Glen won their first Ulster club SFC title with a committed and ferocious display of intensity to end Kilcoo’s reign as Ulster and All-Ireland senior football champions.
In their first provincial final, Glen led a brilliant contest from start to finish but the Derry champions had to withstand a strong fightback from Kilcoo before lifting the Seamus McFerran in front an ecstatic crowd in the Athletic Grounds.
Kilcoo struggled to contain Glen’s pace and energy in the first half, particularly the first quarter when the Derry challengers raced into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead after 11 minutes.
Glen owned the Kilcoo kickout at that stage. Points flowed over from Conor Glass, man-of-the-match Conleith McGuckian and Jack Doherty in a breathtaking opening to a gripping game.
Kilcoo do not like chasing games, but they chased this one hard and fought like champions.
A bit of quick-thinking from Aaron Branagan, whose run inside was spotted by Dylan Ward, got them back into it. He flicked the ball home with his left hand for the opening goal midway through the first half.
Malachy O’Rourke had Glen ready to respond to any setback and they did not look rattled. Ryan Dougan fisted over after they got inside to penetrate the black and white Kilcoo wall.
Paul Devlin had an eventful opening half for Kilcoo, sitting out 10 minutes for a black card before coming back on to miss a penalty at the end of the half after Jerome Johnston was clattered.
Devlin’s left-footed effort shaved the bottom of the keeper’s left-hand post and bounced wide.
It was a big moment, because to go in behind at that stage would have been a huge psychological blow to Glen – and fuelled Kilcoo with belief that they could not be denied a third Ulster club title in a row.
Instead, Glen led 0-7 to 1-3 at the break and the second half was just as combustible, just as fiery and breathless as the first, between two of the in-form and elite teams in Ulster.
No matter what Kilcoo did, they could not draw level to ask serious questions of Glen.
Having drawn the sting out of Glen, they were able to calm things down after a frantic start and start to play the game more on their own terms.
The teams traded frees through Danny Tallon and Devlin with both sides making rare incisions to land inspirational scores.
First Ethan Doherty landed a great score with five minutes of normal time remaining, with the first plumes of green smoke cascading down the terraces from a jubilant Glen fan’s flare.
Aaron Branagan nailed a superb score but when Kilcoo went looking for more, Glass made the kind of block from Daryl Branagan’s shot that suggested this was to be their day.
Kilcoo picked up a second black card in stoppage time when Sean Og McAleer tripped an opponent and they had to try to force things but were caught as they pushed up.
Their kickout was won by the Maghera side and a soccer-style lob over the top was gathered by Alex Doherty, who side-stepped Niall Kane and rolled the ball into an empty net to put the gloss on a memorable day for Glen Watty Graham’s.
