Mourneabbey finally claim All-Ireland glory
No more laments for Mourneabbey.
Defeated All-Ireland senior ladies club finalists three times in the last four seasons, the North Cork side finally had their prayers answered in the biggest game of them all with this impressive and comprehensive defeat of Dublin's Foxrock Cabinteely.
Parnell Park was buffeted and drenched by the stormy weather but the winners played the conditions to perfection, building up a nine-point buffer before turning in a clever and patient performance on the restart when they faced into the worst of the elements.
The winning margin should have been greater.
Eimear Harrington and Ciara O'Sullivan smacked the ball off the crossbar within 30 seconds of each other after the interval and the former slipped while skidding a penalty wide. None of which proved terminal thanks to their dominance of possession.
It was a masterful team display.
Mourneabbey's problem every time they had played and lost an All-Ireland prior to this was that they just hadn't done themselves justice. Not here. They had little to regret, especially in an opening quarter that left them in such a commanding position.
Playing with a blustery wind more or less at their backs, they were able to hem the Dublin side in to their own third of the field. A decent start in itself, the Cork side built on it with some smooth and clinical play that cut through the put-upon opposition.
Doireann O'Sullivan had already claimed an opening pair of points before Emma McDonagh was sent to the bin for ten minutes. Floundering with 15 on the field, Foxrock Cabinteely were now in danger of going under entirely.
Doireann and Ciara O'Sullivan were relentless, Laura Fitzgerald eerily accurate in front of goal and Ellie Jack too. They had 1-12 on the board at half-time, only the one wide and an effort that dropped short in the keeper's arms.
Clinical stuff.
The goal came courtesy of Fitzgerald who finished off a sublime team move. It was a score that left them eleven to the good with five minutes to go until the break but Foxrock Caibinteely responded with a goal of their own from Fiona Claffey straight from the restart.
How they needed it. The game, too.
The conditions were enough to give seed to some doubt over the margin. Would nine points be enough? More than enough, it turned out and Foxrock Cabinteely didn't help themselves with their failure to make use of the elements.
Time and again they sent kick-outs straight to touch and at no stage did they think it an idea to send in long and high balls to the opposition area. An odd oversight given the wind at their backs. It took them 25 minutes to claim just two points.
Mourneabbey only managed the one score in the entire period but they soaked up sp much time so adeptly that there was never a hint of danger to their hopes of claiming this maiden All-Ireland title. The Dolores Tyrrell Memorial Cup is there's.
At long last.
A Ring (0-4 frees); F Claffey (1-0); S Goldrick and H O'Neill (both 0-1); A Connolly (0-1 free).
D O'Sullivan (0-6, 3 frees); L Fitzgerald (1-2); E Jack and C O'Sullivan (both 0-2); E Harrington (0-1).
A Tarpey; A Murray, S Quinn, E McDonagh; S Goldrick, N Collins, L Fusciardi; T O'Sullivan, C Ni Mhurchadh; H O'Neill, A Connolly, F Claffey; L Nerney, C O'Riordan, A Ring. Subs: R McGovern for O'Riordan (HT); L Ahern for Nerney (40); J Egan for Murray (51); S Delahunty for Fusciardi (53); H Dennedy for Connolly (58).
M O'Sullivan; E Meaney, CA Stack, A O'Sllivan; S Conroy, N O'Sullivan, K Coakley; M O'Callaghan, R O'Sullivan; E Harrington, B O'Sullivan, C O'Sullivan; E Jack, L Fitzgerald, D O'Sullivan. Subs: S O'Callaghn for Fitzgerald (42).
B Rice (Down).
