Disappointment for McCrea in Leinster IFC final but a good year in all

Former Four Masters player Aaron McCrea ended up on the losing side of the Leinster Club IFC final on Saturday as his adopted club Scoil Uí Chonaill fell to a far superior Allenwood team by 10 points in Parnell Park.

In his first season with the Clontarf-based side, the former Donegal county minor has been a presence for the Dublin club in the half-back line in the latter stages of the championship, making his first championship appearance in the county final against Parnells and maintaining that position throughout their Leinster campaign.

Having overcome Roche Emmets of Louth by a point in the quarter-final and Leinster favourites Rathkenny in a penalty shootout in the semi-final, an intriguing decider was set against a Johnny Doyle-inspired Allenwood of Kildare.

Essentially playing in their own backyard in Parnell Park – adjacent to Clontarf – Scoil started the better of the two teams in the final with McCrea creating the opening two goals for his side with long balls into his full-forward line, both of which ended in the back of the net.

In a chaotic first half of football, the Dublin club – which had 11 starting players originating from different clubs across Clare, Louth, Mayo, Antrim, Kerry and Donegal – trailed by four points at half-time despite being the dominant team.

But Allenwood turned the screws in the second half, finding creaks in the Scoil defence and landing 1-7 compared to Scoil’s 1-1 as the Kildare club raced home 4-12 to 3-5 winners on a cold winter’s day in north Dublin.

McCrea reflected on the loss and his season playing in the capital after the game: “I loved it, honestly, really disappointed today but to have gotten this far was unreal.

“We just never got going in the second half and after 10 minutes we were playing catch up, but Allenwood are a great side.

“It’s been a great year, to win a championship and play in a provincial final in my first season is amazing. I wasn’t planning on playing any football this year ... I wanted a break from it, then last winter I went out for a training session just to keep fit and I was pulled in. I’ve been here since and it’s been brilliant.

“It’s a fantastic club that’s very welcoming, that’s why we have so many people outside the county playing, just great community spirit. Obviously, it’s a sad way to end the season but I have no complaints overall on how my football year went.”

From a team that competed in Dublin junior championship just over a decade ago, winning an intermediate title and a return to the senior ranks of the capital for the first time in almost three decades has been viewed as a fantastic season.