THERE was All-Ireland semi-final heartbreak for Glengarriff’s Niamh Cotter and the Naomh Abán footballers last weekend.

Former Cork footballer Cotter has lined out for Dublin club Kilmacud Crokes since she swapped West Cork for the capital in 2020 – she has become a key player in their quest for All-Ireland glory.

Player of the match in Kilmacud’s Leinster LGFA senior club championship final, Cotter again impressed in the All-Ireland semi-final against St Ergnat’s, Moneyglass (Antrim), but could not prevent Crokes slipping to a 1-12 to 1-10 defeat.

Kilmacud were aiming to make a swift return to the All-Ireland senior showpiece after losing out to Kilkerrin-Clonberne in last year’s final, but came up short here. Still, Cotter kicked 0-6 (5f), including three points on the bounce to leave the bare minimum between the teams heading into seven minutes of stoppage-time, but the Dublin and Leinster champions couldn’t get the scores they needed.

Cliona Vaughan of Naomh Abán in action in their AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Club semi-final. (Photo: Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile)

Instead, St Ergnat’s advanced to face reigning champions Kilkerrin-Clonberne in the All-Ireland final on December 13th at Croke Park.

That final will be preceded by the AIB All-Ireland intermediate final between Knockbride from Cavan, who knocked out Cork champs Naomh Abán, and Galway’s Caltra Cuans.

In a war of attrition Knockbride edged out Naomh Abán by 0-4 to 0-3 in their semi-final encounter when a late point from Ellie Reilly was decisive in a low-scoring encounter.