Late, late Shelly goal steals Intermediate title for Moycarkey Borris in dramatic finale

FBD Insurance Intermediate Camogie Championship Final

Moycarkey Borris 2-13

Boherlahan Dualla 2-12

After extra time

Drama at its rawest unfolded on the pitch in The Tipperary Camogie Grounds on Saturday afternoon as a late, late injury time goal from Ciara Shelly gave Moycarkey Borris a famous victory over Mid rivals Boherlahan Dualla in the FBD Insurance Intermediate Camogie Championship final.

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Trailing by two points in added time in the second half of extra time, it looked as though Boherlahan Dualla were going to see it home after finding their way into a two-point lead late on in the exciting encounter. 

However, one last chance was presented to Moycarkey Borris when they won a free just inside the 45 and with all their eggs in the green flag basket, Emma O’Sullivan lobbed the ball into the square and despite Marguerity Fryday batting the ball out of immediate danger as the ball floated in, Ciara Shelly gathered the break near the 21, caught the ball and rifled it to the back of the net.

It was heartbreaking stuff for Boherlahan Dualla, who had done so much right to get into that winning position, and it was even more cruel that they had no time to try and salvage the blow as referee TP O’Sullivan sounded the full-time whistle from the resulting puckout.

This was an attritional contest played in blustery conditions, and with the sod heavy underfoot after hard rain during the week, it was always going to be a tight contest, and that is what transpired.

Moycarkey Borris had the better of the first half as a lucky Emma O’Sullivan goal within five minutes helped them into a lead at the break of 1-4 to 0-4; the free dropped straight into the back of the net.

Kate Ralph had her eye in after that goal, hitting two quickfire points that pushed Moycarkey into a 1-2 to 0-1 lead with Neasa Dwan the first to find the target for the Sash.

Slowly though, the Boherlahan girls got into the contest with three Abbie Horgan frees in a row between the 11th and 20th minutes, cutting the deficit to just a single point, but it was the Moycarkey Borris outfit that finished the half strongly with the final two points from Emma O’Sullivan (1 free) that gave them a three-point lead.

Only three points separated the sides in their meeting earlier in the season, with Boherlahan emerging as winners on that occasion, and they had cut the gap back to two points within ten minutes of the restart, with Abbie Horgan's placed balls finding the target either side of an Emma O’Sullivan free.

Young Horgan was the main source of scores again for the Sash - as she has been all year - and she showed her quality in the 42nd minute, latching onto a long delivery inside the 21, gathering the ball and breaking in behind before pumping the ball into the back of the net to send her side into a 1-6 to 1-5 lead. 

From here, it was a contest of placed balls between O’Sullivan and Horgan, with the Boherlahan girls edging in front by the minimum as the clock wound down. However, Moycarkey found the late equalising score with a massive Sarah Corcoran free into the face of a stiff breeze just about dropped over the crossbar to send the game to extra time.

Tipperary star Corcoran moved into the forwards for extra time and, within 30 seconds, had landed a hard-fought score from play to give her side a boost, but Abbie Horgan continued to lead the Boherlahan charge, bagging her second goal of the game soon after to put her side two up.

Thereafter, in the first half of extra time, Horgan and Ciara Shelly traded class scores from play that gave Boherlahan a slender 2-10 to 1-11 lead at the break. However, it was Moycarkey who would have the impetus as Boherlahan were reduced to 14 in that period after Clodagh Horgan received a second yellow card and was dismissed.

Still, the presence of Sarah Delaney at centre back kept the Moycarkey Borris attacks at bay and the loss of Horgan had little effect for the remainder. In fact, they extended their lead after five minutes with another Horgan placed ball.

Moycarkey Borris were fighting to stay afloat, though, and points from Kate Ralph and Sarah Corcoran cut the gap to two points with time ticking into the red, but with the sides soon levelled in terms of personnel after Amy McGovern’s second yellow dismissal in that time, it was now going against them.

However, they managed to find possession late on, win a free deep in Boherlahan territory and with the last puck of the game, managed to salvage a famous win with Ciara Shelly’s strike deciding a pulsating final in front of a raucous support in The Ragg.

Scorers: Moycarkey Borris: Emma O’Sullivan (1-5, 1-4f), Ciara Shelly 1-1, Kate Ralph 0-4, Sarah Corcoran (0-3, 0-1f).

Boherlahan Dualla: Abbie Horgan (2-11, 0-8f, 0-2 45s), Neasa Dwan 0-1.

Moycarkey Borris: Molly O’Dwyer; Rebecca Hogan, Caitlin Shelly, Amy McGovern; Joan O’Keeffe, Kate Dowling, Lucy Callanan; Alisha Kearney, Sarah Corcoran; Eva Ralph, Emma O’Sullivan, Maria Kinane; Kate Ralph, Ciara Shelly, Sophie Coughlan.

Subs used: Amy Callanan for A Kearney (52); Alisha Kearney for Callanan (ET).

Boherlahan Dualla: Marguerite Fryday; Leah Kavanagh, Sarah McLoughlin, Leah Maher; Evanne Gleeson, Sarah Delaney, Paula Quirke; Ellie Ryan, Clodagh Horgan; Neasa Dwan, Anna Murphy, Danielle Ryan; Doireann Ryan, Emma Horgan, Abbie Horgan.

Subs used: Aoife Kennedy for Doireann Ryan (43); Maria Murphy for A Murphy (52); Maya Hickey for Danielle Ryan (ET).

Referee: TP O’Sullivan (Nenagh Éire Óg)

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