Watergrasshill 2-15 Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry 0-18

By Kevin Egan at Croke Park

The knife-edge nature of sport, and how the break of the ball can make all the difference in the world, was plain to see in the dramatic finish that crowned a memorable AIB All-Ireland IHC final this afternoon at Croke Park.

A spellbinding hour’s hurling ended with Watergrasshill crowned the All-Ireland champions thanks to Seán Desmond’s winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time, but Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry, who had , dug and foraged their way back into the game, will know that it could just as easily have gone their way.

The last minute of the five that referee Colm McDonald added on, began with Shane Fitzpatrick sending a long delivery into the left corner of the Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry attack, aimed at Paul Killeen.

Watergrasshill corner-back Shane Field put up his hurl and the sliotar skidded off it towards his own goal, but close enough for the defender to gather and play it on to Anthony Cronin.

In a piece of cruel symmetry, Cronin’s long strike deflected off the outstretched hurl of Fitzpatrick, also towards his own goal, but this worked out perfectly for Desmond, who was now left with just goalkeeper Brendan Lynch to beat.

With history there to be written, the rangy attacker fired the ball inside the Galwayman’s near post, and Watergrasshill were crowned as the first Cork club to win this title since Kanturk seven years ago.

It was a heartbreaking finale from a Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry perspective, after they had to grind out a painstaking comeback, despite making no impact close to the Watergrasshill goal. After making an explosive start to lead by 0-4 to 0-1, with David Jordan pointing after 12 seconds and Kevin Moloney adding another excellent score off the stick, Watergrasshill took over, and looked to be much the more potent side.

Seán Desmond and Adam Murphy were outstanding along the spine of the North Cork club’s attack, picking off some majestic points. Murphy also struck a goal while Garry McHugo did brilliantly to deny Brendan Lehane another green flag, but the pressure continued to mount at the Davin End.

It fell to Paul Killeen to stride forward and split the uprights against the run of play before half-time to make it 1-8 to 0-7, leaving a little chink of light for Mattie Kenny’s side.

Whatever the former Galway and Dublin county manager said to his home club men at the interval, it worked. They dialled up the intensity and fervour in defence, they got much more pressure on Watergrasshill players in possession, and their attacking strategy for the third quarter was simple – find a way to get Shane Moloney on the ball in a position to shoot.

In the third quarter, Moloney shot six points the other 29 players on the field struck one between them, that from Murphy after he blocked down a Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry clearance.

In fact, such was Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry’s dependence on Moloney that it wasn’t until the 49^th minute, when Ben Moran pointed a free from out on the Hogan Stand sideline, that any of the starting six forwards for the Connacht champions had a shot on goal.

Moran quickly made up for lost time however, tacking on four points in the closing stages, including a memorable equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time.

By that stage of the game, Watergrasshill had found their feet again. Murphy was devastating from open play, but he did miss three scorable dead ball chances, however at least the opportunities were being created and he – along with Desmond and Dylan Roche, got the scores that left the contest so delicately poised, ready to be seized by whichever team would be able to take advantage of the break of the ball, if it fell their way.

This afternoon, that team was Watergrasshill.

Scorers for Watergrasshill: Adam Murphy 1-8 (2fs, 1 65), Seán Desmond 1-3, Anthony Cronin 0-1, Brendan Lehane 0-1, Pádraig O’Leary 0-1, Dylan Roche 0-1.

Scorers for Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry: Shane Moloney 0-10 (4fs, 1 sideline), Ben Moran 0-4 (2fs), David Jordan 0-1, Kevin Moloney 0-1, Paul Killeen 0-1, Niall Moloney 0-1.

Watergrasshill: Aiden Foley; Shane Field, Dylan McCarthy, Ian O’Callaghan; Aaron Spriggs, Daire O’Leary, Kevin O’Neill; Anthony Cronin, Shane O’Regan; Ciarán O’Leary, Seán Desmond, Liam Foley; Brendan Lehane, Adam Murphy, Pádraig O’Leary.

Subs: Dylan Roche for Foley (46), Patrick Cronin for Spriggs (49), James McCarthy for O’Leary (60).

Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry: Brendan Lynch; Garry McHugo, Micheál Power, John Whelan; Shane Fitzpatrick, David Jordan, Kevin Moloney; Shane Moloney, Paul Killeen; Ben Moran, Johnny Conroy, Niall Moloney; Pádraig Breheny, John Dervan, Conor Jordan.

Subs: Patrick McHugo for Power (30-30+2, temp), Niall Quirke for Jordan (53).

Referee: Colm McDonald (Antrim).