Teehan helps Offaly outlast Kerry to claim intermediate glory

THE TENSION OF a Glen Dimplex All-Ireland final was evident in what was a defensive and error-ridden battle between Offaly and Kerry, but on a day when an array of forwards that have illuminated the intermediate championship so far were largely kept under lock and key by their markers, Grace Teehan brought the perfect mix of talent and tenacity to drive Offaly back up to senior championship competition.

Teehan registered four points from play and earned three more converted frees, producing her biggest moments in the closing stages when everyone else – on both sides – seemed to have lost the ability to find the target in the face of suffocating defensive play.

Had Offaly let it slip, they would have been haunted by their tally of 13 wides and another handful of shots dropped short, though Kerry will look back at the game’s most clearcut goal chance midway through the second half as their ‘sliding doors’ moment.

Jackie Horgan’s seismic battle with Amy Byrne was one of the defining individual contests throughout the game and the Kingdom stalwart finally shook off the shackles of her Faithful follower before whipping a shot off her left from 12 metres out.

Emer Reynolds – who has made the Offaly custodian position her own since getting a chance against Westmeath midway through the summer - got a strong block and then reacted sharply to put off Amy O’Sullivan from knocking the sliotar into the net from a few metres out.

Ellen O’Donoghue took a point from the loose ball that followed but it was Kerry’s best chance to take a lead, and instead they were always that point or two adrift, even if Offaly couldn’t relax until team captain Orlagh Phelan collected the last long, hopeful Kerry delivery in the sixth minute of stoppage time, the last action before referee Donnacha O’Callaghan confirmed their win.

For the opening six minutes, the Offaly attack looked every bit like the side that scored 12-71 in five games up to the final. Clodagh Leahy split the uprights from the Hogan Stand side of the pitch on the very first attack and difficult positions were to prove no obstacle to her as she also found the target with two frees, one from each touchline.

A Patrice Diggin reply was quickly followed by Mairéad Teehan emerging out of heavy traffic at centre forward to split the uprights, but Kerry stemmed the bleeding from there, aided by the midlanders missing the target with their next three attempts.

Diggin, Caoimhe Spillane and Niamh Leen got around the breaks on the Offaly puckout and the decision to play just two inside forwards with O’Donoghue coming back to the midfield sector added to Kerry’s edge in that crucial battle.

Jackie Horgan exploited the space that was left close to goal by getting out in to register one point of her own and to win two frees that were converted by Diggin.

By the time Leahy struck Offaly’s next point from a 45 the momentum had been stripped from the Offaly attack and it was Kerry who continued to enjoy that bit more primary possession, even if they struggled to convert it into clearcut chances at the other end. Two superb Grace Teehan points and another long-range effort from Ellen Regan ensured Offaly held the narrowest of leads at the break, though Amy Byrne and Róisín Kinsella both had to come up with big defensive plays to prevent Amy O’Sullivan and Kate Lynch from adding further scores.

The defensive dominance at both ends was turned up to 11 on the dial after half-time when the first eight minutes passed without a score. Aoife Fitzgerald came up with a vital save to parry Mairéad Teehan’s goal attempt and Diggin duly levelled the game from a 45 a minute later, but as was the case so many times during this game, when Offaly’s need was greatest, Grace Teehan came up with a vital score in reply.

A mere 0-2 each was added to the scoreboard over the next 17 minutes, but the last five minutes once again belonged to Teehan as she fired over two points either side of winning a free that Clodagh Leahy pointed to see Offaly home.

SCORERS FOR OFFALY: C Leahy 0-7 (0-4f, 0-1 45), G Teehan 0-5 (0-1f), M Teehan 0-1, E Regan 0-1.

SCORERS FOR KERRY: P Diggin 0-8 (0-6f, 0-1 45), J Horgan 0-1, K Lynch 0-1, E O’Donoghue 0-1.

OFFALY: E Reynolds; A Liffey, A Byrne, M King; E Regan, R Kinsella, O Phelan; C Cleary, S Shanahan; F Dooley, M Teehan, G Teehan; C Leahy, C Maher, K Pilkington. Subs: F Mulrooney for Maher (33), C Fogarty for King (47), O Kilmartin for Pilkington (50), K Kennedy for Liffey (58), C O’Donovan for Cleary (60)

KERRY: A Fitzgerald; M Costello, S Murphy, R McCarthy; R Quinn, N Leen, A Behan; P Diggin, C Spillane; AM Leen, K Lynch, R O’Connor; E O’Donoghue, J Horgan, A O’Sullivan. Subs: S Collins for AM Leen (half-time), K Ryan for O’Sullivan (50), E Conway for O’Donoghue (60)

REFEREE: Donnacha O’Callaghan (Limerick).