Mungret St. Pauls 0-8 Coolera/Strandhill 1-5
Mungret St. Paul’s win 3-1 on frees after extra-time
By Tom Clancy in Tubbercurry
Mungret St. Paul’s are heading for the club’s first ever All-Ireland final, thanks to a tense victory on frees, against Sligo’s Coolera Strandhill.
The pressure frees, taken from 30 meters were scored by Grainne McKenna, Carol Bateman and Fiona Morrissey eventually saw the Limerick side pull ahead of the Sligo and Connacht champions.
Played at a dry but windy Kilcoyne Park, in Tubbercurry, this game was full of drama and intrigue for 80-plus minutes.
Mungret will look to add a third cup to their Limerick Intermediate and Munster Junior successes earlier this year.
John Horgan’s ladies will face into a final in two weeks’ time, against Na Dúnaibh of Donegal or Kilcock of Kildare, who meet on Sunday afternoon.
Both sides had heroes in this clash – Mungret’s from the experienced Claire Coughlan, who forced extra-time and Coolera Strandhill, thanks to Mairead McIntyre, forced frees.
Mungret, trailed 0-2 to 0-1 at the short whistle, having displayed their their defensive prowess which has served them well to date.
Scores from Anna McDaniel and then Leah Kerrigan had Strandhill two up before a 25th minute McKenna free put just a point between them at the interval.
It was 0-2 each heading into the final stages, with McKenna again on target from a free. However, Mungret’s hopes looked all-but gone when Orna Murphy expertly fired home the only goal of the contest.
However, the Shannonsiders didn’t panic.McKenna scored two frees to cut the gap to just a point. There was a point between the sides in stoppage time. Right with the final kick of the contest into seven additional minutes, Coughlan struck an incredible score to force extra-time.
A superb curling effort from about 40 meters showed why the management have so much faith in her.
Mungret led during a tight extra-time, thanks to Megan O’Malley and McKenna (free). However, the final score came from another sub, Mairead McIntyre, who tied it up with a close range effort for the Sligo side.
Both sides selected their five free takers. Mungret, through McKenna and then Bateman, went two clear. After two misses, the Yeats county outfit scored but there were frozen out when Aoife Morrissey slotted home the clinching effort.
Scorers for Mungret St. Pauls: Grainne McKenna 0-6 (frees); Claire Coughlan, Megan O’Malley 0-1 each.
Scorers for Coolera/Strandhill: Anna McDaniel 0-3 (frees); Orna Murphy 1-0; Leah Kerrigan, Mairead McIntyre 0-1 each.
Free scores:
Coolera/Strandhill: Heather Cotter
Mungret St. Paul’s: Grainne McKenna, Carol Bateman, Fiona Morrissey.
Mungret St. Paul’s: Carol Bateman; Caoimhe O Neill, Laura Dunne, Mairead Clancy; Shannon Burke, Cameryn Moloney, Jillian Buckley ;Clare O Meara, Áine Ryan (C); Emma O Rourke, Gráinne Mc Kenna, Niamh Crowley; Jayne Casey, Aoife Morrissey, Niamh O Keeffe.
Subs: F Morrissey for O’Keeffe, Y Culhane for Crowley (both 39); C Coughlan for Casey (50); M O’Malley for O’Rourke (55); S Horgan for Buckley (60); J O’Malley for Moloney (69); K O’Mahony for O’Neill (70).
Coolera Strandhill: Bebhinn Harte; Lisa Kilfeather, Holly Gilligan, Edwenia O’Malley (C); Susannah Gilligan,Eabha Cawley, Niamh O’Callaghan; Ruth Goodwin, Shona Dalton; Sarah McDaniel, Heather Cotter, Eimear McIntyre; Leah Kerrigan, Orna Murphy, Anna McDaniel.
Subs: Mairead McIntyre for Gilligan (half-time), Caoimhe O’Sullivan for O’Callaghan (half-time); Lucie Cawley for Kerrigan (45); Laura-Ann Laffey for Murphy (60); Orna Murphy for Laffey (61 – et); Susannah Gilligan for O’Malley (70); Laura-Ann Laffey for Goodwin (76).
Referee: Ciaran Groome (Offaly)
Social Sharing
