Glen 1-12 Kilcoo 1-6: Derry side win Ulster Club title by beating All-Ireland champions
Glen earned a first Ulster Club Football title by beating All-Ireland champions Kilcoo 1-12 to 1-6 at Armagh.
Derry side led 0-5 to 0-0 after 11 minutes but Aaron Branagan's goal got Kilcoo right back into the game.
Paul Devlin had a penalty chance to put Kilcoo ahead before half-time but missed as Glen led 0-7 to 1-3.
Glen moved three up but while Kilcoo cut the gap to one they could never get on terms as Alex Doherty's last-gasp goal sealed the Maghera team's victory.
Watty Grahams outfit's triumph was a true team effort as they had eight scorers with Danny Tallon their top marksman with 0-4.
Indeed, Glen's opening five scores in their period of early dominance came from five different players.
's opening free was won by man of the match Conleth McGuckian but Glen had outstanding performers all over the field.
Midfielder Conor Glass was typically industrious with full-back Ryan Dougan among Glen's stars as he roamed all over the pitch in his battle with Jerome Johnston and even got in on the scoring act himself.
Kilcoo will look back on Devlin's missed penalty which, if converted, would have given them a two-point advantage at the interval which they scarcely would have deserved.
It could have been a big psychological blow to Glen if they had found themselves behind at half-time and while Kilcoo threatened to wrest control of the game at stages during the third quarter, Malachy O'Rourke's side refused to yield with goalkeeper Conlann Bradley making a vital pointblank save to deny Ceilum Doherty's goal chance with 11 minutes of normal time left.
With Glen having given Kilcoo by far their toughest test in last year's Ulster campaign as the Down champions needed extra-time to win 1-11 to 0-11 at the semi-final stage, a tight encounter was expected and that was how it played out - with Doherty's late goal giving the scoreboard an unrepresentative look.
Granted, Glen did dominate the opening 11 minutes as Tallon's sixth-minute free was followed by quickfire points from Bradley, Glass, McGuckian and Jack Doherty, with the latter three coming from play as Kilcoo were being run ragged.
However, Kilcoo's typical resolve soon surfaced as Dylan Ward's charge and perfectly-weighted hand pass into space allowed Aaron Branagan to palm the ball to the net despite Bradley's efforts.
re was never more than two it for the remainder of the opening period as Kilcoo stayed in touch despite losing Devlin for 10 minutes because a black card after an apparent off-the-ball tangle with Michael Warnock.
Dougan's 27th-minute fisted score, as he settled for a point instead of going low, moved Glen two ahead once more after Darryl Branagan had fired over a beauty at the other end.
Jerome Johnston's 'mark' point reduced Glen's lead to the minimum once more before the penalty arrived after Dougan's foul on the Kilcoo full-forward was adjudged to be just inside the large square.
But not for the only time this weekend, the penalty wasn't converted as Devlin tugged his effort a foot wide of Bradley's left-hand post.
Buoyed by the let-off, Glen quickly moved three up after the resumption following Bradley and Tallon frees, with the latter gifted by Eugene Branagan's loss of possession to Jack Doherty on the edge of his own 21.
Inevitably, Kilcoo fought back as two Devlin frees left them only one behind by the 38th minute.
At that stage, it looked as though Kilcoo might have the legs to run through Glen as they pressed up on Bradley's kickouts.
But Tallon's 45th-minute free doubled Glen's lead again and after Kilcoo goalscorer Aaron Branagan somehow contorted his right leg to fire over a sensational snapshot point, the game's second key moment arrived as Bradley brilliantly saved Doherty's goal chance, with Johnston bottled up by the Watty Grahams defence after gathering the rebound.
As Glen seemed to get a second wind in the closing minutes, Ethan Doherty and Tallon fired points to put them three up before Alex Doherty was able to plant the ball into the empty Kilcoo net in the final play of the game before the Derry club's faithful invaded the field to congratulate their heroes.