For the second time this weekend, a county final has ended in a draw. Crossmolina and Moy Davitts made light of the wind and rain at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park this afternoon to serve up a pulsating Intermediate football decider, which ended up all-square at 1-12 apiece.

Crossmolina got off to the best possible start. They won the throw-in and Niall Coggins drove hard at the Moy Davitts defence and smashed the ball to the net.

Moy Davitts steadied themselves after that early setback. Frees from Cian McHale and Ronan Clarke cut the gap to one.

James Maheady bagged a nice one for Cross, which Moy Davitts responded to with another Cian McHale free. Playing against a stiff breeze, Moy Davitts would have been pleased enough with themselves at that stage.

But Deel Rovers then stirred themselves. A long-range free from Fionan Duffy was followed by one from play by Diarmuid Coggins. Then full-back Kevin Mulhern landed an inspirational score after Cross had turned over the restart.

A Cian McHale free gave Moy Davitts a bit of respite. It was short-lived, however, as Jordan Flynn – holding off strong pressure from Conor Reid – lamped over a cracking point. Fionan Duffy lofted one over from distance and second later James Maheady curled a beauty over from out on the right.

Seven up with half-time approaching, Moy Davitts looked in real bother. They alleviated their position before the break, however, when Brian Reape pointed – his team’s only score from play in the opening half – and Cian McHale tapped over a free just before the short whistle to cut the gap to five on halfway.

Scores, inevitably, became harder to get after the break. Moy Davitts struck first, with Brian Reape converting a mark but then Fionan Duffy and James Maheady – the latter a monster effort – stretched Rovers’ lead to six.

Moy Davitts needed inspiration at that stage and they got it from their scorer-in-chief Cian McHale. He finished the day on nine points but the first of three scores he bagged in succession was a monster one from play. His next was a near carbon copy and then he converted a free to leave three between the sides.

Now it was Crossmolina who needed a score to settle them. Fionan Duffy – who ended up on five points today – got that score, this one from a long-range free. He followed it up with another and Cross looked comfortable again.

Cian McHale – who else? – responded with another belter of a score. The gap was still four points, however, and time was starting to run out.

When Crossmolina lost Kevin Mulhern to a black card it appeared to open an opportunity for Moy Davitts to make a late charge. But then James Dunleavy (black) and Conor Reid (second yellow) got the line and now it appeared their chance was gone.

But it wasn’t. They came with a grandstand finish, sub Brian Heneghan stretching to connect with a long ball in that Brian Reape had touched on and which came back off the post and bobbed across the goal. Heneghan, arriving late, dived to punch it to the net and now there was just a point between them.

The air was febrile in those frantic final seconds, with everything on the line and the Sweeney Cup there to be claimed by either team. A draw certainly looked the fairest result and it became a bolted-on certainty when Cian McHale pointed a late, late free to level it.

With the Intermediate final having now joined the Junior decider in deadlock, it’s expected that there’ll be a double-header back at MacHale Park next Saturday for the replays. That should be confirmed shortly. If those replayed ties are of similar standard and contain the same drama as the drawn matches that could be a double-header to savour.

Our Final Whistle pod on today’s Intermediate decider is up on Patreon now. Rob, Mike and I are on it, with post-match reaction from Crossmolina’s manager Brian Benson and we also hear the thoughts of Dublin footballer Seán MacMahon, who was at today’s game. The pod is on Patreon – here.