Fr O’Neill’s show resilience in seeing off brave Milford

Fr O’Neills 3-10 Milford 1-14

In the end it was their mental resilience, built up over recent seasons of heartbreak, that ensured the Ballymacoda girls had the edge when it came to who would advance to meet Inniscarra.

Major reshuffling of the pack and a late rally from their attack proved the catalyst for the Ballymacoda girls' miraculous fight back. However, for most of this exhilarating semi-final, that had the crowd on tenterhooks, right up to the final whistle, it was Milford who looked likely to go on and face Inniscarra.

The lion-hearted youngsters from north Cork showed that they are a match for any team in their first year up at this grade, and it was only at the death that they left O'Neill's in to snatch a dramatic win.

The north Cork side were particularly impressive in the opening stages when they reeled off four unanswered points but when Nora Ahern switched from centre-forward to the corner at the quarter stage this game took a spectacular turn the O'Neills player propelled her side back into the game with three amazing strikes that all ended up in the Milford net. By half time they had brought the scoreboard back to within two points, 1-9 to 3-1.

Milford were full value for that interval lead with their defence led by Elaine O'Riordan and Regina Curtin very much on top, and Eimear O'Friel and the Watson sisters accepting all the gilt-edged opportunities that came their way including a wonderful goal from corner forward Emer.

The second half was more of the same, starting out with Mary Kennefick pulling off a brilliant save from Aine Watson. With the exchanges tough and physical, Milford managed to maintain their two-point advantage up to the 50th minute, but with Fiona O'Driscoll coming good she levelled and then pushed her side into the lead a minute into injury time.

But, in true fashion Milford did not lie down through a Marie Watson point they brought the deficit back to one. However, with recent year's disappointments flashing before their eyes, O'Neills fought to the bitter end. This late resurrection now gives them the opportunity to maybe go on and capture that elusive county title.

Scorers for Fr O'Neills: N Ahern 3-1, F O'Driscoll 0-7 (0-4 frees), S Cahalane and R Corcoran 0-1 each.

Milford: E Watson 1-5 (0-2 frees, 0-1 45m), M Watson and A Geary 0-3 each, J Sheehy, L Long and E O'Friel 0-1 each.

FR O'NEILLS: M Kennefick; A Corcoran, L Sweetnam, G Kearney; C Flavin, M Finn, M O'Brien; C Madden, V O'Sullivan; S Kearney, N Ahern, S Cahalane; F O'Driscoll, R Corcoran, C O'Shea.

Subs: C O'Leary for S Kearney (41 mins), A M O'Keeffe for M O'Brien (60 mins).

MILFORD: E Lenihan; L Healy, E O'Riordan, D Hayes; T McLoughlin, R Curtin, C O'Gorman; A Geary, S Sexton; A Watson, L Long, J Sheehy; E Watson, M Watson, E O'Friel.

Referee: P Downey (Inniscarra).