A rare Mickey Moran dressing-room rant did the trick as Kilcoo finally claimed the AIB All-Ireland club title that they've craved
Jerome Johnston's goal a minute into stoppage time of extra-time was the strike that buried Kilmacud Crokes - and sealed glory for the Down men.
Kilcoo, beaten by Corofin in the last final to be played in 2020, which also went to extra-time, were two points down with 80 minutes played.
But when Crokes lost possession around midfield as they attempted to play keep ball, the Johnstons pounced with Ryan Johnston's initial shot at goal blocked and deflected into the path of Jerome who fired to the net.
The goalscorer's name will forever be remembered around Kilcoo yet Moran was the name on everyone's lips after the memorable win.
The veteran had previously lost All-Ireland finals with Slaughtneil and Mayo and assistant boss Conleith Gilligan admitted that manager Moran cut loose at half-time with some serious home truths.
Kilcoo trailed by six points at that stage and Gilligan revealed: "Mickey really gave it good. Every now and again Mickey does give really cross speeches. He hadn't done one of those at all this year, he hadn't even raised his voice but this was one where he basically asked the boys to stand up and be counted or get their bags and go out onto the bus now."
Moran's words did the trick as Kilcoo, trailing 0-2 to 0-8 at the break, fought back in the third quarter thanks in a big way to goalkeeper Niall Kane's bizarre goal.
His 45th minute kick from a '45 somehow found its way to the net after a slight touch from Crokes defender Ross McGowan.
Kilcoo's Paul Devlin was the man who eventually forced extra-time at 1-7 to 0-10 with the 60th minute equaliser.
Crokes will kick themselves for allowing it to get to that stage. The excellent Craig Dias had a shot cleared off the line early in the second-half when a goal would have put the 1995 and 2009 winners 1-8 to 0-2 clear.
Boss Robbie Brennan said he felt that if they'd scored that goal, they'd have won.
They still placed themselves on the cusp of victory by nudging two points clear late in extra-time, thanks to points from subs Cian O'Connor and Callum Pearson.
But Crokes couldn't hold on as goalkeeper Conor Ferris raced out of goal to the right wing and coughed up possession, resulting in Kilcoo engineering their remarkable winning goal.
Gilligan, who won an All-Ireland 20 years ago with Ballinderry, said: "It's just an enormous sense of relief, just delight to get over the line, for so many reasons. We didn't want the disappointment again.
"We were actually down here in Croke Park last Sunday for a kickabout and we did a presentation with the lads, we happened to do it in the media room and when I walked into the room I immediately got that feeling of walking in after the 2020 final loss and having to answer all the questions about where it all went wrong. I remember thinking to myself, 'I never want to have to do that again'."
Kilcoo: N Kane (1-0, 45); N Branagan, R McEvoy, Aaron Branagan; M Rooney, D Branagan, E Branagan; D Ward, Aaaron Morgan; S Johnston, J Johnston (1-1), C Doherty; P Devlin (0-4, 3f), R Johnston, C Laverty (0-2).
Subs: Anthony Morgan (0-1) for Ryan Johnston 35, Aidan Branagan for Aaron Morgan 47-f/t, blood, R Johnston for S Johnston 58, S Johnston for Rooney h/t e/t, J Clark for Doherty 77, S Og McCusker for J Johnston 81.
Kilmacud Crokes: C Ferris; M Mullin, D O'Brien, R McGowan; A McGowan (0-1), R O'Carroll, C O'Shea; B Shovlin, C Dias (0-2); S Horan (0-2), A Jones, D Mullin (0-2, 1m); H Kenny, S Cunningham (0-1, 1m), T Fox (0-1, 1f).
Subs: C O'Connor (0-3, 2f) for Fox 42, C Casey for Horan, A Quinn for Jones & C Pearson (0-1) for Kenny 54, C Kinsella for Dias 61. T Clancy for M Mullin e/t, Jones for R McGowan 66, M O'Leary for Cunningham 70, Horan for Dara Mullin h/t e/t.
Ref: S Hurson (Tyrone).
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