STORM TRACKER: Follow 'Storm Amy' as it bears down on Ireland amid brutal forecast
Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
AIB ALL-IRELAND INTERMEDIATE CLUB FINAL
Crossmolina 1-12
Ballinderry 0-13
CROKE PARK
CROSSMOLINA are champions of Ireland. That's the simple message echoing up Jones Road this evening after an epic final that ebbed and flowed until the very last second.
The final act of the day fell to the feet of Conor Loftus. The young man who tragically lost his fiance, Róisín Cryan, in recent weeks had a penalty kick to win the title in the final moments of injury time. He stepped forward and drilled the ball into the bottom corner to unleash scenes of wild delight and emotion.
Ballinderry had been on the edge of glory after coming from three points down to lead by two as injury time arrived. It seemed done and dusted at that stage as the Derry and Ulster champions pulled everyone behind the ball and looked to become the first club in history to win both senior and intermediate club titles, but Crossmolina had other ideas.
They refused to fade away and when Niall Coggins cut the gap to one, there was still hope. However, there were only beats of the clock remaining when the Derry men seemed to be coming out with the ball safely in their keeping. However, Eoin Devlin ran into Mayo men, Cathal Carolan toe-poked it forward, Niall Coggins picked it up and found Stephen Duffy racing through. The man who had just arrived from the sub's bench carried the ball into the goalmouth and was taken down by goalkeeper Ben McKinless.
The goalkeeper was sent off for a second bookable offence as Kevin Mulhern stood over the ball on the penalty spot. Then, when the referee signaled for the penalty to be taken, Loftus stepped forward.
The young man who has endured so much over the past few weeks sent the ball flying into the bottom corner and the final whistle sounded just seconds later.
Crossmolina's journey to The Promised Land had reached its destination and it was time to reflect on one of the great moments in Mayo sport.
A full match report, after-match interviews and analysis will be carried in Tuesday's Mayo News.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
