BANDON 4-9
ILEN ROVERS 2-14 (after extra-time)
BY GER MCCARTHY
BANDON and Ilen Rovers served up a thrilling Cork LGFA Junior D county final before the Lilywhites emerged victorious by a solitary point at a windswept Rosscarbery last Sunday.
Ilen had the wind in the opening half and put it to good use, leading 0-10 to 2-1 at the interval. Rovers were four points ahead with time almost up thanks to a late Maebh Collins goal. That was until Bandon, now playing with the wind, pushed up on their opponents kick outs and kicked 1-1 in the closing minutes to force extra-time.
Kate McLoughlin, who finished as the final’s top scorer with 1-8, raised the all-important green flag and it finished 4-6 to 2-12.Extra-time followed the same pattern as normal time with a strengthening wind seeing Rovers add two points and holding Bandon scoreless before the final changeover. Bandon kicked three scores in the final period however, and crucially, held Ilen Rovers attack to win 4-9 to 2-14.
‘It was a bit of a lottery with the wind,’ Bandon LGFA manager Richard Tarrant admitted. ‘Ilen Rovers have some super point-scorers and We knew we were going to need goals to stay with them. Against the wind in the first half, we managed to get two (goals) and they were massive for us.’
So, Bandon can look forward to junior C football in 2025. As for Ilen, a productive season is not yet over with the club’s minors facing Glanmire in the county B quarter-finals this weekend.
Scorers:
Bandon: Kate McLoughlin 1-8, Clodagh Barry 2-0, Hannah Buckley 1-0, Anne Marie Troy 0-1.
Ilen Rovers: Carla O’Regan (0-1 free), Maebh Collins (0-1 free) 1-3 each, Emma Hurley, Kate Carey 0-3 each, Eimear Carey, Keelin Murphy 0-1 each.
BANDON: L Carton; E Tarrant, C McCarthy, A Callanan; K O’Connor, E Cullinane, A O’Connor (captain); A M Troy, H Buckley; K Allen, R O’Donovan, C Barry; L Cummins, K McLaughlin, L Barr.
Substitutes: A Allen, A Daly, N Sugrue, J Bolster, K O’Leary, A Walsh, J Tarrant, A
Long, S O’Connor, Y Carton, C Foley, M Coughlan, S Hurley, M O’Flynn.
ILEN ROVERS: S Harte Leonard; C Hickey, D Griffiths, A Collins; A Hurley, L Carey, D R Coakley; E Carey, M Collins; A Bushe, K Murphy, C O’Regan; E Hurley (captain), K Carey, A Cawley.
Substitutes: E Connolly, M Walsh, A Harte, S Keating, C Harte, M Bushe, A Murphy, A Whooley, C Herlihy, A O’Driscoll, S Carey, V Haffner, K Lynch, G Connolly, N Connolly.
Referee: James Kingston (Rosscarbery).
