A HUGE HAND IN CLINCHING TITLE

Conor's class the difference in a thrilling final victory

- BY GARRY DOYLE

EVERY so often the club championship throws up a day that reminds you what this whole madhouse is really about — not glamour, just raw heart and local heroes refusing to blink.

Hyde Park, mist closing in, delivered one of those days in spades and St Brigid’s — battered early, brilliant late — walked out of it with a sixth Connacht title and the kind of victory that stays with a club for a generation

This was club football at full voltage. No frills, no hiding place, every inch fought for. And within it, performances that could electrify the gloomiest sky.

Most of all, Conor Ward. Seven points from play in a provincial final is the stuff that makes you a club icon, but Ward did it without fuss - just cold, repeatable excellence.

Moycullen switched markers. He remained immovable.

Alongside him, Ben O'Carroll was a menace, hitting four points — three beautifully clipped from play — while Ruaidhri Fallon produced the moment that broke Moycullen hearts, a goal three minutes from time that lifted the stand and knocked the air out of the Galway champions.

In the first quarter, Moycullen were playing football from the front foot, fast and confident.