Kilmacud Crokes 1-14 Kerins O’Rahillys 0-14

If you’d told Kerins O’Rahillys before the game that it would take Shane Walsh 53 minutes to score from open play, then they’d have had high hopes for this All-Ireland semi-final.

Very high hopes indeed.

But the way it was, when Walsh swung one over with seven minutes left, it looked more like a death knell for the Kerry side.

They’d given a decent account of themselves yes, but on the scoreboard, they were six points behind and, all around Croke Park, you couldn’t escape the sense that this was a done deal.

Kilmacud supporters with the feet up. The eyes on the final. You know the rest.

But on the field, and you’d have to admire them for this, Kerins O’Rahillys had other ideas. Substitute Gearoid Savage kickstarted the fight-back with a fine point from play and then his older brother Jack followed him up with another two – one from a free and one from play.

Suddenly, as the clock ticked into injury-time and out of nowhere, we had a one-score game. Let’s go.

It was at that point, just as the neutral doctor ordered, when the Strand Road side won a free in the middle of the field. The stadium was no longer neutral now.

Shane Foley roamed out of his goals then and, before the free was kicked, the Kerins O’Rahillys keeper told his supporters to lift it. He raised his hands like a conductor and, in front of him, the orchestra responded.

It was the noisiest moment of the day when the ball floated in towards the Kilmacud goals and time stood still, seconds later, when David Moran got a fist to it.

Luckily for Kilmacud, the brilliant Dara Mullin was there to collect the ball on the line. His clearance came out to Jack Savage but the final whistle was blown and that was that, Savage falling to the ground in despair.

He had legitimate claims for a penalty too, let’s not forget, two minutes earlier and while this will have been a disappointing way to lose it, it was a proud way to leave it.

O’Rahillys were rank 8/1 outsiders heading into this one and while they have their rough edges, they had plenty of heart. Nobody epitomised the heart quite like Cormac Coffey, who was given the task of marking Shane Walsh.

The terrier-like corner back excelled in this role, sticking to the Galway man’s every move and even making a few meaningful breaks of his own. Gavin O’Brien also tried hard, to good effect, but none of them were as effective as the evergreen David Moran.

The 34-year-old is a colossus of a man – Kilmacud players bounced off him, but couldn’t dispossess him – all day long, but it was in those last few minutes when you saw the spirit that makes him the player he is. He leapt up in a sea of bodies to win two late kick-outs, and he nearly had his Roy of the Rovers moment with that late punch.

He left the field close to tears. But he can leave with the head held high.

Kilmacud Crokes

Conor Ferris; Micheal Mullin, Theo Clancy, Dan O’Brien; Aidan Jones (0-2), Rory O’Carroll , Andrew McGowan; Craig Dias (0-1), Ben Shovlin; Shane Horan (0-1), Shane Walsh (0-2, 0-1f), Cian O’Connor (0-1); Hugh Kenny (1-2), Shane Cunningham (0-2), Dara Mullin (0-2)

Subs: Tom Fox (0-1) for Shane Horan (42), Cillian O’Shea for Aidan Jones, Conor Casey for Ben Shovlin (45) Paraic Purcell for Shane Cunningham (59)

Kerins O’Rahillys

Shane Foley; Darragh McElligott, Ross O’Callaghan, Cormac Coffey; Con Barrett, Karl Mullins, Padraig Neenan; David Moran, Tom Hoare; Gearoid Savage, Jack Savage (0-4, 0-3f), Gavin O’Brien (0-1); Barry John Keane (0-2), Tommy Walsh (0-1), Conor Hayes (0-2)

Subs: Diarmuid O’Sullivan for Con Barrett (34), Ben Hanafin for Darragh McElligott (41), Darragh O’Connor for Tom Hoare (46), Gearoid Savage (0-1) for Conor Hayes (60)

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10