Northern Switchgear Antrim Senior Football Championship final: Kickham’s Creggan 1-12 St Mary’s Aghagallon 0-7
A DANK November day in west Belfast. Nearby chimney pots puffing plumes of smoke into slate-grey skies overhead.
The heavy mist, the rain, the autumnal damp, the fading light - and the sheer damn beauty of it all as the entire Kickham’s Creggan community danced on the heavy sod of Corrigan Park yesterday, setting off bottle-green flares, giving each other bear hugs like they were going out of fashion and living the moment to its fullest.
The club’s 67-year search for a third Antrim senior title – their previous ones coming in 1943 and ’54 – finally ended yesterday afternoon with an emphatic victory over first-time finalists St Mary’s Aghagallon.
For 14 years, Odhran McLarnon has worked tirelessly to reach this point in his career.
In the aftermath of yesterday’s historic win, McLarnon said: “I’m a great believer in you get what you earn. It’s a personal journey of 14 years and a club journey of 67 years. Words can’t describe this feeling. We’ve dreamt about this for many a day.
“I came out of a very successful era – we won the minors in ’08, won the U21s in ’09 and 2011, but your ambition was always to win a senior championship.
“You thought it might have come earlier but they’re hard-earned. How we performed this year is testament to the players because of what we’ve been through before, losing two finals (2018 and 2020). We’ve developed, we’ve continued to improve and we’ve learned how to win a championship – and that’s a very satisfying feeling.”
After knocking out three-in-a-row champions Cargin a fortnight ago, the big question was could Creggan reproduce that kind of intensity against Aghagallon.
In truth, they controlled yesterday’s decider from start to finish to the point where they’d very few stressful moments in reaching the Holy Grail.
Gerard McNulty’s men streaked ahead 0-7 to 0-2 and kept the scoreboard ticking over in the second half with substitute and the fittingly name Sam Maguire bagging a late goal to underline Creggan’s dominance.
“After we beat Cargin in the semi-final, we knew there was no cup on the table. I’ve won two semi-finals before and had nothing to show for it. We knew if we played to our potential we’d win the game today, and we did that.”
McLarnon heaped praise on all those club volunteers who laid a brick on the path to the Kickham’s becoming county champions for 2021.
“There are people down at our club watching us train. They wanted this for years. They know who they are. They are the ones picking the balls out of the hedge for us, washing bibs, preparing jerseys and helping set this team up for us to be the best that we can be. They’ll enjoy this moment every bit as ourselves. I’m just privileged to be part of the wheel that has brought it to them.”
Amid the mayhem of the celebrations, Creggan boss Gerard McNulty cut a figure of a contented man.
“It means so much to the Creggan people,” said McNulty. “The most satisfying thing for me is our defence, which is the best in Antrim.
Laughing, the Belfast man said: “I’ve been sitting up to 3am watching game after game, so I have to say I’m delighted for myself and all the coaches to be honest with you. Everyone has worked so hard for this.”
For generations to come, nobody from Kickham’s Creggan will forget the damp, the heavy mist, the rain, fading autumnal light and the sheer joy of the day in Corrigan.
And that indescribable feeling of being the new high kings of Antrim.
