It didn't turn out to be third time lucky for the Doheny ladies' footballers in the county junior B football final.
Dohenys 1-11
Abhainn Dalla 2-11
DONAL O’SULLIVAN REPORTS
IT didn’t turn out to be third time lucky for the Doheny ladies’ footballers in the county junior B football final.
Dohenys were hoping to eradicate the memory of losing the previous two finals but it wasn’t to be as the Newmarket/Kanturk amalgamation of Abhainn Dalla survived a late onslaught to emerge victorious in Clondrohid.
With the clock approaching the 60-minute mark, a Melissa Duggan point for Dohenys reduced the deficit to three.
A counter-attack from Abhainn Dalla saw Cork senior sub goalkeeper Caoimhe Moore (a first-half substitute) blaze wide when through one-on-one.
Dohenys mounted one last attack. Noelle O’Mahony burst through the Abhainn Dalla defence but her progress was illegally halted by Deirdre O’Reilly, which saw her yellow carded.
With virtually the last kick of the game from the resultant 13-metre free, Caitriona Moloney’s blistering effort was deflected onto the crossbar before bouncing on the line and eventually being gathered by the winner’s defence. The final whistle sounded, leaving Dohenys distraught and Abhainn Dalla jubilant.
Moloney had Dohenys on the scoreboard inside 60 seconds with the first of her seven points. Abhainn Dalla’s first attack saw midfielder Julie O’Keeffe fouled in the large square and Katherina McCarthy dispatched the resultant penalty.
Dohenys responded well and another Moloney point was quickly followed by a superb individual goal from Cork senior Melissa Duggan in the sixth minute.
Abhainn Dalla registered the next four points – three by Marika Cottrell who was a constant threat throughout – to see them lead 1-4 to 1-2 after 20 minutes. They then had goalkeeper Aisling Forde to thank for maintaining that advantage. First, she saved from Mag White and then produced a splendid save denying Melissa Duggan a certain goal following a searing run.
Another Moloney free completed the first-half scoring which saw Abhainn Dalla lead 1-4 to 1-3 at the break.
On the resumption, a long-range Ruth Collins effort levelled matters. Louise Burke and Moloney traded points before Dalla hit a purple patch scoring 1-2, the goal coming from Cottrell.
Down the other end, Forde once again performed heroics when she denied White a goal that Dohenys badly needed. A Lisa McSweeney point for the losers offered brief respite.
Two points from Cottrell and Moore saw Dalla lead 2-9 to 1-6 with ten minutes to play. Two Moloney frees, sandwiched by a point from Dalla captain Carmel O’Reilly, were followed by another Moloney point.
With five minutes to play, Cottrell registered her sixth point of the game to stretch the lead to five. Dohenys responded with points from Noelle O’Mahony and Duggan. However, that was as close as they were to get despite the injury time excitement.
Scorers
Dohenys: Catriona Moloney 0-7 (3f), Melissa Duggan 1-1, Ruth Collins, Lisa McSweeney, Noelle O’Mahony 0-1 each.
Abhainn Dalla: Marika Cottrell 1-6, Katherina McCarthy 1-1 (1-0 pen), Honor O’Flynn, Carmel O’Reilly, Caoimhe Moore, Louise Burke 0-1 each.
Dohenys: Kelly O’Sullivan; Melissa Duggan, Clare Hurley, April Duggan; Aileen Murphy, Susan Collins, Fiona Crowley; Donna Hayes, Shauna Healy; Noelle O’Mahony, Ruth Collins, Martina Collins; Caitriona Moloney, Mag White, Lisa McSweeney.
Subs: Michelle Love for M Collins (20), Catriona O’Farrell and Annie Blewitt for A Duggan and S Collins (ht), Caroline O’Mahony for A Murphy (47).
Abhainn Dalla: Aisling Forde; Emma Burke, Caoimhe Forde, Orla Hayes; Maeve O’Connor, Ciara O’Sullivan, Emma Newman; Deirdre O’Reilly, Julie O’Keeffe; Honor O’Flynn, Carmel O’Reilly, Elaine Daly; Katherina McCarthy, Marika Cottrell, Sinead Daly.
Subs: Caoimhe Moore for S Daly (13), Lisa Gillman for O Hayes (28), Louise Burke for E Daly (31).
Referee: Peter O’Leary (Castletownbere).
