ÉIRE ÓG 3-20
COURCEY ROVERS 3-18
(after extra, extra time)
PROBABLY the best camogie club game of the year was also one of the most dramatic. Éire Óg and Courcey Rovers could not be separated after 60 minutes of normal time and 20 minutes of extra time.
In other codes, this might have gone to placed balls or a replay, but the SE Systems Cork Senior Camogie Championship preliminary quarter-final went to a second period of extra time, this time five minutes a half. In the end, Éire Óg edged out Courcey thanks to a late goal from Isobel Sheehan and a point from Clara Murphy.
Courcey Rovers boss Sara Hayes was critical of the format.
‘That’s my first experience of it. It never happened before and I’m absolutely not a fan because there is absolutely no player welfare there,’ she told The Southern Star.
‘The game has gone so physical and demanding compared to a couple of years ago. We were lucky we didn’t get a serious injury or concussion. You’d need a huge panel to play that. Maybe one extra time is fine, then a ‘45s or a replay.
‘I think this championship is a disaster anyway because it’s week-on-week and we just don’t have room for it. The Munster championship is in October. That’s the deadline. We find it very hard to turn it around with the same 15 players in a week.’
The sides were level 15 times in the 90 minutes, and Hayes praised her team.
‘Disappointed, of course, but we gave it our all in very difficult circumstances. It was a valiant defeat. The players died with their boots on. Everyone was cramping up. Bodies were tired and sore, but the mood after was positive,’ she said.
‘All I ever ask from them is an honest effort and not to give up. To be fair, that’s what they did. It got really hard towards the end. At one stage, I don’t know if they knew which way they were playing because they had turned around so many times. So proud of the players, we were leading most of the way. We gave a great spectacle of camogie and the parish was proud as seen with the amount of messages that came in.’
At half-time, the sides were level at 2-6 apiece, with both Courcey goals from Fiona Keating. Saoirse McCarthy scored a penalty and added 1-13 overall, including a last-minute free to force extra time.
In the additional periods, Ciara O’Donoghue and Anne Marie Collins added to Courcey’s tally, but it was Fiona Twohig’s assist for Sheehan that produced the decisive goal.
Scorers
Éire Óg: C Murphy 0-11 (6f, 1 45); E Healy 1-1; E Sheehan 0-3; R Sheehan, I Sheehan 1-0 each; F Twohig 0-3 (2f); O Cremin 0-2.
Courcey Rovers: S McCarthy 1-13 (1-9f); F Keating 2-0; AM Collins 0-3; C O’Donoghue 0-2.
Éire Óg: M Gleeson; K McCarthy, F Murphy, G Young; E Quigley, I Sheehan, A Whelton; A McGrath, R Murphy; C Murphy, O Cremin, F Twohig; R Sheehan, E Sheehan, E Healy.
Subs: S Hutchinson for R Sheehan (44), C O’Brien for R Murphy (44), L Murphy for C Murphy (57), C Murphy for L Murphy (68), E McGrath for F Murphy (76), R Sheehan for S Hutchinson (84), R Murphy for I Sheehan (89).
Courcey Rovers: K Crowley; L Crowley, A O’Reilly, O Twomey; E Moloney, O O’Mahony, G O’Reilly; C Foley, S McCarthy; C O’Donoghue, AM Collins, A O’Donoghue; L Nield, F Keating, G Hannon.
Subs: R Gallagher for L Nield (ht), L Murphy for A O’Donoghue (42), A O’Donoghue for C Foley (ht, et), C Foley for L Crowley (81).
Referee: John Horgan.
