Ballygarvan ladies Pip Neighbours

Ballygarvan 1-13 Ballinhassig 2-9

(JJ Hurley)

Ballygarvan pipped Ballinhassig for a place in the Premier Intermediate Camogie Final after a titanic battle at Shanbally on Saturday.

With Ballygarvan leading by a single score deep into injury time, Grace Healy had a chance to force the contest into extra time, but her effort narrowly missed the target.

Moments earlier, Ballygarvan’s skipper, Catriona Kelly, had given her side the lead from a dead ball after Ballinhassig had tied the contest with a goal from Aisling Lombard on 57 minutes.

With both teams sharing the same parish, the added spice of the local derby saw a nervy start, as the first score only arrived in the seventh minute from Kelly.

It took another two minutes before the blue side of the parish registered their opening score, a 45 from the veteran O’Sullivan.

Exchanging scores, the sides were level on 19 minutes, with O’Sullivan and Deirdre Coomey on target for Ballinhassig, while Cliona O’Leary and Kelly registered points for Ballygarvan.

It was advantage Ballinhassig moments later when Eimear Daly rattled the net, followed by a point from the impressive Grace Healy.

Ballygarvan could have been in all sorts of trouble but Sarah Ahern, outstanding between the sticks over the hour, produced a fine save.

Inspired by their goalkeeper, Rachel O’Regan and Michaella Buckley reduced the arrears with two points, leaving the score at 1-4 to 0-5 on 26 minutes.

From there to the break, honours were shared. O’Sullivan took her team’s tally to 1-6, while Kelly and O’Regan added a point apiece as Ballygarvan went in at the interval trailing 1-6 to 0-7.

Ballinhassig had the early advantage in the second half as O’Sullivan struck two frees in quick succession, but Ballygarvan were beginning to get to grips with their neighbours.

Kelly opened her second-half account with a trademark free, before Ella Kelleher combined with Rachel O’Regan—who was simply outstanding after the restart—to close the gap even further.

With Ballinhassig failing to hit the target from a number of frees, a score from Lucy Casey left only a point between the sides on 44 minutes.

The game was turned on its head in the 47th minute when a speculative ball from Michaella Buckley was touched into the net by Molly Kelleher.

Having failed to score for almost 15 minutes, it was Healy who sent over a free to put the minimum between the sides on 53 minutes.

Two Kelly scores, including a 45, looked to have sealed the deal on 56 minutes before Aisling Lombard hammered in a goal on 57 minutes.

In need of inspiration, Kelly was again the saviour, as there was to be no late redemption for the blue half of the parish.

Ballygarvan will now play Ballincollig on October 11th at Castleroad in the final decider.

Scorers for Ballygarvan: C. Kelly 0-7 (6f, 1 45), M. Kelleher 1-0, R. O’Regan 0-3, M. Buckley 0-1, C. O’Leary 0-1, L. Casey 0-1.Ballinhassig: E. O’Sullivan 0-5 (4f, 1 45), A. Lombard 1-0, E. Daly 1-0, G. Healy 0-2, E. Casey 0-1, D. Coomey 0-1.

Teams

Ballygarvan: A. Ahern; S. Lyons, E. Kelleher, S. A. O’Halloran; A. Bowen, E. O’Regan, S. J. Brady; C. O’Leary, L. Casey; R. O’Regan, C. Kelly, M. Buckley; T. Crowley, M. Kelleher, H. Sweeney.Subs: N. Crowley for T. Crowley (45), E. Casey for S. A. O’Halloran (50).

Ballinhassig: S. Leahy; A. Cotrell, M. Healy, A. Casey; T. Healy, A. Cussen, E. Casey; E. Daly, M. Lombard; E. Healy, G. Healy, E. O’Sullivan; G. Collins, A. Lombard, D. Coomey.Subs: M. O’Sullivan for E. Jordan (52).

Referee: Sean Horgan (Gleann na Laoi).

Ballygarvan ladies, who had a narrow win over the neighbours Ballinhassig in the Premier Intermediate Camogie Championship on Saturday in Shanbally