Grange in to final after seeing off Abbey

had the aid of the elements in the first half but on numerous of occasions their final pass inside to their full forward often went astray. Abbey Rovers backline held their lines despite being under constant pressure. During the opening half Brian Cashman kicked over three pointed frees for the winners as they held a 0-3 to no score lead at the interval.

On the restart Cashman with another free stretched his sides lead. Abbey Rovers came more into the equation as the half went on with Mick Devine getting their scoring underway in the 36th minute when he pointed a ‘45’. In a close enough half both teams battled hard for supremacy.

The first score from open play came in the 47th minute when a sideline by Niall Hazelwood resulted in a fine point by Mark O’Callaghan. Abbey Rovers tried hard to reduce the deficit but it was Grange that increased their lead. Good work by John Roche and Colin Scott saw Niall McCarthy kick over. In the 57th minute Peter Stapleton and David Keating combined well to release the inrushing Colin Scott for the only goal of the game 1-5 to 0-2. With a lot of injury time allocated Abbey Rovers enjoyed their best spell in the closing stages.

Mark O’Callaghan (2) and Muiris Browne had points to leave a goal between the teams. However it was Grange that completed the scoring when Brian Cashman pointed a free as they emerged deserving winners by a four-point margin.