Mercy Mounthawk’s bid for Munster football title scuppered by Skibbereen CS
MUNSTER PPS GIRLS SFC ‘A FINAL
Skibbereen Community School 4-14
Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee 3-7
A SENSATIONAL barn-storming start to the second half was the catalyst as an outstanding Skibbereen CS comfortably saw off the challenge of a brave Mercy Mounthawk in this Munster PPS Senior Football Championship ‘A’ decider on the splendid 4G surface at Banteer GAA grounds.
The Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh managed Tralee school, in their first provincial final at this level, produced a gutsy, whole-hearted display throughout, and when they retired at the interval with a threepoint lead, 1-5 to 0-5, an upset was certainly a possibility.
However, reeling from the injury-enforced loss of key midfielder Grace Reidy just before the break, Mercy Mounthawk simply had no answer to the winners’ third quarter scoring blitz, as they quickly put their foot on the accelerator and sprinted off into the distance.
There had been ominous signs with impressive Mounthawk goalkeeper Kelly Fitzgerald being forced into point-blank saves from Niamh O’Sullivan and Hannah Sheehy, but there was nothing she could do in the 36th minute when the former fired home Skibbereen’s first goal from close range.
Within the blink of an eye, with the Kerry girls unable to secure possession around the middle-third, Ella Ryan’s now totally dominant outfit billowed the Mounthawk net for a second time just three minutes later. Substitute Ellen Connolly was on the mark, having been set up by Maebh Collins.
When the increasingly prominent Collins instantly fired over another point, an unanswered 2-4 in ten second half minutes had completely turned the contest on its head. Finding themselves now seven points adrift, 2-9 to 1-5, there was no way back for Mercy Mounthawk.
Although Lisa Slattery finally opened the Tralee school’s account with a point in the 41st minute, the now rampant Skibbereen CS immediately instigated a second purple patch. With a further 1-5 on the trot, centre-forward Collins finding the net, the game was done and dusted by the 55th minute, 3-14 to 1-6.
To be fair to Mercy Mounthawk, there was never a question of them throwing in the towel, even though they were totally submerged by the avalanche of Skibbereen scores that had left them snowed in, and without a search party to rescue them from defeat.
Driven on relentlessly by sparkling wing-forward Roisin Rahilly, whose scintillating turn of pace, and ability to carry the ball through large swathes of opposing defenders, was a joy to behold all afternoon, the Tralee girls struck for a brace of late, albeit consolation, goals.
Substitute Eve Broderick was fouled for a penalty, which was clinically converted by Aoibhin O’Connor MacCarthy in the 57th minute, and though the excellent Collins instantly replied with her second green flag at the other end, Mercy Mounthawk kept battling a lost cause.
Rahilly was the provider for another replacement, Grace Lucid, to strike home the losers’ third major in added time, and, quite fittingly, it was the Mounthawk speedster herself who, despite ending up on the vanquished side, lofted over the game’s final point before the final whistle.
An eventual ten-point reversal didn’t look on the cards throughout an evenly-matched opening half. With Anna Collins and Lucy O’Connor formidable at the back, Reidy forceful at midfield, Rahilly a revelation, and Kate Collins an accurate finisher, the Tralee girls more than held their own.
Indeed, most of the trouble that they found themselves in was self-inflicted, with their distribution in attack letting them down too often, allowing their opponents to then counter-attack at pace. In saying that, there was no inclination up to half-time of what Skibbereen CS would go on to produce.
Reidy’s dynamic run, and purposeful build-up, split the winners’ defence, and when her initial effort was saved, and her rebound trickled towards the goal-line, Kate Collins was on hand to get the final touch in the 20th minute, enabling Mercy Mounthawk to, momentarily, dream of potential
Munster glory.
Alas, all those hopes were extinguished by the magnificence of Skibbereen CS on the resumption, with Eleanor Keating, Amy McKennedy, Eabha O’Donovan and Kate Carey others to catch the eye. Their second half ruthlessness will make them serious contenders in the All-Ireland series.
Mercy Mounthawk will learn from the experience, and better days may well lie ahead down the line.
SKIBBEREEN CS: Tara O’Regan; Katie Daly, Eleanor Keating, Allie Tobin; Leah Carey, Amy McKennedy, Laura O’Donoghue; Aoife O’Driscoll, Hannah Sheehy;
Kathlyn McCarthy, Maebh Collins 2-2, Eabha O’Donovan 0-6 (4f); Kate Carey 0-3, Becca Sheehy, Niamh O’Sullivan 1-1. Subs: Ellen Connolly 1-0 for B Sheehy (23), Carla O’Regan 0-2 for O’Driscoll (40), Emma McCarthy for O’Donoghue (48), Ellie McCarthy for O’Sullivan (59), Maeve O’Sullivan for Daly (62).
MERCY MOUNTHAWK: Kelly Fitzgerald; Mary Moore, Anna Collins, Laura Reilly; Eabha O’Connor, Lucy O’Connor, Orlaith McKenna; Grace Reidy, Cara Gannon; Roisin Rahilly 0-2, Aoibhin O’Connor MacCarthy 1-2 (1-0 pen, 0-2f), Ruth O’Connor; Kate Collins 1-2, Lisa Slattery 0-1, Katie Nix. Subs: Eve Broderick for Reidy (inj, 30), Keelin Enright for Reilly (50), Grace Lucid 1-0 for Slattery (54), Eva Costello for R O’Connor (54), Sophie Hassett for Nix (59), Orla Leahy for A Collins (59), Saoirse O’Connor MacCarthy for K Collins (61).
REFEREE: Kevin O’Brien (Limerick)