No joy for Mullinahone in All-Ireland ladies football Intermediate Championship final

Longford Slashers 4-11 Mullinahone 2-8

There was more All-Ireland final heartbreak for Mullinahone’s ladies footballers this afternoon, when they suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Longford Slashers in the currentaccount.ie All-Ireland Ladies Football Intermediate Club Championship final at Croke Park.

Beaten in the All-Ireland junior decider last February, Mullinahone were forced to play second fiddle yet again on another showpiece day for the ladies game.

The Tipperary players, who left everything on the pitch, were crestfallen at the final whistle but they will realise that they were beaten by the better team, who held sway from the first whistle to the last.

Behind by 2-4 to 0-4 at the midway stage, there was little respite for Mullinahone once the game resumed. Only six minutes of the second half had elapsed when a deflected shot from Grace Shannon trickled past a helpless Mullinahone goalie Alice Browning, to put the Longford team ahead by nine points and all but decide the outcome.

Mullinahone kept battling but could make little inroads into the Longford side’s lead, and they suffered another crushing blow with nine minutes remaining when another swift Slashers attack that scythed through the Mullinahone rearguard ended with Orla Nevin steering a superb shot high into the net.

However, the Tipperary team refused to throw in the towel and continued to show great bravery in the face of adversity.

They salvaged further respectability from the game with two late consolation goals from their leading player Lorraine O’Shea. The first came when she latched onto a long ball to drive a shot past Slashers goalie Emer Casey, and the second was another fine finish, with an angled shot dispatched to the net following good work by Ailish Langton and Denise Gaule.

Lorraine O’Shea and her sister Aoibhe, who were two of their team’s leading lights, accounted for all but a point of the Mullinahone scores, that other score coming from Denise Gaule.       

Nicole Shelly also did her best to take the game to a very strong Longford Slashers outfit while Lauren Dowling, Eimear Horan, Chloe Gunn and captain Jennifer Brett also shone on a difficult day for the team.

On a day when an icy haze hung around the northside Dublin venue, Mullinahone were in trouble at half-time. By that stage they found themselves two goals down to a Longford team that had dominated the opening half.

The Tipperary side shipped their first major blow in the fourth minute when Longford Slashers captain Aisling Cosgrove tucked a low shot past goalie Alice Browning following a move started by Grace Shannon.

However, Mullinahone regained their composure with two accurate frees from Lorraine O’Shea to leave them just a point adrift.

Jessica Barry set Clare Farrell up for a Longford point in the 13th minute, with Mullinahone replying through a fine effort from Aoibhe O’Shea from all of 30 metres, after Lauren Dowling and Denise Gaule had provided the assists, for their first score from play, in the 17th minute.

Although they were only a point ahead, the Leinster champions were well on top. Further scores from Jessica Barry and Orla Nevin, when she first-timed a close-range effort over the bar, provided a fairer reflection of their superiority before their second goal in the 24th minute rocked Mullinahone and gave them a mountain to climb.

There was more than a hint of good fortune about the score, though, as Grace Shannon’s speculative shot, which was probably intended for a point, struck the upright and dropped into the net.

When another slick Slashers move culminated in Orla Nevin raising a white flag a minute later, they were seven points clear and coasting.

Mullinahone had drifted out of the game completely but they had a badly-needed score in the final minute of the half, their first in 12 minutes, when Lorraine O’Shea was on target from a free after she had been fouled, as she built a promising attack in the company of Chloe Gunn and Lauren Dowling. 

Mullinahone: Alice Browning, Eimear Horan, Gráinne Horan, Aoife O’Brien, Emma Cody, Molly Walsh, Jennifer Brett (captain), Nicole Shelly, Lauren Dowling, Michaela Kenneally, Lorraine O’Shea (2-4, 0-4 frees) Aoibhe O’Shea (0-3), Chloe Gunn, Denise Gaule (0-1), Katie Egan.

Substitutes: Lucy White for Katie Egan (48 minutes), Ailish Langton for Lauren Dowling (52 minutes), Aimee Moloney for Gráinne Horan, Claire Egan for Michaela Kenneally, Marion Gillman for Chloe Gunn (all 58 minutes). 

Longford Slashers: Emer Casey, Laura Kenny, Emily Reilly, Grace Kenny, Orla Nevin (1-2), Eimear O’Brien, Clare Farrell (0-1), Aoife O’Brien, Aisling Cosgrove (captain 1-0), Lisa Nolan, Grace Shannon (2-0), Kyana Lee (0-1), Kate Shannon (0-3), Jessica Barry (0-3, 2 frees), Kara Shannon (0-1).

Substitutes: Jill Glennon for Lisa Nolan (49 minutes), Grace O’Donnell for Laura Kenny (52 minutes).

Referee: Gus Chapman (Sligo).