Offaly savour spoils but salute Kerry's part in a 'dogfight' for senior status
Grace Teehan inspired Offaly to a hard-fought three-point win over a gutsy Kerry side who 10 years ago were hammered by Carlow in a Junior B final. Their brave bid to gain senior status came up just short at HQ.
It was a game that Offaly deserved to win but they made heavy weather of a contest that never rose to any great heights. Kerry wasted a gilt-edged late goal chance that would have put them within a point but in truth had made too many basics errors to have deserved victory despite the best efforts of Patrice Diggin and Caoimhe Spillane.
FAITHFUL FULFILMENT: Offaly's Orlagh Phelan lifts the cup after the 2025 Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship Final, Croke Park. Pic: INPHO/Bryan Keane
Offaly manager David Sullivan was relieved his side got over the line. 'It was a dogfight is the best way to put it," he said afterwards. "In fairness, we knew coming up today that Kerry were going to fight on their back for this. They weren't going to give us the time and space that people thought they were.
"I think there was an impression today that we were going to come up here and run riot, but that was never going to happen. We always knew Kerry were going to fight today and we expected a war and a physical battle and that's the way it turned out. Goal chances were at a premium and it was just whoever was more clinical from the point scoring point of view.
"We left a lot of chances behind us. We had 12 wides, I think Kerry had only three or four. There's a feeling when Jackie (Horgan) had that goal chance and Emer made that great save, if that had gone in...you never know."
Offaly started brightly with Clodagh Leahy making an immediate impact. She opened the scoring after just 20 seconds and quickly followed up with two well-taken frees from 45 metres, giving her side a 0-3 to 0-0 lead after four minutes.
Kerry responded through Diggin, who converted a 21-metre free, before Mairead Teehan extended Offaly's advantage once more. Diggin kept Kerry in touch with another free and Jackie Horgan's fine finish after a driving run from Ellen O'Donoghue reduced the gap to a single point by the 10th minute.
Kerry drew level on 16 minutes via Diggin's long-range free but Leahy's accuracy from placed balls restored Offaly's edge. Grace Teehan stretched the lead to two before Kate Lynch struck from distance to keep Kerry in contention with 24 minutes on the clock.
Diggin's fourth free of the half brought the sides level again at 0-6 apiece after 27 minutes. Offaly pushed back ahead with points from Grace Teehan and Ellen Regan, making it 0-8 to 0-6. Kerry's persistence was rewarded just before the break when Diggin scored from play to leave the minimum between the teams at the break.
The second half began slowly with the first score not arriving until the 39th minute when Diggin levelled the tie at 0-8 apiece with a well-struck 45. Grace Teehan quickly nudged Offaly back in front before Clodagh Leahy, reliable from placed balls all day, extended the lead from close range.
Kerry threatened a breakthrough when Jackie Horgan's goal attempt was saved by Emer Reynolds, with the follow-up also denied, but Ellen O'Donoghue managed to slot over a point to narrow the gap.
Leahy and Diggin exchanged scores before Grace Teehan restored a two-point cushion for Offaly in the 57th minute. A long-range Leahy free in the 59th minute pushed the lead to three, and Offaly hung on.
Kerry manager John Madden was gracious in defeat but crestfallen too. 'Gutted," he said. "We did think coming up today we had a great chance, it was probably the goal chances that were a turning point in the game. Offaly were that bit better than us today, they got their scores in the second half and we didn't convert ours. That's the big picture. I couldn't fault the girls though, they were taken out on their shields"
Scorers for Offaly: C Leahy (0-7, 4f, 1 45'), G Teehan (0-5, 1f), M Teehan, E Regan (0-1 each)
Scorers for Kerry: P Diggin (0-8, 6f, 1 45'), J Horgan, K Lynch, E O'Donoghue (0-1 each)
OFFALY: E Reynolds; S Shanahan, A Byrne, M King; O Phelan, R Kinsella, A Liffey; C Cleary, C Leahy; G Teehan, C Maher, F Dooley; E Regan, M Teehan, K Pilkington.
Subs: F Mulrooney for C Maher (33 inj), C Fogarty for M King (47), O Kilmartin for K Pilkington (50), K Kennedy for A Liffey (58), C O'Donovan for C Cleary (60)
KERRY: A Fitzgerald; M Costello, S Murphy, R McCarthy; R Quinn, N Leen, A Behan; P Diggin, C Spillane; R O'Connor, K Lynch, AM Leen; E O'Donoghue, J Horgan, A O'Sullivan.
Subs: S Collins for AM Leen (h/t), K Ryan for A O'Sullivan (50), E Conway for E O'Donoghue (60)
Referee: D O'Callaghan (Limerick)
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