West Cork head to third consecutive final after win over Aghada

Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

West Cork 9-15 Aghada 1-9

West Cork qualified for a third consecutive Cork LGFA senior county final following a one-sided victory over Aghada in Cloughduv on Saturday evening.

A blistering start saw the winners rip through the Aghada defence to score four goals inside the opening 20 minutes.

Fiona Keating was responsible for all four green flags and would finish the game with five goals.

Áine Terry O’Sullivan was equally proficient in a West Cork side Melissa Duggan, Emma Spillane, Daire Kiely and Sarah Hayes also impressed.

Despite a valiant Aghada effort, Courcey Rovers forward Keating’s clinical finishing put the result beyond doubt before the first half concluded.

The second period proved a much scrappier affair but West Cork still managed to find the net an additional four times.

Clearly, Mourneabbey’s total of 11-12 in seeing off Éire Óg earlier in the day had a bearing on the western division’s performance.

A determined West Cork began the semi-final at a high tempo and rarely relented throughout the 60 minutes.

Right from the start, last year’s senior championship runners-up attacked at the earliest opportunity and led 2-4 to 0-0l1 after 10 minutes.

Fiona Keating added another two goals while Christine Moran and Emma Farmer points got a shell-shocked Aghada off the mark. The eventual winners kept the scoreboard ticking over with Áine Terry O’Sullivan, Daire Kiely and Libby Coppinger points added to by another Keating goal.

Aghada enjoyed their best spell either side of the interval thanks to 1-1 from Amanda Bennett and a brace of Emma Farmer points.

Yet, West Cork quickly reasserted their dominance with Melissa Duggan, Keating and O’Sullivan goals making it 7-14 to 1-9 heading into the closing minutes.

There was still time for O’Sullivan and Coppinger to each find the net and round off a commanding West Cork performance.

So, for the third time in as many years, it will be Mourneabbey and West Cork facing off in the Cork LGFA senior county final.

It should be another epic encounter if Saturday’s imperious semi-final displays are anything to go by.

Captains Emma Farmer @AghadaLGFA referee Damien Taffee @PassageWestLGF & AíneO’ Sullivan @westcorkladies . #LGFACLUB @mid_cork @eastcorklgf @RnRor @NorthCorkLF @PaudieP pic.twitter.com/iCo41Cj13r

— Cork LGFA (@CorkLGFA) August 29, 2020

Scorers for West Cork: F Keating 5-0, Á T O’Sullivan 2-8 (0-2f), L Coppinger 1-4, M Duggan 1-1, D Kiely 0-2.

Scorers for Aghada: E Farmer 0-5 (0-2f), A Bennett 1-1, H Looney 0-2, C Moran 0-1.

WEST CORK: M O’Brien; S Courtney, S Hayes, C O’Sullivan; E Spillane, C O’Shea, M O’Donovan; M Duggan, E Kiely; Á T O’Sullivan (captain), R Murphy, L Harte; F Keating, L Coppinger, D Kiely.

Subs: M Barrett for E Kiely (ht), C Maguire for M O’Donovan (39), E Tarrant for D Kiely (57).

AGHADA: S Walsh; C Tynan, K O’Farrell, S O’Driscoll; S McAllister, C Walsh, M Leahy; S Leahy, H Looney; A McGrath, E Farmer (captain), R Leahy; A Bennett, M Phelan-Sweeney, C Moran.

Subs: K Smith for A McGrath (29), S Phelan for A Bennett (ht), C McInnes for C Tynan (45), L Linehan for M Phelan-Sweeney (48), S McCarthy for C Moran (48).

Referee: D Taffe (Passage West).