them in this campaign.
Ramor played with the wind at their backs in the first half but didn’t lead at any stage, as Crosserlough hit the front with an Emmett Boylan free and led again with a similar effort from Brandon Boylan.
Ramor equalised twice, Matthew Smith with the score of the match, a free from the left sideline, and Cathal Maguire landing the only point from play in the opening half.
Maguire was forced off in some distress with an injury shortly afterwards, which necessitated a third substitution for the Ramor men in the first half hour.
Crosserlough defended deep against the wind and won most of the battles, with corner-back John Cooke razor sharp and forcing several key turnovers.
The new champions hit the front early in the second half when James Smith, who had a super game in the target man role and also won his share of kick-outs around the middle, teed Emmett Boylan up for a left-footed point from play.
Ramor levelled with a Matthew Smith free on 46 minutes as they enjoyed their best spell of the match but Crosserlough showed no signs of panic and regained the lead when James Smith gathered a long ball and sent over.
Heading down the home stretch, Crosserlough stretched their legs.
A huge fetch from the imperious Rehill saw him lump in a long ball; Smith may have got a touch but it seemed to go all the way to the net and that score broke Ramor.
Former county man Stephen Smith came off the bench and would play a vital role in closing out the match. He took a pass from Harry Boylan and sent a shot inches over the crossbar to make it 1-5 to 0-3 with five minutes remaining.
Ramor were by now running out of road and Crosserlough powered home.
A James Bradley free was cancelled out by a 50-metre Matthew Costello free and, deep in injury time, the game was put to bed when another direct delivery broke to Stephen Smith, who dribbled it soccer-style before side-footing past Liam Brady to wrap up a deserved 11th Senior Championship title for the Kilnaleck-based side.
If Crosserlough’s mettle had been questioned – and, in truth, it had as they hadn’t added to their 2020 success – that debate has now been put to bed after winning gruelling contests against Cavan Gaels and Ramor in difficult conditions.
“It’s what we wanted for a long time and we finally got it back,” said winning captain Peter Smith.
“It was tough, it was horrible out there but it’s brilliant too.
“It was a dog fight from start to finish. It wasn’t a great spectacle but we don’t care. It was a war of attrition really. Ramor were always there or thereabouts, a couple of goals from long balls in, the wind caught one of them and brought it in.
“We trained hard, we lost Paddy Lynch too. I brought Paddy up to lift the cup with me because Paddy deserved that too. He would have been a key man for us there today. Another three weeks will make a difference to him.”
Next up is a trip to Newry to take on Kilcoo.
