An Spidéal’s great run is brought to an end by Antrim men

Naomh Éanna 3-9

An Spidéal 0-11

A rendition of Luke Kelly’s ‘Thank You For The Days’ blared out over the sound system at Páirc Tailteann at the final whistle of the All-Ireland Intermediate Club football semi-final, which was won comfortably by Naomh Éanna.

And while An Spidéal and their outnumbered, loyal travelling support hadn’t much to be thankful for on the day, the journey to this point of the championship certainly produced many ‘sacred days’ – not least county and provincial final victories – that will be forever etched into the folklore of the small Gaeltacht parish.

Sunday’s battle against the Antrim and Ulster champions proved a bridge too far and yet there was no shame in defeat: Let’s face it, St. Enda’s from just outside Belfast, are a serious machine and would probably rattle most senior football teams in Galway.

Even though An Spidéal didn’t do themselves any favours, and were guilty of silly errors and conceding too many needless turnovers which made the outsiders’ task all the more difficult, Naomh Éanna were without a doubt the better team and thoroughly deserved this seven points win that booked a place in their first-ever All-Ireland final.

The three first-half goals, obviously, were killers – with two coming from An Spidéal turnovers – and yet the reality was that Naomh Éanna had several other goal-scoring chances that they didn’t finish, which could have bloated the winning margin further.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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