Donoughmore ladies claim Munster Junior title
Donoughmore (Cork) 1-12 Galtee Rovers/St Pecaun’s (Tipperary) 0-8
DONOUGHMORE were crowned Munster Ladies Junior Football Champions in Mallow last Saturday after seeing off Tipperary’s Galtee Rovers/St Pecaun’s by all of seven points.
The north Cork side were impressive from start to finish in the Sunshine and fully deserved the spoils after dominating this one for 45 of the 60 allotted minutes.
Donoughmore manager, Donal Dineen, knew that his side were in a battle and was thrilled that his side were able to see this one out despite a spirited challenge from the Tipperary side.
“I am relieved to get over the line really. It was a tough game and the girls worked really hard all through. They have done that all year for us so we are delighted to have won.”
Dineen was full of credit for his opponents too but saved his best compliments for his own side.
“They [Galtee Rovers/St Pecaun’s] are a very good team and their workrate was impressive so we had to match that to have any chance of winning. We have a balanced team overall and Aileen [Buckley] is a good target person up front. She’s brilliant to win the ball and put it away – but it was a team effort and they all played their part and I’m sure they will celebrate this one for a few days.”
Donoughmore will have little time to celebrate as they now go on to represent the province in the All Ireland series.
“We know we have an All-Ireland semi-final and we will get back down to it and prepare for that, but first the girls deserve to celebrate this one.”
Led in the middle by Cork legend Rena Buckley, and corner-forward Aileen Buckley, the girls in black looked up for this one almost from the start with Catriona O’Connell in goal and the full-back line of Aoife and Aisling Barrett as well as Linda McCarthy providing a solid defensive line when the opposition came search for goals.
For the vanquished side Alison Lonergan in the full-forward line with Ciara Halpin on the other wing looked good with centre forward Edith Carroll and Sara Finnane the driving force behind what was a very credible challenge.
Galtee Rovers / St Pecaun’s started this game with a spring in their step, dominating in the possession and territory stakes however some poor decision making and even worse shooting from the Tipperary side’s attackers meant that they racked up three wides and two short balls before Donoughmore ever managed a meaningful shot at the posts.
Credit to the Cork side when they finally got into scoring position there was to be no mistake with the game’s first score coming after eight minutes of play.
Eimear O’Reilly’s minor was quickly followed by Aileen Buckley’s major after some really good play from a host of Donoughmore’s attackers – with Buckley’s finish to the corner right out of the top drawer.
Finnane finally got the Tipp side on the board however Donoughmore had their tails up with three points on the bounce from Aileen Buckley easing the North Cork girls to a six point lead.
Galtee Rovers/St Pecaun’s didn’t come all the way to the Rebel County to make up the numbers and managed to outscore their opponents by 0-3 to 0-2 in the closing minutes of the first half to go in down by a more manageable five, 1-6 to 0-4.
Donoughmore were first to trouble the scoreboard on the resumption however it was the team from the premier county that pushed on for the next 10 minutes with three points from their forward lines (Finnane, Carroll and Ciara Halpin).
Donoughmore had to dig deep to get back on track and a free from Rena Buckley helped in that regard. Donoughmore then saw Amanda Green off for 10 with a yellow before Jenny Brew-Dinan hit the bar. Another free from Rena followed and the game looked to be over when the Cork side were awarded a penalty but the shot was missed and Galtee Rovers St Pecaun’s lived to fight on.
The champions had the bit between their teeth, however, and four of the closing five points saw them home with seven to spare – and on to the All-Ireland semi-finals where they will square up to the Leinster Champions for a place the showpiece game.
DONOUGHMORE: C O’Connell; A Barrett, A Barrett, L McCarthy; A Quigley, M Dilworth 0-1, D Dineen; R Buckley 0-3f, C Keane; E O’Reilly 0-1, N Lohan, A Greene 0-1; J Brew Dinan, E Collins, A Buckley 1-5. Subs: A Walsh for E O’Reilly (58), A Condon for A Barrett (61).
GALTEE ROVERS/ST PECAUN’S: H Tynan; A Flynn, M Heffernan, E Gleeson; D Ronan, K Quirke, K Flannery; E McCarthy, A Grayson-Molloy 0-1; R Finnane, E Carroll 0-1, S Finnane 0-2 (1f); C Halpin 0-1, P Ryan, A Lonergan 0-2. Subs: K Grayson-Molloy for P Ryan (45), S Hayes for A Flynn (55).
REFEREE: P Smith (Waterford)