Gritty St Michael's are Connacht Champs

ST. MICHAEL’S great adventure of '08 continues to unearth new treasures and last Sunday in Kiltoom they added a first ever Connacht intermediate title to their already well stocked chest . . .but only after a pulsating struggle.Last Sunday might have been a wicked Arctic day, but the champions of Galway and Roscommon found a relatively benign hour to battle it out for provincial honours — between them, they produced top quality entertainment for the crowd of about 1,000.In the end, St. Michael’s made their own bit of club history with only the minimum margin to spare, but it would have been very harsh justice on the city side had they not made it over the finishing line ahead of their rivals. St. Michael’s nearly paid ahigh price for a concentrated flurry of first half wides when they seemed poised to establish a solid lead and for being caught by a late sucker punch goal from Kilbride. That goal, delivered by midfielder Seamus O’Neill with just three minutes of normal time remaining, however, typified the overall quality of the match.The Kilbride midfielder weaved his way through the St. Michael’s defence before unleashing a perfectly placed shot to the top corner of Robert Hannan’s net from 20 yards, as good a goal as has been scored in Connacht football all season.It was a score which left Kilbride just one point behind with plenty of time left to secure an equaliser, but St. Michael’s showed admirable tenacity to hold out for a deserved victory. The winners had...