PADRAIG McGrogan’s heart has seldom sunk so low as the moment the ball ended up in the Newbridge net with only one minute left.
After everything they had done to force themselves into a winning position, David about to slay Goliath on Derry football’s grandest stage, Glen full-back Ryan Dougan forced the ball home to level it up.
How many times have we seen the plucky underdog suddenly wilt in the face of new-found momentum? Another classic case awaited – or so most inside Celtic Park expected or, in the case of the nail-biting Newbridge support, feared.
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“Aw, the energy just sunk out of me,” said McGrogan, who has been forced to watch from the wings after suffering a season ending cruciate ligament injury back in April.
“I was on the far side, the Glen ones were all around me, the noise they made… you just thought ‘they’re going to get this kick-out, get another point’.
“To be fair to the boys we ended up getting a free-kick [from the next kick-out]… it just shows the fight in them. Any other year we could’ve just thumped that ball out, maybe lost it, Glen get the winning score and it’s all about Glen again.”
But there was to be no last-gasp salvation for the reigning All-Ireland champions, in what would turn out to be Malachy O’Rourke’s final game at the helm as attention turns fully towards Tyrone.
Instead, Newbridge gritted their teeth, just as they had done against Magherafelt in the semi-final. The previous year’s 10-point drubbing at the hands of the same opponents, at the same stage, just two points to show for their efforts, left a mark on the Sean O’Leary’s.
And rather than hold on for extra-time, Gary Hetherington’s men turned the needle and went for broke; stalwart Ciaran Brooks the unlikely hero, popping up from corner-back to conjure a fairytale finish with the final, title-securing score.
Thirty-five years after their 10th triumph in Derry, 33 years since last reaching a senior final, the John McLaughlin Cup was coming back to Newbridge. And doing it the hard way, “keeping receipts” of those gave them no chance, made victory all the more sweet.
“Ach, I think it’s something that’s in everybody’s head, but nothing major.
“We have a lot of a belief in the team, for good reason. We know we’re good enough, but nobody’s going to tell you that you’re good enough, you have to show people.
“Talk about receipts or whatever, but what odds? Who cares what anybody said? It doesn’t bother me at all. Glen were favourites for a reason, it would’ve been stupid to back Newbridge to win that game.
“But it wasn’t that we were lucky; we didn’t fluke the game - we lost that game a couple of times but, in fairness to the boys, they just kept coming back for more.
“Fair enough Glen are All-Ireland champions, still the best team in Derry I would say, and nobody would relish playing them, but football’s a funny game. You get your chances, you have to take them.
“I came onto this team in 2017, we were playing intermediate that year, we won it, and then we were supposed to go down three years ago, beaten by Claudy in a relegation play-off, but they restructured the leagues and we stayed up… who knows? It could’ve all been very different.
“The chat before this final was Newbridge have a good team, maybe the future will be good. Football doesn’t work that way – when you get a chance, you take it, because you never know what could happen down the line.”
And here they stand, ready to return to Celtic Park on Sunday for the start of Ulster campaign against Armagh champions Clann Eireann.
To have done so without a man of McGrogan’s stature provides further evidence that this group is made of strong stuff. Even in his absence from the field, the Derry star, the club captain – who underwent surgery in June, and isn’t expecting to return before March 2025 - is at the heart of it all.
There was no self-pity as this journey unfolded in the months after his season was ended; just delight, and pure pride at how far Newbridge have come.
“I’ve actually really enjoyed it.
“I go to all the training - I wouldn’t miss it. I’ve enjoyed it big time, it’s a very different thing. Like, I got injured in April so I made my peace with it a long time ago. I knew I was out for the year.
“But see when you have brothers playing, best friends out there, it doesn’t matter. I just feel like I am part of the team anyway.”
The party raged on for a few days after the Derry decider, heads still being shaken in disbelief as the magnitude of their achievement sunk in. Those celebrations, however, have long come to an end.
Another challenge lies ahead now, as Newbridge bid to avoid becoming just another new county champion happy with their lot. Renewed focus, and Ulster ambitions, have since taken centre stage.
“It’s been crazy,” smiles McGrogan, “everybody keeps on saying ‘I can’t believe this has happened’ – that’s the feeling around the club, nobody can accept that it happened or believe it really. People are very, very happy.
“Our previous chairman, Adrian McCann, had a stroke there a few years ago, he’s in a wheelchair, he came into the changing room after the Magherafelt game and told the players what it meant to him. Everybody’s the same.
“Just to see what it does for everybody, how happy football can make people. There’s ones going on about the rules, and what needs to change and all this… you come to Newbridge, there’s nobody talking about rules or what’s wrong with football.
“I’ve been there before, people talk about games I’ve played in and how shit it was – do I care? Not one bit. The joy these sort of days bring people, that’s the main thing about football.
“And it’s the same now going into Ulster - if you lose a championship game, that’s your season over. We want to be playing football for a lot longer yet.”
