Rathvilly 1-10 Palatine 2-7
This was a typical county final in Carlow with two teams showing grit and resolve for the hour and the resulting draw was probably a fair result on reflection at Dr Cullen Park on Sunday.
In the end it took two late scores from Rathvilly's Eric Molloy and Liam Gavin from a placed ball to level matters - which meant the big crowd will have to return again next week to see who holds sway in the 2024 championship.
Palatine got off to a dream start when Josh Egan beat the advancing Robbie Molloy to raise the first green flag of the day.This led to a period of dominance from the champions of ‘22 but they only had points from Conor Crowley and a '45 from goalkeeper, Craig Kearney to show for it.
Slowly Rathvilly played themselves into the game and a mark from Conor Doyle and a Kevin Murphy free had their big fan-base breathing easier. By the time Eric Molloy ran through a static defense to plant his side’s first goal in the corner of the net, those same fans were ecstatic as their side led by 1-5 to 1-3 at the break.
Egan's early goal had settled Palatine and his quick point on the resumption also gave them renewed faith in what they were about.
Andrew Kehoe followed up with a point to level matters and even from that removed, a draw looked the more likely outcome on the day.
Rathvilly went defensive when they edged in front but were rocked by a fortunate goal from Stephen Reilly which put them back in arrears.
When sub Bryan McMahons added a point for the leaders, it looked like it might be enough.
Rathvilly showed their mettle and struck the last two scores to tie matters and send the crowd from both sides, and neutrals, away happy for the moment.
Rathvilly: R Molloy; C Byrne, D Curran, P Deering; B J Molloy, J Moore, E Molloy (1-1); B Murphy (0-1f), A Burgess; B Kelly (0-1), C Doyle (0-2, 0-1m), E Finnegan; J Elliott (0-1), K Murphy, L Gavin (0-2, 0-1f) Subs: B Smith for Burgess (43), D Murphy for Elliott (50).
Palatine: C Kearney (0-1f); C O’Doherty, C Cashman, J Deacy; S O’Reilly (1-0), C Moran, C Duff; F Kavanagh, J Kane; J Egan (1-1), S O’Neill (0-1f), B Cassidy, J Kenny, C Crowley (0-2, 0-1f), A Kehoe (0-1) Subs: B McMahon (0-1) for Cassidy (39), C Lawlor for Kane (46), G Healy for O’Doherty (50), T Sheehan for O’Reilly (53).
Ref: John Hickey (Fenagh).
Mohill 0-14; Ballinamore Sean O'Heslin's 1-11
Super sub Mathew Murphy was the toast of Mohill on Sunday evening when he fisted a leveling score to tie a totally absorbing and exciting Leitrim county final in Sean O'Heslin Park.
Ballinamore must have felt it was their day when they followed up an early brace of Paul Honeyman frees with a speculative shot from skipper Wayne McKeon ended up all the way in the back of the Mohill net.
Slowly the shocked champions woke up and Jack Rowley, Keith Beirne and Keith Keegan all got on the scoreboard to reduce arrears.
The game had restored its equilibrium by half -time with Ballinamore two points to the good, 1-6 to 0-7, but once Mohill got in for the first white flag on the restart, it was down to the minimum.
Ballinamore then had something of a third-quarter sprint when three points in a three minute spell from Honeyman (free) and Naoise McManus gave them an ideal springboard to push on for victory.
However, champions are not winners for no reason and Mohill showed their character by digging out the following three scores from Beirne, Tadgh Mulligan and Evan Harkin to level matters again.
When they hit the front for the first time with nine minutes of ordinary time left thanks to a Jack Rowley special and another Beirne placed ball, it looked as if the momentum was swinging their way.
Had Ballinamore anything left after going over a quarter without registering a score? The ever reliable Honeyman and McKeon shot over frees to level it once with less than five minutes left on the clock.
Honeyman put his side ahead in the 58th minute from yet another free before Mohill defender David Mitchell was shown a black card in the second minute of added time.
Now it was Ballinamore who had the scoring and numerical advantage but Murphy who had just come on made his presence felt by fisting the equalizer which meant a replay in Ballinamore this Saturday.
Mohill: P Tighe; D Mitchell, J Mitchell, R Bohan; S Harkin, S Quinn, J Rowley (0-2); C Quinn, D Flynn; T Mulligan (0-1), K Kegan (0-2), E Harkin (0-1); F McGuinness, K Beirne (0-7, 0-6f), J Reynolds Subs: M Murphy (0-1) for J Mitchell (53); R Gordon for Mulligan (54); D Duignan for Rowley (58).
Ballinamore: D Maxwell; M Murphy, B Banks, P Connaughton; M McBrien, L Ferguson, C McHugh; S Moran, N McManus (0-1), M McKiernan, W McKeon (1-2, 0-1f), P Moran (0-2f); L Murphy (0-1), T Prior, P Honeyman (0-5, 0-3f) Subs: K McHugh for McManus (39); D Wisely & D Smith for McKiernan & L Murphy (53); K Maguire for C McHugh (61).
Ref: E Egan (Fenagh St. Caillins).
Kilmacud Crokes 1-12 Na Fianna 0-12
Kilmacud Crokes have the happy knack of winning close encounters - and they may have their tightest duel of all when they face neighbors Cuala in the Co final on Sunday week as they chase a historic four-in-a-row of senior football titles.
In another intense Parnell Park thriller against Northside rival Na Fianna, new Meath boss Robbie Brennan saw his crew deal with a forceful Mobhi Rd challenge, yet another on the way which previously had seen them dispose of Ballyboden St Enda's after extra time in the quarter finals.
So tight games and margins are nothing new for this squad who seem to produce a new hero for every hour. Where previously it had been Galway star Shane Walsh or Dub hero Paul Mannion, on Sunday it was Mark O’Leary who produced the goods with a goal in first half added time and a point late in the game.
Another who shone for the victors on the day was Sligo full-forward Paddy O'Connor who shot four points. They are now just an hour’s football away from becoming the first club since the Kevin Heffernan powered St Vincent's in the early 1960s to achieve four-in-a-row.
They saw winning and losing are habits and when you consider that Crokes haven't lost a game in the Dublin championship since September 2020 that shows how resilient they have become. Indeed they have won 22 of their last 23 championship games with a draw against Thomas Davis the only blemish in an otherwise perfect results sequence.
Brennan’s record since taking sole charge four years ago is impressive with three and now possibly four Dublin titles, three Leinster titles and an All-Ireland to his name.
In the other semi-final, the mercurial Con O'Callaghan hit eight points as Cuala beat Ballymun Kickhams 0-16 to 1-8.
Level at 0-8 each with 18 minutes left, Cuala turned on the after-burners and hit eight points in succession, five from their talisman Con, to leave clear daylight between the sides, and even a late Kickhams goal still left them trailing by five points.
For a club more known as hurlers than footballers, this will be only their second ever big ball final appearance, the last coming 36 years ago
Kilmacud Crokes: D Burns; J Murphy, M Mullin, T Clancy; A McGowan, D O'Brien, M O'Leary (1-1); B Shovlin, R O'Carroll; C Dias, P Mannion (0-1), D Mullin (0-1); H Kenny (0-2), P O'Connor (1-4), S Walsh (0-2, 0-1 45). Subs: C O'Connor (0-1) for O'Carroll 37, T Fox for Dias 47, J Quigley for Walsh 50, L Ward for Kenny 57.
Na Fianna: D O'Hanlon (0-1f); E O'Dea, E Murchan, F Potts; A Rafter, J Cooper, T Brennan; J Doran, D Ryan; D Quinn (0-1), A Byrne, D Lacey (0-6, 0-4f); B O'Leary, C McHugh (0-3, 0-1f), C Reddin Subs: K Deeley for Ryan 38, S Caffrey (0-1) for Byrne 38, D Kennedy for Brennan 43, V Flynn for Quinn 51.
Ref: D Delaney.
