Ilen Rovers 6-9
St Finbarr’s 3-2
ILEN Rovers were celebrating after a terrific win against St Finbarr’s in the U13B1 county final held in Timoleague.
It was the City side that got off to a flying start with a goal from corner forward Ashley O’Sullivan. Ilen replied with two frees from Maggie Halihane and already St Finbarr’s were now struggling to contain the Ilen attack. Tara Duggan levelled the final in the 11th minute.
St Finbarr’s were creating scoring opportunities, however their shooting was letting them down with great pressure being applied by Ilen backs Annie Collins, Siobhan Hickey and Kate Anne Whooley. Emer Crowley then kicked Ilen into the lead, 0-4 to 1-0, followed quickly by an Ilen goal from Grace Fitzgerald.
Ilen were rampant now and put St Finbarr’s under huge pressure which resulted in a 16th-minute goal from wing forward Maggie Halihane. Shortly after St Finbarr’s had a great goal chance themselves but a brilliant save by the Ilen net-minder Tilly Reilly denied them.
Ilen captain Tara Duggan pointed again from play before, in the 23rd minute, corner forward Emer Crowley goaled again for Ilen. Izzy O’Flynn finished off the Ilen scoring blitz with a fine point on the stroke of half time as the West Cork team was in control, 3-6 to 1-0.
St Finbarr’s midfielder Lucy McGuirk was now deployed to full forward and Kate Hodnett to wing forward and early indications was that this was to great effect. The Barrs were now playing more direct ball into their full forward and McGuirk was proving a handful for the Ilen defenders. McGuirk was fouled for a Barrs penalty early in the second half, and Lilly Sexton dispatched it to the back of the Ilen net. St Finbarr’s followed this up with another point from play and were now looking far more dangerous in attack.
Ilen half backs, Robyn Whooley, Grace Fitzgerald and Annie Collins, once again upped their work-rate with Laura Mae Coakley and Izzy O’Flynn at midfield and Aishling Hickey at wing forward all coming to the fore. Again, as in the first half, Ilen responded in fashion when their top-scoring forward, Maggie Halihane, scored two goals in the space of four minutes.
There was no score for ten minutes as the game ebbed and flowed but St Finbarr’s had two or three goal chances and unluckily for them they went narrowly wide with great pressure being applied by Ilen defenders Siobhan Hickey and Grace Fitzgerald.
St Finbarr’s scored midway through the half and McGuirk goaled shortly after this, but yet again Ilen responded with two cracking points from captain Tara Duggan, a goal from Alexis O’Regan and midfielder Izzy O’Flynn finished proceedings with a point from play.
The final whistle was greeted with jubilant celebrations from players and the large Ilen crowd present to witness this fantastic win. Tara Duggan was presented with the trophy. While the score-line suggests Ilen had it easy, it was far from it and had the Barrs taken their chances they could have been a lot closer by the end.
This Ilen team was one of the many that the late Donnie Dugan had coached and nurtured over the years. It was a fitting tribute that it was Donnie and Donna's talented daughter Tara that captained this panel of girls to victory. It was a big team effort that got the winning result on the day.
