Mohill stop St Mary's two in a row bid to reclaim Fenagh Cup with superb second half display

Goals win games and they most certainly did that as Mohill roared back to the summit of Leitrim club football thanks to goals from Jordan Reynolds and Ronan Kennedy to wrestle the Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC title from the grasp of St Mary’s Kiltoghert on Sunday in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.

In an ironic twist, this year it was Mohill who recovered from a deficit and then saw out a dramatic injury time with late points from Man of the Match Kennedy and Keith Beirne to claim the Fenagh Cup for the ninth time in their history and the first time since 2020, ending a run of two losing finals.

With the match in the melting pot in the final minutes, Mohill’s second goal from Kennedy, a piece of superb opportunism and anticipation from the veteran forward, propelled them into the lead just as the defending champions were threatening to pull away and from there to the finish, it was helter-skelter stuff.

Mohill celebrate wildly as they regain the Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC title after epic battle with St Mary's Kiltoghert - GALLERY

Mohill celebrations were long and loud in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada as the four in a row Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC finalists got their hands back on the Fenagh Cup after an epic 2-10 to 0-14 victory over defending champions St Mary's Kiltoghert on Sunday. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was a busy man with the camera chronicling the celebrations ..... see who you can spot here!

St Mary’s fought like real champions, twice reeling in two point Mohill leads and then swapping scores on two more occasions to leave the game level going into added time. But it was then that Mohill’s added desire came to the fore as they manufactured the opportunities for Kennedy and Beirne to apply the killer touches.

St Mary’s had a chance to go in front before Kennedy’s long range bomb but Nicholas McWeeney left his shot short but if they have regrets from this game, surely it will be a trio of missed goal chances in the first half that might have better reflected their dominance of open play.

The Carrick men dominated the first half but a somewhat against the run of play, and maybe slightly fortunate, Jordan Reynolds goal, an instinctive and clever palmed effort after a Keith Beirne effort fell short, kept them in touch as St Mary’s threatened to open up a match winning lead.

Crucially, Jack Casey, the excellent Paul Keaney and Oisin Bohan were unable to take the chances presented to them, James Mitchell making one superb block with Tighe making two potential match winning saves while another goal chance was thwarted by a rapidly retreating Mohill defence.

In a match of close margins, the failure to take those chances hurt St Mary’s although Mohill can rightly point to their own missed chances, Sean Reynolds making two great saves from Keith Beirne in the first half and Ronan Kennedy in the second to deny the eventual victors.

Had Mohill lost this game or even had it gone to extra time, Eamonn O’Hara’s side would have been kicking themselves as they registered as astonishing 14 wides and two shots falling short compared to four wides and one short for St Mary’s.

Even their two goals came as a result of shots falling short as both Keith Beirne and Domhnaill Flynn left efforts well short of target only for the timing, opportunism or superb anticipation of Jordan Reynolds and Ronan Kennedy to produce goals out of nothing, goals that would literally turn the tide.

St Mary's Jack Casey sees his shot blocked by Mohill's James Mitchell Picture: Willie Donnellan

Kennedy turned back the clock with a man of the match display, his poacher’s instincts leading to his goal but it was his three points afterwards that were the winning of the game, pushing an increasingly energetic and confident Mohill across the line. It is not the first time “Chick” as he is universally known in Mohill has done this, incredibly going back to 2006 for his first time.

A famous last gasp goal against Glencar Manorhamilton in a replay was another famous match winner but for a player who is talking about hanging up his boots, if this was his last contribution to Mohill, what a contribution it was!

Shane Quinn was equally immense, driving his team forward from centre back while Keith Keegan, Conor Quinn, Jordan Reynolds, Alan Armstrong, Liam Rowley and the Mitchell brothers all had big, big moments.

For St Mary’s, they’ll know this is a game they could have won but they were unable to drive home their advantage when on top. Paul Keaney was immense for the former champions, Jack Casey, Nicholas McWeeney, Daire Farrell, James McGrail and Ben Guckian all had major contributions on a day where St Mary’s will have more than a few regrets.

Mohill have now lifted their fourth title in 11 seasons, a truly remarkable statistic for a club that had barely contested a Senior Final in the previous 40 yards. This is truly a golden time for the club and maybe their fourth title in more reflective of their position in the annals of Leitrim GAA history.

The game got off to a flying start with Shane Quinn breaking onto a loose ball before bursting down the left wing to curl a shot just inside the near post in the first minute. St Mary’s level when a foul on Jack Casey allowed Paul Keaney to fire over from distance.

St Mary's keeper Sean Reynolds prevents Mohill's Ronan Kennedy from goaling Picture: Willie Donnellan

If the game got off to a fast start, it also got off to an unusual start when Keith Beirne left an effort short, the ball going out for a 50 that Mohill’s chief marksman put wide. St Mary’s will feel they should have found the net when Conor Hackett and Ben Guckian combined to set Jack Casey free but a flying James Mitchell blocked the shot out for a fifty.

Casey almost looked as if he chipped the ball over the bar from the fifty but Mohill drew level when Beirne, after twisting and turning a few times, hit a lovely effort from the corner.

It was misses rather than scores dominating - Keaney put a long range free badly wide and Keith Beirne got in behind the Mary’s defence after a fortunate bounce saw the ball come to a Mohill attacker but Sean Reynolds saved the shot with his face and the resulting fifty fell short.

St Mary’s took the lead when a strong Nicholas McWeeney run after some typical trademark patient play ended with Paul Keaney scoring a huge point on 13 minutes but the chances were still coming, Sean Reynolds intercepting just ahead of Beirne after a James Mitchell run.

A foul on Diarmuid Kelleher saw Keaney convert and he repeated the dose after a foul on himself after a run from Cian Singleton. That left St Mary’s three points clear which would be the biggest lead of the game as it turned out.

Beirne hit a wide, Keaney burst through and bore down on goal but his shot was blocked and St Mary’s were made pay for their profligacy in front of goal when another Beirne effort dropped short but Jordan Reynolds stole in between defender and keeper to get a clear touch on the ball, diverting it to the net.

St Mary's Paul Keaney drives a shot at the Mohill goal in the first half Picture: Willie Donnellan

After a wide apiece, a mark from Keith Beirne edged Mohill back in front but St Mary’s finished the half impressively with a brilliant Keaney pass finding Gavin Reynolds who hit a fine point on the turn to tie the scores.

A brilliant James McGrail catch down the wing and quick ball released Nicholas McWeeney who charged towards goal. Crucially Mohill got numbers back to prevent the goal chance with the St Mary’s captain settling for a point.

Ronan Kennedy did have the ball over the bar but was pulled up for clearly over-carrying and St Mary's went two in front when another McGrail catch led to a curling Ben Guckian point from the corner.

However, Mary’s will feel they should have had a five point lead when a great move cut open the Mohill rearguard. Oisin Bohan bore down on goal but saw not only his initial effort parried by Padraig Tighe but the Mohill keeper snagged the follow-up shot to leave tit 0-8 to 1-3 in favour of St Mary’s at halftime.

Mohill made changes at the break with Conor Quinn coming on in place of Alan Tuthill but Mohill’s woes in front of the post continued as Ronan Kennedy saw his mark hit the post and St Mary’s stretched the lead back to three after a foul on Ben Guckian was punished by Paul Keaney.

However, Mohill were starting to motor and despite a Beirne wide, they really should have goaled when a brilliant move involving Keith Keegan released Ronan Kennedy with the goal at his mercy but Sean Reynolds made a huge save and Evan Harkin drove the loose ball well wide of the near post just three minutes after the restart.

Mohill's Domhnaill Flynn offloads the ball under pressure from St Mary's Cian Singleton, Gavin Reynolds and Sam Barnes Picture: Willie Donnellan

Shane Quinn hit a long range wide but after Adam Reynolds was dispossessed after a kickout, Ronan Kennedy fed Domhnaill Flynn who fired over. Flynn had a bad wide from long range but the gap was back to a point on 11 minutes when Beirne converted a long range free.

St Mary’s suffered a blow when losing county star Adam Reynolds with Sam Barnes coming on but they steadied themselves when Keaney converted a free after a foul on himself.

With Mohill struggling to convert increasing dominance out the field into scores, fate took a hand when Domhnaill Flynn’s wildly off target boomer seemed easy meat for the St Mary’s defence. However with both James McGrail and Conor Farrell colliding in search of the ball, Ronan Kennedy displayed all of his poacher’s instinct to dart between the defenders and keeper and poked the ball to the net.

Mohill were now back in front and a huge Keith Beirne point got them two clear. St Mary’s refused to lie down and James McGrail boomed a massive 50 yard effort over the bar to the roar of St Mary’s supporters. But Mohill hit back when Kennedy popped up to fire over, restoring the two point lead.

The wides continued - Beirne had two for Mohill, Conor Hackett one for St Mary’s before a brave run from Daire Farrell in along the endline ended with a fisted point after 54 minutes. A minute later, it was level again when another Nicholas McWeeney run ended with Paul Keaney scoring a huge point with almost no space.

With the tension rising, an Alan Armstrong pass found Kennedy who hit another excellent point but St Mary’s came back again, a good run from Mark Diffley finding Daire Farrell who smuggled the ball through a few bodies for Jack Casey to fire over.

With the game in added time, Beirne left another free short, St Mary’s winning the ball but their attempt to regain the lead saw Nicholas McWeeney’s ambitious shot fall well short and Mohill went up the field, holding onto the ball for a prolonged period before Kennedy popped up in space to fire another brilliant 40 yard effort over the bar.

St Mary’s now had to chase the game but with Mohill flooding bodies back, opportunities were scarce, Daire Farrell seeing a shot blocked and with so many bodies up the field, Mohill broke, Ronan Kennedy’s long pass find Keith Beirne in space. He might have gone on but he claimed and converted the mark to put Mohill two up with just over a minute to play and that was that.

St Mary’s did have one last chance but a long delivery into the area fell short with referee Vincent McMorrow blowing the final whistle to signal the start of wild Mohill celebrations.

Check out Willie Donnellan's fans photos from Sunday's Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final - GALLERY

Fans were out in force in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada for Sunday's Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final with Mohill regaining the title as they triumphed 2-10 to 0-14 against defending champions St Mary's Kiltoghert. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan captured a lot of fan shots from before and during the game .... see who you can spot!

MOHILL

Scorers: Ronan Kennedy 1-3; Keith Beirne 0-5, 2M, 1f; Jordan Reynolds 1-0; Shane Quinn & Domhnaill Flynn 0-1 each

Team: Padraig Tighe, James Mitchell, Liam Rowley, Ryan Bohan, Alan Tuthill, Shane Quinn, David Mitchell, Domhnaill Flynn, Alan Armstrong, Sean Harkin, Keith Keegan, Evan Harkin, Ronan Kennedy, Keith Beirne, Jordan Reynolds. Subs: Conor Quinn for Tuthill (HT); Eanna Madden for Bohan (57)

ST MARY’S KILTOGHERT

Scorers: Paul Keaney 0-7, 5f; Jack Casey 0-2, 1 50; Nicholas McWeeney, Gavin Reynolds, James McGrail, Ben Guckian & Daire Farrell 0-1 each

Team: Sean Reynolds, Adam Reynolds, Mark Diffley, Nicholas McWeeney, Diarmuid Kelleher, Conor Farrell, Gavin Reynolds, Paul Keaney, James McGrail, Conor Hackett, Jack Casey, Daire Farrell, Conor Hackett, Cian Singleton,Ben Guckian, Oisin Bohan. Subs: Sam Barnes for A Reynolds (42); Emmet Regan & Mark Lenehan for Hackett & Singleton (53); Brian Farrell for Bohan (54); Jack Barnes for C Farrell (56)

Referee: Vincent McMorrow