With two well-matched teams, the likelihood that today’s Intermediate Championship final would go right down to the wire was always a distinct possibility. That’s what happened at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park this afternoon, with Kilmeena just doing enough to defeat Moy Davitts by 0-23 to 1-19.

Three points was the most that separated the teams at any stage in this enthralling title decider. Kilmeena set the tone in the first minute when Liam Moore thumped over a two-pointer.

That score was the first of eighteen that Kilmeena would record from open play in this game before, on the 50th minute, they got their first one from a free.

After Brian Reape and Ronan Clarke (a free) had drawn Moy Davitts level, a goal then put them in the ascendency. Cian McHale and Brian Heneghan were both involved in a move that Ronan Clarke finished with his hands to the net.

There was still that goal between them at the end of the first quarter but then Kevin Rafter banged over a glorious swerving two-pointer and soon after Kilmeena were level.

A two-point free from Cian McHale put them back in front. Darragh Keaveney wriggled through to shoot over and then Cormac O’Malley, who was introduced early on as a sub for Daniel Kelly and proceeded to put in a Man of the Match performance, knocked over a two-pointer to push Kilmeena into the lead.

Moy Davitts had the final say before the break, however, with points from Ronan Clarke and Cian McHale (a free) sending them into the dressing room a point to the good.

Darragh Keaveney brought the tie level immediately on the resumption. Jack Carney had Kilmeena ahead soon after, applying the finish to a patient attacking move, but two points from Brian Reape and a delicious two-pointer from sub Anthony Jordan saw Moy Davitts open a three-point gap once again.

Points from subs Caolach Halligan and Cormac O’Malley, followed by one from Kevin Ryder, brought the game back all-square once again. Kilmeena had ten wides at this stage – they’d end up with twelve – but, more importantly, they were hitting more than they were missing and this was keeping them very much in the hunt for glory.

Coming down the stretch, the exchanges, predictably, became more frantic. Fortunes swung one way, then the other, and with injury time approaching, it was still impossible to pick a winner.

Cian McHale’s two-pointer – which turned a one-point deficit into a one-point lead – looked a hugely significant score. Then Liam Moore levelled but soon after Oisín McHugh fisted over after Padraig Ruane found him with a wonderful pass and once again Moy Davitts appeared to be on the brink of the promised land.

That score was, though, their final one of the day. Darragh Slattery arrowed over the equaliser as four minutes of injury time were announced. Only one score came in injury time and that was courtesy of Caolach Halligan, to seal the Sweeney Cup for Kilmeena.

There was last-second drama when a two-point effort from Anthony Jordan – which, had it gone over, would have been a match-winning score – came up just short. Kilmeena’s ‘keeper Paul Groden gathered the ball gratefully and the final whistle sounded soon after.

Having come so close to the Intermediate title in recent years, you’d need a heart of stone not to feel for Moy Davitts in the wake of today’s gut-wrenching loss. It’s little comfort for them that they were part of a cracking final, as another pursuit of securing Senior status has come to naught.

The day and the Intermediate crown, however, belongs to Kilmeena. Desperately unlucky to have suffered relegation from the Senior ranks last year they’ve now bounced back at the first attempt.

It’s their second Intermediate title success in three years and they’ll now doubtless relish having a cut at provincial honours. Kilmeena’s compelling story goes on.