Hickey point proves decisive as brave Boru's deny St Brigid's to claim crown
Monday November 23 2009
TIPPERARY outfit Brian Boru's held on for a thrilling one-point victory against Dublin opponents St Brigid's in a thrilling decider yesterday.
The game was switched from Kilkenny's Nowlan Park to the capital but Brian Boru's claimed the title in the club's maiden All-Ireland final appearance at St Peregrine's GAA club in Blanchardstown.
The match venue is situated just a couple of kilometres from the home of St Brigid's, but that mattered little to gutsy Brian Boru's as they held off a spirited second-half fightback from the Dublin and Leinster champions.
Brian Boru's played with the aid of an icy gale in the first half and in front of a crowd of around 500 spectators, they established a 1-8 to 0-0 half-time lead.
With the wind advantage after half-time, and boosted by a goal within a minute of the restart, St Brigid's came roaring back into contention and with eight minutes remaining, they were back to within a single point, 1-7 to 1-8.
strong
A minute later, a rare foray into enemy territory yielded a crucial point for Trisha Hickey, the only point of the second half for Brian Boru's.
St Brigid's captain, Elaine Kelly, cut the deficit back to the bare minimum with five minutes left but Brian Boru's held strong until the finish, also surviving three additional minutes.
In the first half, Brian Boru's had scoring contributions from five players, including the hugely influential Eimear Myles, as Claire Grogan bagged an 18th-minute goal.
Grogan's speculative shot from 30 yards dropped into the net over the head of St Brigid's 'keeper Ciara Lowry. Brian Boru's lost the services of sin-binned Aishling Kenneally for a 10-minute spell, but she returned early in the second half.
Kenneally rejoined a major battle as Noelle Healy's fisted finish just 35 seconds after half-time sparked the St Brigid's revival.
Nora Noonan was safe between the posts for Brian Boru's in front of a hard-working defence, while the newly crowned champions had some breathing space in the 44th minute when Áine Cullen was yellow carded and sin-binned for 10 minutes.
Scorers -- Brian Boru's: C Grogan 1-2, E Myles, M Morrissey 0-2 each, J Grant, C O'Dwyer, T Hickey 0-1 each. St Brigid's: N Healy 1-1, E Kelly 0-4 (2f), C Barrett, A Burke, A Kelly 0-1 each.
BRIAN Boru's -- N Noonan; N Gilmore, A O'Dwyer, J Peters; K Sweeney, C Condon, A Kenneally; O Fleming, J Grant; E Myles, C Grogan, C O'Dwyer; T Hickey, L Grogan, M Morrissey. Subs: C Ryan for Gilmore (40), M Slattery for L Grogan (46), K Barry for Kenneally (56).
ST BRIGID'S -- C Lowry; P Bruen, S Barrett, A Cullen; C Barrett, A Molloy, A McKenna; R Kelly, S Furlong; K Murphy, E Kelly, O Brennan; A Burke, N Healy, A Kelly. Subs: E Sweeney for Burke (51), S Fay for A Kelly (59).
Ref -- G Corrigan (Down).
Irish Independent
