Two Mile House 0-16
Monasterevan 1-8
By Robert Cribbin
Two Mile House are Intermediate Football Champions for the first time ever after they ran out 0-16 to 1-8 winners over Monasterevan.
The win also guarantees the club the carrot of Senior Football in 2019 which is also a historical milestone.
Aidan Casey put to bed the ghosts of his missed free in the 2016 final in a man of the match performance that saw him score 0-10 while Didier Cordonnier was also brilliant in goal as he made a couple of crucial saves.
Two Mile House were the better team throughout but there was one crucial turning point just before half-time.
Referee Liam Herbert adjudged Peter Kelly to have fouled Cormac Stapleton in the square and team captain Wayne Fitzpatrick stepped up for the penalty but Didier Cordonnier palmed the ball away to safety.
That would have given Monasterevan a one point lead but with Chris Healy and Aidan Casey kicking scores afterwards they went in four down and it was the losing of the game for them.
Two Mile House looked sharp early on and they quickly went into a two point lead with scores from Aidan Casey and Chris Healy.
Padraig Nash kicked an excellent point in response but a Casey free helped The House maintain their lead.
Monasterevan never led and they were only level once in the 14th minute when Ryan Bannon split the posts on the back of a Nash free.
Two Mile House were growing by the minute though as three successive scores from Casey pushed them clear.
Cormac Stapleton and Paul Kelly narrowed the gap to one before Casey was on target once more.
The penalty for Fitzpatrick then arrived in the 30th minute but Didier Cordonnier who replaced the injured John Goff was not to be denied.
Casey and Healy continued the dominance for Two Mile House on the scoreboard as they opened up a 0-9 to 0-5 advantage at the break.
18 year old Jack Collins extended the lead with a well taken score under pressure but Monasterevan battled back.
Nash and Fitzpatrick kicked points before Ryan Bannon had a glorious opportunity to level up matters but his goalbound shot was brilliantly saved by Cordonnier.
That close shave seemed to push Two Mile House onto another level as a pair of scores from Casey as well as Mark Sherry and Caomhan Doolin finding the target pushed Niall Browne’s outfit into a double scores lead.
Monasterevan got their last point in the 57th minute with a Nash free but it was quickly cancelled out again by Healy and Casey.
Things got worse for Monasterevan in stoppage time when Ryan Bannon was given a straight red for an off the ball incident but they did find the net when a Padraig Nash free was inadvertently pushed into his own net by Will Burke.
It was Two Mile House’s day though and the final whistle soon went afterwards with jubilant celebrations the result.
Its been a tough few years for the club but rather fittingly Adam Burke played a prominent role in the celebrations afterwards as Two Mile House achieved one of its greatest days.
Two Mile House: John Goff; Nathan Sherry, William Burke, Andrew May, Matt Kelly, Finnian Breen, Jack Collins 0-1, Peter Kelly, Shane Darcy, Stuart White, Caomhan Doolin 0-1, Gavin Burke, Chris Healy 0-3, Mark Sherry 0-1, Aidan Casey 0-10 (0-4fs). Subs: Didier Cordonnier for Goff 20 mins, Conor Keogh for M.Kelly 36 mins, Joe Darcy for Gavin Burke 45 mins, Chris Julian for White 56 mins, David Hanley for Doolin 62 mins, Glen Lee for Breen 62 mins.
Monasterevan: Robbie White; Tristan Kennedy, Eoin Stapleton, Cormac Stapleton 0-1, DJ Earley, Cian Harrison, Kevin Dunne, Gavin Worrell, Lennie Havens, Paul Kelly 0-1, Padraig Nash 0-4 (0-2fs), Paul Maloney, Wayne Fitzpatrick 0-1 (0-1f), Ryan Bannon 0-1, Kevin Fitzpatrick. Subs: Mark Kelly for Dunne 12 mins, Sean Kavanagh for P.Kelly 44 mins, Christy Dempsey for Worrell 48 mins,
Ref: Liam Herbert
