Grange are back to senior after dramatic final replay
The Grange team and their supporters celebrate beating Ballon to win the 2025 IFC title.
Grange are the 2025 Carlow Intermediate Football Champions as they bridged a gap of nineteen years at Netwatch Cullen Park on Sunday in this replayed final when a superb first half performance all but clinched victory.
So often during their run to ultimate glory, they looked to be dead and buried but each time they found a way to stay in the game.
Their head-man, Peter Cleere, doesn’t do histrionics and neither do any members of their management team. On the side-line, they have been a picture of coolness, never panicked and showed ultimate trust in their players.
“It was absolutely incredible. Over the eight weeks of the championship we kept finding another gear to bring us back into games," Cleere said.
"We never relinquished the kind of spirit that we have in the group. We were on the ropes. On the canvas but we picked it up again, found another gear to keep us in there. We kept ourselves in the fight and, thankfully, we got over the line this year."
On Sunday, they were never chasing the game. This time, Grange got off to a lightning start and racked up the points in the opening half to lead 0-18 to 1-5.
John Murphy registered eight in the half with four of his total coming from two-pointers.
Alex Kelliher was the Ballon goal scorer which came midway through the half.
Ballon needed to start the second half well, but instead it was Grange who did so when Darragh Burrows pointed.
John Doyle made a cameo appearance coming on as a blood sub and his first touch was to pass to Conor O’Brien who found the Ballon net. Murphy added another point and Grange were in dreamland.
A Lorcan Doyle two-pointer lifted Ballon spirits. Even then, however, Shane Cormican and Henry Hegarty scores cancelled out the Ballon initiative.
The game seemed to be dying a death but again Ballon found a vein of good form.
“The last twelve minutes they came back at us and they ran out of time at the end,” said Cleere.
"They were always going to come back at us. A young team like that. We knew that all the way through."
A Shane Duffy goal for Ballon was followed by a two-pointer from play by Brendan Fanning.
Peter Zerafa turned back the clock with one of those flamboyant finishes when he came in from the right and finished beautifully into the far left hand side-netting.
It was a little too late for Ballon who were left to rue a first half where they let their opponents get away from them.
Grange are worthy champions. Their never say die attitude brought them a long way and when they built a bit of momentum they made it pay.
They are back now where they feel they belong - among the ranks of senior football in Carlow.
J Murphy 0-9 (2-2ps, 2fs), C O’Brien 1-1, P Hickey 0-3 (1-2p), Darragh Burrows 0-3, H Hegarty 0-2 (1f), S Cormican 0-2, N Pender 0-2.
E Corr 0-4 (2fs), A Kelliher 1-1 (1f), Shane Duffy 1-0, P Zerafa 1-0, L Doyle 0-2 (2p), B Fanning 0-2 (2p), C Kelliher 0-2, F McCaffrey 0-1.
Louis Kilcoyne; Vijay Eghraveba, Shane Byrne, Diarmaid Burrows; Conor O’Brien, Henry Hegarty, Tom Dillon; Cillian Murphy, Patrick Hickey; Aidan Burrows, Darragh Burrows, James Hickey; Ned Pender, John Murphy, Shane Cormican.
John Doyle for N Pender (blood 35), Matthew Bird for A Burrows (48), Doyle for Cormican (53), Jack Byrne for O’Brien (59), Davie Moran for Darragh Burrows (59), A Burrows for Hickey (61).
Dylan Cunningham; Josh Fernandez, Martin Carroll, Dan O’Connor; Lorcan Doyle, Conor Kelly, Rory McCaffrey; Jimmie Carroll, Conor Bolger; Callum Crawford, Shane Duffy, Fionn McCaffrey; Corey Kelliher, Alex Kelliher, Evan Corr.
Brendan Fanning for J Carroll (h/t), Johnny Maher for M Carroll (h/t), Peter Zerafa for C Kelleher (48), Brian Maher for Bolger (59).
Paud O’Dwyer (Palatine)
