Bishopstown defeat St Finbarr's to land Muirgheal MacSwiney Cup at Ballinlough

Bishopstown 2-12 St Finbarr’s 2-5

Bishopstown regained the Cork City Council Muirgheal MacSwiney Cup as they defeated holders St Finbarr’s in the decider at Ballinlough.

In a game which produced an evenly contested opening half, St Finbarr’s had an early goal disallowed. The second half was one-sided as Bishopstown restricted St Finbarr’s to 1-1 from placed balls.

Playing with the aid of a slight breeze in the opening half, St Finbarr’s Aoife Byrne-O’Riordan got the game’s opening point. Bishopstown’s Eirne Ní Dheasmhunaigh equalised.

In the fourth minute, Byrne-O’Riordan turned over possession to score the game’s opening goal from a considerable distance, but it was ruled out by the referee for a square ball infringement.

St Finbarr’s continued to have Bishopstown on the defensive as persistent fouling was proving to be Bishopstown’s undoing. Byrne-O’Riordan put the Togher side back in the lead with the game’s first pointed free.

The tide turned in Bishopstown’s favour as Eirne Ní Dheasmhunaigh put her side in the driving seat, with two unanswered points. Byrne-O’Riordan levelled matters at three points apiece, with her second point from play at the water break.

Bishopstown began to have St Finbarr’s pinned back as Niamh Stevens put Bishopstown back in the driving seat with a point from play.

In the 25th minute, Bishopstown stretched the margin to four points, when Fiona Kinsella set up Niamh O’Donoghue for the game’s opening goal. Julie Scally and Emily O’Donoghue each added further points to increase Bishopston’s lead to 1-6 to 0-3.

St Finbarr’s brought themselves with in touching distance as a free by Byrne-O’Riordan set up Farrah Geasley for the Togher side’s first goal. Geasley and Eirne Ní Dheasmhunaigh swapped points approaching the break.

This left the half-time scoreline reading 1-7 to 1-4 in Bishopstown’s favour.

With the elements in their favour for the second half, Bishopstown seized the initiative. Within two minutes of the restart, Emily O’Donoghue got Bishopstown’s only point form a free.

Bishopstown continued to have St Finbarr’s on the back foot as Scally embarked on a solo run after turning over possession, to set up Niamh O’Donoghue for their side’s second goal. This gave Bishopstown a lead of 2-8 to 1-4.

Scally and Maeve Scannell each tagged on points from play to increase Bishopstown’s lead to 2-10 to 1-4 at the second half water break.

With the game over as a contest, Byrne-O’Riordan slotted over a long-range point from a free for St Finbarr’s in the 49th minute. Scannell and Lily O’Flynn each got points for Bishopstown, before persistent fouling was proving to be costly in the closing stages. Byrne-O’Riordan drilled home St Finbarr’s second goal, direct from a free with four minutes remaining.

Scorers: Bishopstown: N O’Donoghue 2-0, E Ní Dheasmhunaigh 0-4, E O’Donoghue 0-2 (0-1 f), J Scally, M Scannell 0-2 each, N Stevens, L O’Flynn 0-1 each.

St Finbarr’s: A Byrne-O’Riordan 1-4 (1-2 f), F Geasley 1-1.

Bishopstown: M O’Neill; S Walsh, A Ní Dheasmhunaigh, C Broderick; K Sommers, F Kinsella, A Walsh; E O’Donoghue, E Ní Dheasmhunaigh; A Bohan, N O’Donoghue, J Scally; N Stevens, M Scannell, C Branagan-Villalba.

Subs: L O’Flynn for Branagan-Villalba, J Cornin for Broderick (both h/t).

St Finbarr’s: O Keane; E O’Donovan, A O’Herlihy, G Fitzgerald; K Cahalane, I Keegan, C Callanan; E Wiggington-Barrett, E Olden; N Varian, M Fitzpatrick, A Byrne-O’Riordan; F Geasley, C Keating, C O’Neill.

Subs: C Twomey for Keating, H Fitzpatrick for O’Neill (both h/t), S McTiernan for M Fitzpatrick (39), K Lee for Geasley (49).

Referee: John Horgan (Gleann na Laoi).