Fox-Cabs hold off Brigid’s in thrilling SFC final

FOXROCK CABINTEELY 1-13 ST BRIGID'S 2-9

Holders Foxrock Cabinteely saw off St Brigid's in the Ladies SFC county final for the second year in-a-row after a titanic battle at Parnell Park on Friday night.

Pat Ring’s side stifled their opponents for much of the contest, slowly adding to a lead that rarely looked in doubt until a late St Brigid’s surge almost ended with the most unlikely of snatch and grabs, the Russell Park side falling a point short as Brigid's laid siege to the Fox-Cab goalmouth late on.

Foxrock Cabinteely got the better of a slow start, knocking over two early points, though late Brigid’s replacement Marian Monaghan came inches from connecting with a through ball with her fists in front of the holders’ goal as she reached for a potent early Brigid’s attack.

Cabo soon had chances of their own at the other end, a desperate block preventing Amy Connolly - who already had a point to her name - from tapping into an empty net three yards from goal.

It was Brigid's who were to find the net first, though, with Leah Mullins wrestling a hold on the ball in front of Foxrock ‘keeper Laurie Ahern after a scrappy but effective move, and chipping over the ‘keeper’s flailing arms into the net.

The Navan Road club were struggling to find sustained possession in threatening areas, though, despite the powerful, cutting runs of Sorcha Furlong from the back line. When their first point came from the boot of Enya Farrell, despite the goal it was only to be an equaliser.

Brigid’s continued to threaten, not least through a moment of controversy midway through the opening period, when a Mullins challenge on Ahern was deemed a foul at exactly the moment the ball beat the goalkeeper and edged into the back of the Cabinteely net.

With much of the play taking place in a crowded midfield, both sides started to find space to run into, with a hugely athletic Foxrock Cabinteely side better placed to take advantage.

By the time Connolly converted a ball from Amy Ring from close range past a helpless Ciara Trant, the south Dubliners’ four point lead looked fairly comfortable. The contest was becoming a tight, tactical game in which scoring opportunities were sparse, and both sides were playing fairly deep.

For all Brigid’s intent, a four point deficit at 1-8 to 1-4 was fairly reflective of proceedings come half-time.

After the break, two points from Amy Ring, the second a fantastic angled effort from the right byline, quickly expanded Cabinteely’s lead.

Brigid’s, in truth, were struggling to live with their rivals, with Connolly dropping back into the half forward line to build attacks and Brophy and Goldrick proving difficult to live with in the middle.

For 20 minutes there was to be no emphatic moment, more of a slow yet inevitable wearing down of Brigid’s; a combination of swift moves, clever dinks and smartly taken points that forced Brigid’s onto the back foot.

When Anne-Marie Murphy pushed Foxrock Cabinteely into a six point lead with an angled point a few minutes before the end, the south Dubliners had the luxury of leaving five players back to mark just two Brigid’s forwards.

Enya Farrell found a space, though, taking a superb goal to narrow the gap to three points, before free taker Elaine Kelly gave Brigid’s late hope with six minutes left on the clock.

Suddenly, a tired looking Foxrock were playing keep-ball, bereft of the momentum that had taken them away from their rivals. Amy Ring’s free as the game crept into injury time restored a three point margin, leaving Brigid’s looking like they needed a goal.

Caroline Brogan instead took a point from the first Brigid’s chance. They came again, with Enya Farrell shooting from the edge of the box only to see her shot spin agonisingly wide of the far post.

With Cabo holding on, a series of close frees ended with a goal line scramble in which Brigid’s hunted out that game winning opening. When it came, Elaine Kelly had a split second to get her shot away and most of the south side team’s back 8 populating the goalline. Under pressure, she dragged her finish just over, rather than under, the bar.

By a single point, Foxrock Cabinteely maintain their title.

SCORERS - Foxrock Cabinteely: A Connolly 1-4 (0-1f), A Ring 0-3 (0-1f), N Ryan 0-1, C Ni Mhurchadh 0-1, AM Murphy 0-2, L Nerney 0-1, F Claffey 0-1. St Brigid's: E Kelly 0-6 (4f) L Mullins 1-0 E Farrell 1-1 N Healy 0-1 C Brogan 0-1.

Foxrock Cabinteely: Laurie Ahern, Niamh Ryan, Niamh Collins, Sinead Delahunty, Sarah Brophy, Sinead Goldrick, Lorna Fusciardi, Ciara Ni Mhurchadh, Laura Nerney, Ciara O’Riordan, Fiona Claffey, Emma McDonagh, Amy Ring, Anne Marie Murphy, Amy Connolly. Subs: Hannah O'Neill for Ryan, Ciara Crotty, Nerney, Nuala Mohan for Delahunty, Tarah O'Sullivan for Fusciardi.

St Brigid's: Ciara Trant, Amy Molloy, Deirdre Murphy, Shona Barrett, Colleen Barrett, Sorcha Furlong, Caroline Brogan, Enya Farrell, Emma Sweeney, Marion Monaghan, Noelle Healy, Siobhan Devlin, Leah Mullins, Elaine Kelly, Shauna Hinkson.

Subs: Katie Nyhan for S Barrett, Claire McCormack for Molloy, Amy Fitzpatrick for Monaghan, Niamh O'Neill for Devlin.

REF: Antoin Keating.

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CLANNA GAEL FONTENOY 3-9 CLONTARF 1-12

A last gasp goal for Clanna Gael Fontenoy won the Dublin Ladies IFC title for the Ringsend club, as substitute Sinead Taylor netted with almost the last kick of the game to snatch the title.

Clontarf, who’d led throughout, made much of the running in the intermediate final, with young second half substitute Caoimhe O’Connor lighting up Parnell Park with her winding runs, but Fontenoy ultimately possessed the greater fire power, and edged out their cross-river rivals.

It was touch and go early doors, with Clontarf’s main threat coming from the running of Sarah McCaffrey, sister of men’s star Jack. Sarah Murphy pushed Clontarf in front within seconds of the start, with Fontenoy responding through a weaving run from Marie Twomey that saw her hammer the ball into the side netting.

Aisling Ryan snatched the first big moment, grabbing a long ball that bounced over the heads of the Clontarf defence and finishing firmly past Fidelma Cosgrave, only seconds after Twomey has bounced a looping shot off the top of the Clontarf crossbar for a point that came dangerously close to creeping in.

Both sides, though, were threatening. McCaffrey - intent on frightening the life out of the defence with her charging runs at every opportunity - scrambled into the Fontenoy area, only to see her shot blocked by Claire Byrne between the posts. At the other end, Rebecca McDonnell and Lisa Curtin in the Ringsend side’s front line started to look increasingly threatening as they charged forward from midfield.

Much of rest of the second half was an exchange of firepower: while McCaffrey offered the creativity for Clontarf, their entire forward line looked dangerous, while Clanna Gael found a natural shooting hub in Aisling Ryan, who found herself on the end of much of their more threatening play.

It was McCaffrey, in the end, who found herself in the right place at the right time, taking a hand pass ten yards from goal at the end of a fluid, sweeping move from Clontarf. She slid the ball past Byrne to give the north siders a half-time lead of four, 1-8 to 1-4, in a fast paced and physical encounter.

With the game threatening to get away from them, Fontenoy took their time over the half time break, a move that initially seemed to pay off as a Rebecca McDonnell point attempt looked like dropping short, only to find its way over the head of Cosgrave and nestle in the Clontarf net.

A weaving run from pacey Clontarf forward replacement Caoimhe O’Connor threatened to underdo the good work, ending with a shot clattering off the underside of the Fontenoy bar.

O’Connor, a Dublin under-16 star, continued to threaten the Fontenoy defence as the team’s exchanged points, twice going for goal, with the latter effort forcing a point blank save out of Claire Byrne between the Ringsend team’s sticks.

Twin points from replacement Sinead Taylor bought Clanna Gael back within a point of their northside rivals, before Aisling Ryan finished off a Fontenoy break to draw them level at the start of injury time.

For all the buzz around O’Connor, it was the other key forward replacement, Fontenoy’s Sinead Taylor, who finally put things to bed. Her shot from the edge of the box snuck through the hands of Cosgrave to allow the Ringsend side - behind for almost the entire match - to snatch the title at the last.

Clanna Gael Fontenoy: Claire Byrne, Louise Kane, Rachael Byrne, Laura Goonan, Ella Thirroueiz, Kirsty Owens, Claire Ryan, Sinead O’Sullivan, Kate McKenna, Julie Ann Twomey, Rebecca McDonnell, Lisa Curtin, Marie Twomey, Aisling Ryan, Sarah Jane Cody

Clanna Gael Fontenoy scorers:

A Ryan 1-4 S Taylor 1-2 R McDonnell 1-1 M Twomey 0-1 L Curtin 0-1

Clontarf: Fidelma Cosgrove, Ciara Fenton, Aoife Crowley, Martina Coen, Sarah Fagan, Siobhan Kennedy, Katie Murray, Carrie O’Connor, Caroline Roban, Sarah Murphy, Hannah McLaughlin, Fiona Skelly, Margaret Mohan, Fiona Coughlan, Sarah McCaffrey

Clontarf scorers:

S McCaffrey 1-4(1f) S Murphy 0-2 C Ryan 0-1 H McLoughlin 0-1 S O’Sullivan 0-1 F Skelly 0-1 M Mohan 0-1 C O’Connor 0-1(1f)

Referee: Angela Gallagher