Drama and poignancy as Conor Loftus converts dramatic late penalty to clinch All-Ireland IFC title for Crossmolina

It was a bitter sweet day for Crossmolina as captain Mikie Loftus dedicates the win to the late Roisín Cryan. 

PENALTY SECURES WIN: Conor Loftus scored the penalty that won Crossmolina the All-Ireland Club IFC title late into injury time. Picture: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile

All-Ireland Club IFC final: Crossmolina (Mayo) 1-12 Ballinderry (Derry) 0-13

There were emotional and poignant scenes as Crossmolina snatched a dramatic victory in the most remarkable of circumstances in Sunday’s All-Ireland Intermediate club football final at Croke Park.

Ballinderry were a point ahead and seemingly just moments away from a hard-fought win when referee Seán Lonergan awarded the Mayo champions a penalty six minutes into added time after substitute Stephen Duffy was fouled close to the goal-line by goalkeeper Ben McKinless.

This meant that Conor Loftus was entrusted with the kick that could deliver an All-Ireland title to Crossmolina and he duly delivered — drilling the ball low into the bottom corner past stand-in goalkeeper Daniel McKinless to propel the Deel Rovers ahead just seconds before the final whistle sounded.

Loftus — whose fiancee Roisín Cryan died tragically earlier this month — sprinted from the field immediately at full-time as, behind him, the celebrations began among the Crossmolina contingent and Ballinderry players fell to the ground in disbelief.

Crossmolina captain Mikie Loftus — a grandson of the former GAA President Dr Mickey Loftus RIP — dedicated the victory to Roisín Cryan and admitted the win was ‘bittersweet’ due to her passing.

Ballinderry looked set to emerge victorious when they shot five points without reply in the closing stages from Ruairi Forbes, Daniel McKinless (2), Ryan Bell and Conor O’Neill to surge ahead by 0-13 to 0-11 after 59 minutes.

Man of the match Niall Coggins then pulled a score back for the Westerners two minutes into added time to set up a grandstand finish.

And just a few minutes later, the hand of fate handed Crossmolina an opportunity to make history as Conor Loftus’ clinical strike meant they became the first club to win All-Ireland Senior and Intermediate football championship titles.

The teams were deadlocked at 0-6 apiece at the end of a tight and tense first half.

Crossmolina came flying out of the blocks and, with Conor Loftus playing a central role, they raced into a 0-3 lead after 10 minutes with well-crafted scores from Fionan Duffy (free), the aforementioned Loftus and Kevin Mulhern.

Ballinderry’s only response in those early stages came from Ryan Bell’s superb long-range effort into a deserted Hill 16 end of the stadium.

But the Ulster champions got into the groove as the first quarter played out with frees from Conor O’Neill and Charlie Crozier levelling the match for the first time.

The second quarter ebbed and flowed relentlessly as both teams tried to hit each other on the counter-attack at pace.

They traded scores three times before the interval with Crossmolina frees from James Maheady and Fionan Duffy (2) cancelled out by points at the other end from the influential Ryan Bell, Charlie Crozier and Conor O’Neill (free).

So we were none the wiser as the second half started in front of the few thousand hardy souls from Derry and Mayo in the lower Hogan Stand.

The second half also kept everybody on the edge of their seats right to the end when Conor Loftus showed incredible composure and mental fortitude to convert the winning score.

Scorers for Crossmolina: C Loftus (1-1, 1-0 pen), F Duffy (0-4, 3fs), J Maheady (0-2, 1f), N Coggins (0-2),  K Mulhern, D Coggins, L Loftus (0-1 apiece)

Scorers for Ballinderry: C Crozier (0-3, 2fs), C O’Neill (0-3, 2fs), R Bell (0-3), D McKinless (0-2), R Forbes, T Rocks (0-1 apiece).

CROSSMOLINA: JP Mulhern; D Fox, K Mulhern, M Gordetskyy; A Coggins, C Loftus, M Loftus; D Syron, J Flynn; D Coggins, J Maheady, N Coggins; D Walsh, P Leddy, F Duffy.

Subs used: L Loftus for Syron; P Loftus for JP Mulhern (inj); C Carolan for Walsh; S Duffy for Leddy; C Fergus for M Loftus.

BALLINDERRY: B McKinless; A Mullan, O Duffin, R O’Neill; E Devlin, G McKinless, R Forbes (0-1); L Bell, C Crozier (0-3, 2fs); T Rocks (0-1), C O’Neill (0-3, 2fs), S McCann; D Lawn, R Bell (0-3), S Coleman.

Subs used: D McKinless (0-2) for Coleman; M Smyth for Lawn; J Bell for Crozier; O Mullan for Rocks.

Referee: S Lonergan (Tipperary)