Ladies Football Final

O’Rourke the star for Winners
Na Fianna 0-17 Cavan 0-10 

Na Fianna was pushed all the way before they won the Sean Faherty championship with Molly O’Rourke outstanding with 11 points in the victory. Cavan had a brilliant opening to the game and had a 1-04 to 0-02 lead after ten minutes. It was all Na Fianna after that point however and they followed the lead of the player of the game to secure back to back titles.

The sides had two points a piece to open the game before Cavan had their big scoring outpour. Colleen Jordon and Emma Clarke had points before Jordon had a goal bound shot stopped by Katrina Lynch. Caitlin Hynes grabbed the rebound and forced the ball to the net off a defender. Jordon added a further point to increase the lead to 1-05 to 0-02. Na Fianna started a tremendous comeback at that point and it came from midfield dominance. Aine Dwyer, Fiona McHale and Noelle Tierney were all prominent and the early ball into Molly O’Rourke started to become effective. She had five points in the last ten minutes and also forced Fiona McLoughlin into a good save under the crossbar. Joanne McKenna also had a point and by the time the short whistle arrived Na Fianna were ahead by one 0-09 to 1-05.

The sides again swapped points to open the half as McArdle and Jordon for Cavan, McHale and O’Rourke for Na Fianna found the range. The winners again started to dominate however and they five points over the next ten minutes to put breathing room between the sides. Molly O’Rourke had three of the points as she continued her tremendous day in front of the posts. Michelle Brennan had one when she was first to react to the ball when it hit the crossbar after a Joanne McKenna free. Colleen Jordon did have a free but it was cancelled out by Joanne McKenna as Na Fianna kept the lead at five,  0-16 to 1-08. After an Aine Dwyer point Cavan had a tremendous opportunity to come back into the contest when Noelle Tierney was sin binned when she fouled in front of goal. Colleen Jordon pointed and Emma Clarke fired over their tenth as they looked to use the player advantage to sneak a result. Inexplicable the advantage was gone when Caroline McBrien was sin binned for a harmless foul that may not even have warranted a free. Fourteen a side, Na Fianna ran out the clock and even had a chance for a goal when Fiona McHale sent a screamer across the goal before the end. 

Cavan 1 Fiona McLaughlin 2 Kate Kilkenny 3 Ashley Callery 4 Bridget Mulligan 5 Nicola Rogan 6 Sheana Kiernan 7 Caroline McBrien  8 Linda McKeon (0-01) 9 Aimee Gomez 10 Rosie O’Reilly  11 Emma Clarke (0-02) 12 Caitlin Hynes (1-00)13 Kelly McArdle (0-02)14 Colleen Jordon (0-05)15 Nicola King

Na Fianna 1 Alison Leydon 2 Jesse Garcia 3 Katrina Lynch 4 Aisling Brophy 5 Katherine O’Sullivan 6 Noelle Tierney 7 Stephanie Tierney 8 Fiona Dwyer 9 Fiona McHale (0-02) 10 Brianna Tierney 11 Aine Dwyer (0-03)12Joanne McKenna (0-01)13 Mary O’Rourke 14 Molly O’Rourke (0-11)15 Jeannine Rynne 14 Molly O’Rourke 15 Kelly McCormack Sub Imelda Mullarkey Kelly McCormack
Player of the game Molly O’Rourke

Referee Donal O’Donnell

Senior Hurling Final

Offaly are Champions
Offaly 0-16 Tipperary 0-11

Offaly are the New York Champions for the fourth time in a row after a comprehensive win over Tipperary. They used an early 0-10 to 0-02 burst to gain a lead that they never looked like losing over the hour. Tipperary did make a comeback but were still behind by four at the break. Tipp continued their good form with a scoring burst to open the second half and were within one at the fifteen minute mark. Offaly ran out the game with a four point to one swing however to run out winners.

Three points for Offaly opened the game with Stephen Brown snatching two. After a Tipperary score from Shane Quinn, Offaly added two of the next three with Darren Reilly the man who fired over from frees. Damien Hayes had the Tipperary score from play but the Offaly defense was shutting down all attacks. Offaly continued their momentum as they had the next four points and with ten minutes on the clock it was ten to two. Tipperary had a good period before the break as they tacked on four points to close within four as the half time whistle arrived in a down pour.

After a Dermot Lyng point, Tipperary continued their good form. They had four points from four different scorers, Hayes Meehan, Daly, and Quinn and were now within one with fifteen minutes gone. It was their last hurrah however as Offaly came back on the shoulders of Shane Sweeney who rattled over four points after a point from his captain Darren Reilly to again put breathing room between the sides. Damien Murray did have a point from a free as the game closed but it was too little too late.

Tipperary 1 John Madden 2 Conor Hayes 4 Ger Mahon 5 Ray Maloney  6 Shane McDermott 7 Shane Stapleton 8 Conor Gough 9 Dave Loughnane 10 Fintan Meehan (0-01) 11 Paul Loughnane 12 Shane Quinn (0-04) 13 Damien Murray (0-01) 15 Damien Hayes (0-04) Subs Jason Daly (0-01) 

Offaly 1 Finbarr Flood 2 Damien Joyce 4 Aaron Griffon 5 Colin Egan 6 Brendan McGourty (0-01)7 Neill McAuley 8 Darren Reilly (0-03)9 Michael Coady 10 Dermot Lyng (0-04)11 Stephen Browne (0-02)12 Donie Broderick 13 Shane Sweeney (0-05) 15 Iarlaith Tannion  

Man of the Match Brendan McGourty

Referee Eugene Kyne