Late Jess Murphy goal sends Blackrock past Courcey Rovers into Cork camogie final

Blackrock 1-12 Courcey Rovers 2-8

Blackrock, by the tightest of margins, are through to the SE Systems Cork senior camogie championship final after their win at MTU on Sunday.

A goal from Jess Murphy after 55 minutes was the critical score in a game that was close from start to finish.

The Rockies were simply outstanding from the start as they battled for every ball as if their lives depended on it. It was a terrific result, especially as they'd lost to the South East side by 10 points back in the group stages.

There were some magnificent tussles all over the pitch with Hayley Ryan moving out to midfield to face her Cork teammate, Saoirse McCarthy. Mairead Kennedy dropped back to full-back to pick up Linda Collins and at the other end, Aisling O’Reilly was tasked with marking Cliona O’Callaghan.

You can add in others like Katelyn Hickey, Erinn Curtin and Oonagh Grimley who also played their part in a well-deserved victory.

Hickey set up O’Callaghan for the game’s opening score as the Rockies started the brighter of the two sides. It took until the 10th minute for Courcey Rovers to get off the mark, with Jacinta Crowley making it 0-1 each

Curtin put the Rockies back in front, with Hickey adding another from a free as Courceys were finding it difficult to get into the game.

However, that all changed after 16 minutes when Saoirse McCarthy made a superb run down the wing, played the ball to Linda Collins and she found the back of the net, to make it 1-1 to 0-3.

The Rockies responded with O’Callaghan on target again, with Bronagh O’Shaughnessy adding another, to make it 0-5 to 1-1 after 24 minutes.

Collins replied for her side and with 28 minutes she got her second goal, this time Orlagh O’Mahony setting her up.

Hayley Ryan replied from a free for the Rockies and Cliona O’Callaghan got the last score of the half, as Courceys lead by 2-2 to 0-7 at the break.

McCarthy got three early points for her side, with Curtin, O’Shaughnessy and Ryan all replying as the Rockies refused to go away.

O’Callaghan made it 0-11 to 2-5 with 44 minutes gone and a minute later it took a goal-line clearance from Edel Moloney to deny them a goal. Collins and Curtin exchanged points to see it level with 10 minutes left.

Then came the decisive moment when an indirect free for the Rockies, which came about due to a head injury to a Courceys player, ended in with a goal.

O’Callaghan played the ball to Curtin and she found Murphy to find the back of the net. Crowley and McCarthy hit back for Courceys, but with Hickey and Grimley leading their defence the Rockies kept them out to advance to the final.

Scorers for Blackrock: C O’Callaghan 0-4, E Curtin 0-3, J Murphy 1-0, B O’Shaughnessy, H Ryan (f) 0-2 each, K Hickey 0-1 f.

Courcey Rovers: L Collins 2-2, S McCarthy 0-4 (0-2 f), J Crowley 0-2 f.

BLACKROCK: A Kearney; K Lyons, M Cashman, A Leahy; A Hegarty, K Hickey, O Grimley; B O’Shaughnessy, M Kennedy; A O’Farrell, H Ryan, S McCarthy; E Curtin, C O’Callaghan, M Murphy.

Subs: J Murphy for S McCarthy (38), M Coffey for A O’Farrell (43).

COURCEY ROVERS: K Crowley; G O’Reilly, A O’Reilly, J Jelbrow; G Hannon, A Moloney, O O’Mahony; E Moloney, S McCarthy; E Maguire, F Keating, D O’Reilly; A O’Donoghue, L Collins, J Crowley.

Subs: C Foley for D O’Reilly (24), L Nield for A O’Donoghue (58).

Referee: Niall O’Neill (Midleton).