Kevin Smyth squeezes St Croan’s to All-Ireland final

St Croan’s (Roscommon) 0-14 Sean O’Mahony’s (Louth) 2-7: All-Ireland Club IFC semi-final: An injury-time free from Kevin Smyth proved enough to send St Croan’s into the All-Ireland Club IFC final after a thrilling encounter with Louth champions Sean O’Mahony’s at Kingspan Breffni Park, Cavan.

The Connacht side were a point down with five minutes left to play, but Aidan Brogan’s well-struck equaliser set up a nail-biting finish. John O’Brien had a chance to win it for Sean O’Mahony’s but his 30-metre free was blocked. From the ensuing counter-attack, the Ballintubber/Ballymoe-based side won a free, which Smyth converted. Conor Finnegan could have rescued it for the Louth men with the final kick of the game but dragged his free wide. It was a deserved win for a Croan’s side that led by 0-9 to 2-0 at the interval.

Sean O’Mahony’s came back into the contest in the closing 20 minutes, turning a three-point deficit into a one-point lead before succumbing in the dying moments.