Abbie O'Mahony inspires Glanmire to Munster glory over Monagea
Glanmire captain Ellen Twomey holding the trophy aloft as she celebrates with her team after their victory over Monagee in the Munster intermediate LGFA final in Mallow. Picture: Dan Linehan
SHEER delight for Glanmire as they were crowned Munster ladies intermediate football champions at Mallow.
This was a magnificent team display with all playing their part in their first Munster win at this level, having won the junior title in 2018.
Defensively they were on top, led by Ellen Twomey and Kayla O’Connor in particular.
The latter kept Monagea’s danger player, Catriona Davis quiet all through, restricting her to just one point from a free.
In midfield Abbie O’Mahony showed why she is part of the Cork senior squad as she covered every blade of grass, scoring two crucial points in the second half.
Up front, the likes of Orlaith Roche and Michelle Dullea were a threat and have to be applauded for their defensive work ethic as much as their attacking play.
Monagea dominated the early possession but credit to the Glanmire defence they kept them at bay with some quality defending, helped by a strong wind in their favour.
Scoring chances were few early on with Glanmire’s first real effort coming after eight minutes.
Roche took on the Monagea defence and looked like she was in on goal but Kate Geary blocked superbly to deny her a green flag.
Down the other end, Davis played a long ball in Aisling Enright but a free out was given for a square ball.
Glanmire broke forward at pace and it took another great block, this time by Yvonne Lee, to deny Ava McCarthy a point.
Both sides were guilty of a number of wides and with 15 minutes gone, neither side had scored.
It took until the 21st minute for either side to register a score when Michelle Dullea scored from a free for Glanmire, as they put massive pressure on the Monagea defence when trying to work the ball out.
That pressure paid off from the restart with Abbie O’Mahony picking up the ball, which led to Evie Twomey raising their second white flag.
This settled Glanmire and they were now dominating all over the pitch and with 24 minutes gone Eibhlis Dillon made it 0-3 to no score.
A minute later Niamh McAllen pointed from a free to increase their lead further, with four scores coming in less than five minutes, having waited more than 20 minutes for the first.
It took until the 31st minute for Monagea to get off the mark when Catriona Davis scored from a free to see Glanmire lead by 0-4 to 0-1 at half time.
Monagea got the start to the second half they needed and within 30 seconds they were back on level terms. They drove forward from the restart to put Aisling Enright in and she found the back of the net.
From the kickout out they regained possession and took the lead when Karen O’Leary pointed to make it 1-2 to 0-4.
Four minutes in and the sides were level when McAllen pointed from another free before Davis was denied a point by the width of the crossbar when she looked like putting her side back in front.
Both defences continued to dominate before a magnificent from distance, against the wind, by Abbie O’Mahony put Glanmire back in front in the 46th minute.
Two minutes later Glanmire had their keeper Ava Carey to thank when she denied Enright a second goal with a magnificent save.
O’Mahony got her second point in the 49th minute to put two between the sides and that was three soon after. Riona Crowley, not long on a sub made it 0-8 to 1-3 in Glanmire’s favour.
Ava Corbett got a late point for the Limerick side as Glanmire deservedly were crowned champions and now move on to the All-Ireland series.
They will now play Tir Chonaill Gaels from London in the All-Ireland quarter-final on Saturday, November 25 in London.
N McAllen (f), A O’Mahony 0-2 each, M Dullea, Evie Twomey, E Dillon, R Crowley 0-1 each.
A Enright 1-0, C Davis (f), K O’Leary, A Corbett 0-1 each.
A Carey; C Murphy, M Barry, K O’Connor; C O’Donovan, Ellen Twomey, E Dillon; A O’Mahony, E Murphy; Ally McCarthy, N McAllen, Ava McCarthy; Evie Twomey, O Roche, M Dullea.
R Crowley for N McAllen, M Sheehan for C Murphy (both 43), L Green for Ava McCarthy (56), A O’Lehane for O Roche (60).
C O’Grady; R Browne, Y Lee, A Enright; G Lee, L Walsh, L Carmody; G Mullane, E Woulfe; K O’Leary, D Murphy, A Curtin; B Cahill, C Davis, K Geary.
L Duggan for A Curtin (50), A Corbett for C Davis (53), A Collins for L Carmody (58),
Patrick Smith, Waterford.
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