Do you know those John 3:7 signs you see around the GAA grounds?
They’re going to make one in Dunboyne.
Emma 1:2.
The Meath ladies are the All-Ireland intermediate football champions after coming through the white heat of an intense battle in Parnell Park.
2-13 to 2-12 was the final score as Dunboyne clinched glory by the skin of their teeth over Kinsale of Cork.
The game went right to the wire with neither club letting up but it was Dee Blayney’s massive late effort which was enough to win it in the end for the Royal county outfit. The final whistle was greeted with some of the most beautiful and heartbreaking footage all at once – the sort that could only come from such a clash.
The winning and losing of an All-Ireland.
Pure ecstasy. Pure heartbreak.
Sport at its purest.Congratulations @DunboyneGAA and well done @GAA_BEO for streaming an enthralling battle pic.twitter.com/yMWqP6Mjnd
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) December 3, 2017
TG4 streamed the game on YouTube and it was a really good job they did because it wasn’t just the drama that the masses tuned in for – both at the stadium and at home – it was the talent on display. It was the pure ability and all that was never better demonstrated than Emma Duggan’s peach of an effort after just eight minutes.
The instrumental Dee Blayney popped a delicious pass inside with the outside of her boot to Fiona O’Neill who, arriving at full speed, had the wit and speed of thought to cheekily palm down into the path of Emma Duggan who buried a glorious finish with her in-step across the ‘keeper and into the far top corner.
It was weight, it was was improvisation, it was ruthlessness all at their very, very best.
And it was all captured by TG4’s excellent stream.
The heartache for Kinsale will be hard to take but, with a goal like that in a one-point game, it would’ve been a crying shame for Duggan – or for Blayney and O’Neill – if Dunboyne didn’t come away as victors.
This goal was worthy of winning any game – never mind this game of all games.
SCORERS
Scorers for Dunboyne – E Duggan 1-2, V Wall 1-2 (0-1f), A Thompson 0-4 (2f), F O’Neill 0-3, D Blayney & S Hackett 0-1 each.
Scorers for Kinsale – O Finn 1-5 (0-2f), S O’Leary 1-3, A Keating 0-2, E Murphy & F Ahern 0-1 each.
TEAMS
Dunboyne – A O’Sullivan; R McDermott, E O’Byrne, C Barker; B Hickey, E Doyle, A Moffatt; D Blayney, J Kavanagh; E Duggan, S Melia, S Hackett; F O’Neill, V Wall, A Thompson.
Subs – K Birmingham for McDermott (39), C Keenan for Hickey (40), A Jones for Kavanagh (54).
Kinsale – A Judge; E O’Brien, T McCarthy, G Gould; A Lynch, C O’Callaghan, C Keohane; N Quinn, L Copithorne; E Murphy, J Murphy, F Ahern; A Keating, O Finn, S O’Leary.
Subs – G Buckley for E Murphy (39), J Cronin for Keating (53), D Tyner for Gould (56), A Lee for Copithorne (59).
