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Shaun Keenan

Joe Brolly brands Steelstown captain Neil Forrester's Croke Park speech as one of the greatest ever

Derry and All-Ireland winner Joe Brolly has branded Steelstown captain Neil Forrester's speech at Croke Park as one of the greatest ever.

The Derry-based club won the GAA All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship title on Sunday.

Steelstown Brian Ógs defeated the Meath champions Trim 3-14 to 2-5 at GAA HQ in what is going down as one of the city's best-ever sporting achievements.

From the Hogan stand after the match, captain Forrester gave an inspirational victory speech.

"To Croke Park, the GAA, AIB, this is an incredible competition," Forrester said.

"It really is the crown jewel in the GAA calendar because you can see how much it means to the parishes and communities of Ireland."

Mr Forrester went on to detail how the small Derry club were told "there was no Gaelic football in the city".

"We're a young club. We were founded by Anthony McGurk, Mickey Doherty, Phillip Devlin. They were told that there was no Gaelic football in the city, but they did not listen.

"They planted the acorn. It was nurtured by people like BrÍd Kelly McElroy, Andy Barr Snr; they were told there was no Gaelic football in Derry city - they did not listen!

"To you, our coaches, administrators, parents, you nurtured us more. The oak tree grew, Gaelic football is alive in Derry city!

"It hasn't been easy. We faced serious adversity on the pitch. We'd never won or a league or a championship on our men's team. Now we have three. Finally, adversity wasn't just on the pitch, it was off it. We lost people that we loved. People like Charlene, people like Brian Óg McKeever."

"He's the true captain of this club. It should be him climbing these steps. He's the captain's captain. It wasn't to be, so instead we named our club after him, even though he was only 17-years-old - that's the type of man that he was.

"Tonight, everybody will know his name, and our club's name, because Dublin city belongs to Steelstown Brian Ógs!"

The heartfelt speech prompted social media to go into a frenzy, with people around the country coming together to congratulate the Derry outfit.

Writing on social media, Derry GAA legend, Joe Brolly said: "An extraordinary victory speech by @BrianOgs captain Neil Forrester."

Another user tweeted: "Great to see such passion. Serious achievement for them. Great for football in the city."

@dkeego simply put: "Unbelievable stuff."

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