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EVEN though Roscommon had to dig deep in order to fight another day in the Nancy Murray Cup final at Kingspan Breffni Park, Cavan on Saturday, they could still have stolen the show only to see a late free agonizingly tail wide. It took two second half goals from Claire Curley to get them back into contention, and in the end they forced Niamh McGeown to grab the equaliser for Armagh, 3-5 to 2-8.
The Orange County who came into this game as slight underdogs took the game to their opponents with two Collette McSorley goals either side of the half putting them in a strong 2-4 to 0-4 position early after the restart. A third goal from Andrea McAlinden put it up to the Rossies, but Curley came good hitting 2-2 to edge them in front, before being sensationally denied by McGeown at the death. The replay is set for Sunday next August 30th.
Elsewhere Cork and Galway’s second string qualified for the Gala All Ireland intermediate championship final following their respective victories over Derry (4-10 to 0-18) and Tipperary (0-16 to 0-7).
Cork and Derry played the match of the day at Naomh Peregrine, Blakestown with the Munster side only managing to triumph in the closing moments. The match was tied 3-9 to 0-18 before Emer Watson grabbed a late goal and Michelle Browne notched the insurance point.
The Oak Leaf County led 0-9 to 2-2 at the end of the first half – the Cork green flags coming from Mary Coleman and Maria Walsh. However, Derry, through the outstanding Grainne McGoldrick (0-8) managed to maintain their lead until the three-quarter stage, but with Leah Weste solid in defence, Cork applied the pressure. They got their reward through Watson and Browne’s intervention.
Meanwhile, Galway incredibly kept Tipperary scoreless for the entire second half of the other semi-final at Semple Stadium, helping erase the bitter disappointment of their senior side’s exit from the championship a week earlier. Martina Conroy and Caroline Murray totalled 11 points between them in this victory.
GALA ALL-IRELAND JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL, NANCY MURRAY CUP
Armagh 3-5, C McSorley 2-4 (0-2f, 0-1’45), A McAlinden 1-0, N McGeown 0-1
Roscommon 2-8, C Curley 2-2, K Hopkins 0-5 (0-3f), A McGeeney 0-1.
(Replay, next Sunday, Aug. 30th)
GALA ALL-IRELAND INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS
Cork 4-10, M Coleman 2-1, M Walsh 1-3, E Watson 1-0, M Browne 0-5 (0-3f), M Watson 0-1
Derry 0-18, G McGoldrick 0-8 (0-2f), K McAuley 0-4 (0-3f), M Mc Goldrick 0-3, K Kielt, M O’Kane, C Cushnahan 0-1 each.
Galway 0-16, M Conroy 0-7 (0-2f, 0-1’45), C Murray 0-4, T Rutledge -3 (0-1f), C Bowes, G Kelly 0-1 each
Tipperary 0-7, A McLoughney 0-5 (0-1f, 0-1’45, S Ryan, D Ryan 0-1 each
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