Sciath na Scol: Beaumont, Gaelscoil Uí Drisceoil, Ballinora, and Inchigeelagh claim wins
Oran Riordan and Brian Werner, Ballinora celebrate at the final whistle of the DF2 Final against Inch at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Pic: Jim Coughlan.
Beaumont claimed the Urban GF1 title after a tense contest with Ballincollig in the day’s first game.
A goal and a point from Grace Howard proved the difference in a truly evenly matched decider that could have gone either way.
The first half had plenty of drama and two well taken scores. Regan Heffernan expertly found Isabelle Downey in space in the seventh minute who buried it low to raise the first green flag of the morning.
A couple of minutes later, Maggie Creedon spun and broke free from her marker in the middle of the pitch, drove forward and popped it over to open the Ballincollig account.
Ballincollig keeper Nell Ywuong Botsimbo was keeping her side in the game, pulling off a string of excellent saves in both halves.
The second half saw much of the same quality. Ballincollig captain Khloe Dempsey slotted over her team’s second point of the morning with all the poise and finesse of David Clifford, from a tight angle, under pressure.
Then the teams traded green flags. Grace Howard goaled after the ball fell to her in the square after a scramble, her powerful shot whizzing past three or four Ballincollig defenders before hitting the net.
Ballincollig’s tricky forward Mia Cronin had the perfect response a few minutes later when she smashed one high into the opposition net, clawing it back to a one point game.
However, Beaumont’s star performer and player of the match Grace Howard put the cherry on top for her team with a beautifully executed score just before the whistle. And that was that.
M Cronin 1-0, M Creedon and K Dempsey 0-1 each.
G Howard 1-1, I Downey 1-0.
N Ywuong Botsimbo, A O’Connell, E McGibney, I Defina, O Beale, H Smyth, E Kahraman, K Dempsey (captain), S McGough, M Cronin, M Bamba, A Keane, M Creedon, L Creedon, P Moloney, M Nash, L O’Keefe, S Wilcox, E Buckley, M Zerne O’Shea, K Zerne O’Shea, O Merchel, A Tomkowiak, D M Kenny, K McGill, C McDonagh Quinn, A Duane, I Tache, L Manning, K Coughlan McCarthy, H Creedon, A Dobrea, M El Achab, V Demenschina.
L Ryan, H Nagle, H O’Callaghan, E Quigley (captain), E Thornhill, G Howard, L Lichwa, B Higgins, A Devereux, A Stack, R Heffernan, I Downey, A Walsh, K Swords, G Matthews, H Kennedy, R Howard, R Butler, S Cashman.
Mark Maher
A barnstorming five-goal display from Gaelscoil Uí Drisceoil helped them take the DGF2 final in the day’s second decider.
Drisceoil’s Fiadh NÍ Iarthaile, Sophia Ní Maidín and Lucy Ní Shuilleabhain were standouts for the winners, spreading the goals amongst each other.
Glounthaune tested Drisceoil’s resolve on a few occasions and even raised a couple of green flags of their own, but the Glanmire school proved too strong on the day.
It was a dream start for Drisceoil, scoring two quick fire goals in the opening three minutes.
The first came when Lucy Ní Shuilleabhain worked hard to retain the ball in a goal mouth scramble, eventually poking the ball over the line.
The second was truly unfortunate, as the ball ricocheted off the post from a Fiadh Ní Iarthaile effort, bouncing off keeper Lara Mulcahy and into the net.
Emily O’Shaughnessy steadied the Glounthaune ship with a well taken point in the fifth minute but it was soon to be followed by a Drisceoil flurry that included a goal and two points in quick succession.
Sophia Ní Maidín produced the goal-point combo that truly hurt Glounthaune. Soon after, NÍ Iarthaile added another to give her side a healthy advantage.
Glounthaune battled though and earned the goal they would score in the 13th minute courtesy of Evie O’Donnell after the forward weaved past two Drisceoil defenders and buried it in the net.
Ní Iarthaile curled one over off her right then Ní Shuilleabhain would score her second goal of the morning with half time approaching.
Fiadh Mulcahy punted one over to tighten the scoreline just before the whistle was blown.
Glounthaune came out fighting in the second half and had the better of the chances too. Emily O’Shaughnessy narrowed the deficit with an excellent point and nearly narrowed it further with a goalbound effort that was saved spectacularly by Drisceoil keeper Grace Ní Mhuirí.
However, Drisceoil grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck again after 28 minutes when Caragh Ní Shíochain was quickest to pounce on a ball near the goalmouth and raise her side's fifth green flag.
Ní Iarthaile posted one more with three minutes to go before Lucy Donovan smashed one past Grace Ní Mhuirí - another goal for Glounthaune. Aoife Ní Chorcora and goalscorer Ní Shiochain would add two more points before the referee called it a day.
L Ní Shuilleabhain 2-0, F NÍ Iarthaile 1-3, S Ní Maidín and C Ní Shíochain 1-1 each, A Ní Chorcora 0-1.
E O’Shaughnessy 0-2, E O’Donnell and L Donovan 1-0 each, F Mulcahy 0-1.
G Ní Mhuirí, O Ní Dhonnchú, E Ní Bhrádaigh, E Ní Laoire, S Nic Cárthaigh, M Ní Chiara, F Ní Mhuirthuile, F Ní larthaile, C Ní Shíochain, S Ní Shuilleabhain, L Sorensen, A Ní Chorcora, S Ní Mhaidín, N Ní Choilean, S Ní Chréimín, S Ní Spealáin, Á Ní Chuimin, L Ní Chearúil, S McNally, S Ní Chorcora, L Ní Bhrosnacháin, L Rogers, L Ní Shuilleabhain, S Reaney, E Ní Mhaidín, L Nic Gearailt, A Bo de Brún, I Ní Mhineacháin, H Ní Shuilleabháin, G Ní Chochláin, A Ní Bhriain, A Ní Chathasaigh.
L Mulcahy, E Kelly-Candil, S Dunne, A Daly, A Dennehy, L O' Connor, H Enright, A O' Connell, E O' Shaughnessy, R Healy, L Donovan, N Beatty, M Flanagan, E O' Donnell, F Mulcahy, A Spillane, F McSweeney, C Dennehy, L Kenny, E Atkins, L Horgan, M Morrissey, K O' Sullivan, J Culloty, R O' Leary, E Hallinan, A Murphy, C Ní Shúilleabháin, R Kerins, D Twohig, F O' Hare, R Lewin, S Murphy, A Kremer, O O' Donoghue, D Conway.
In what was perhaps the most exciting game of the day, Ballinora completed a late second-half comeback against Inch to claim the DF2 title in dramatic fashion.
A Ciarán Murphy free would clinch it at the death for Ballinora after an incredible last ten minutes that saw three goals and plenty of drama.
The first half was low scoring but yielded plenty of chances. Inch’s James Kelleher kept the scoreboard ticking over with three points before the break.
His accuracy from the dead ball was proving key. He popped over two frees on either end of the first half to give his side a two-point lead going in at the break.
The game ignited in the second period. After 28 minutes Inch were six points to the good after a couple of well taken Tomás McGrath scores and a goal from Kai Daly, who picked his spot and buried it low past Ballinora keeper Murphy O’Connor.
But it was Ciarán Murphy’s half and he sparked the comeback with four points on the home stretch. Oran Riordan beat three men and found the net in style just after the half-hour mark, going for power over placement.
All of a sudden it was a two-point game and Ballinora were firing on all cylinders. Murphy pointed once more then came a deadly Brian Werner double - point, goal, game flipped on its head.
Now, with three minutes remaining Ballinora were a goal up. But the drama didn’t stop there. After a lay off from Kai Daly, Tomás McGrath drove through on goal with no one to stop him and smashed it into the net to draw things level with a minute left.
Then in the final moments Ballinora won a free after Werner was pushed in the back. Murphy did the honours and didn’t disappoint. Heartbreak for Inch, elation for Ballinora.
T McGrath 1-2 (1f), K Daly 1-0, J Kelleher 0-3 (2f).
B Werner 1-1, C Murphy 0-4 (2f), O O’Riordan 1-0, C Walsh 0-1.
R Nolan, M Cronin, J Leahy, D Tierney, Z Croke Ricken, C McCarthy, F Byrne, R Kelly, J Kelleher, B Costine, S Courtney, K Daly, D Power, T McGrath, S Walsh, M Roche, M O' Sullivan, C Lucey, B Bowler, C Walsh, M Power, K Murphy, R Cronin, C O Sullivan, S Walsh, C Reavey, J Reavey, T Roche, A O Mahony, N Landers, C Daly, C Carey.
J Murphy O'Connor, C Lynch, H O'Mahony, R O'Malley, R O' Dwyer, C O' Donovan, F Conway, R Lynch, B Werner, D Comerford, S O' Mahony, C Lynch, C Murphy, P Lyons, C Walsh, O Riordan, L Murphy, O Sheehan, L O'Sullivan, D Mc Sweeney, P Thornton, B Kennedy, P Kelly, K O' Mahony, J Mehigan, C Fenton, C O'Toole, S Hood, A O'Neill, O Longmore.
Trevor Lyons
A spellbinding Inchigeelagh ran out unanimous winners of the F5 final against a spirited Ballinagree NS side. An immense Rian Cronin display that produced 2-7 made all the difference on the day while Liam Murphy and Cal Cronin delivered amazing performances to get their side over the line.
Inchigeelagh posted 1-2 in the first couple of minutes to really set the standard. Murphy took his point well to break the deadlock, then Rian Cronin - put through by Murphy - slotted one past Ballinagree keeper Daniel O’Sullivan.
Playing down the right hand side of the pitch, Cronin turned onto his left side a minute after scoring his goal and curled one over for an ideal start to proceedings.
Tommy Mac Sullivan narrowed the gap when he found himself on the end of a ball from Fionn Lehane and smashed the ball high into the Inchigeelagh net.
Inchigeelagh would take control again mid way through the half and wouldn’t let go of that control until the final whistle. A couple of points each for Cronin and Murphy plus John Buckley score had the West Cork lads six point ahead going in at the break.
The second half saw Murphy and the Cronins sharing the scores and bringing the total to 1-13. Ballinagree’s Liam O’Brien found the net with seven minutes remaining, and did he take it well, finding the top corner with a well struck effort.
This gave Ballinagree some confidence and they found the net again thanks to Fionn Lehane a few minutes later, similarly well struck, almost unstoppable.
Any chance of a Ballinora style comeback went out the window though once Cronin and Murphy had contributed a few more points and eventually another goal for Cronin who found the top corner with his left foot.
Saorla Cronin would do likewise in the closing moments, reacting quickest to a spilled ball close to goal and slotting home.
R Cronin 2-7, L Murphy 0-6, S Cronin 1-0, C Cronin 0-3, J Buckley 0-1.
L O’Brien 1-2, F Lehane and T Mac Sullivan 1-0 each.
J Murphy, D Creed, J Buckley, I Adebowale, L Murphy, C Cronin, R Cronin, T Lucey, R O'Brien, S Cronin, A Creed, S Canny, T Murray.
D O'Sullivan, R Twohig, T Mac Sullivan, L Mac Sullivan, T Healy, F Lehane, C O'Riordan, L O'Brien, P O'Donovan, E Kelleher, B Healy, D Mac Sullivan, L Lehane, H Hourihan, J O'Leary, B Healy, C Lehane, N Lehane.
Trevor Lyons.
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