It was a deserved victory for Tipperary.
The Tipperary Ladies Footballers are a team on the rise. Last year, they won the Division Three Football League and they backed that up with All-Ireland glory in September when they defeated Tyrone in the Intermediate Final.
Picking up from exactly where they left off, the Premier County’s ladies enjoyed another fine League campaign this year, making it to the final against Cavan on Sunday.
They made it two leagues in a row when they defeated the Breffni County by one point on a scoreline of 0-20 to 3-10 in Parnell Park after a thrilling game of football.
Scéal an chluiche @LadiesFootball @CavanLGFA @TippLadies #serioussupport pic.twitter.com/JIjbIug3mQ
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) May 6, 2018
A thrilling game that wasn’t without its controversy. Right at the death, Cavan bombed forward in search of an equalising score and as their corner forward bundled her way through a sea of Tipperary bodies and into the penalty area, the referee blew his whistle and signalled for a penalty.
Admittedly, it looked like an extremely harsh decision on Tipperary. Their defenders were merely standing their ground and while they did put pressure on the Cavan attacker, it certainly wasn’t worthy of a penalty kick.
After a brief consultation with his umpires and secondary officials, the man in the middle decided to overturn his decision and throw the ball up on the 21 yard line instead, much to the ire of Cavan players, management and supporters.
Tipperary would go on to gain possession from the throw-in and within seconds the final whistle was blown.
It was a deserved victory for Tipperary in which Aishling Moloney, their virtuoso centre forward again showed herself as the most talented ladies footballer in the country. She hit Cavan to the tune of five fine points from play, but she bossed this game from the first minute to the last.
In the aftermath, Tipperary manager Shane Ronayne was interviewed by TG4 and he gave his views on the controversy.
“We would have been very disappointed if the penalty was given,” he said.
“Not really, I don’t think, but there was a lot of overturning decisions going on today, with the linesman as well. But if they get a right decision at the end, maybe it is the right thing to do.”
It’s hard to argue with that. He went on to praise his players for their achievement.
“They’re an incredible bunch, they keep driving on. They’ve suffered a few setbacks in the last few weeks, but the best thing today was that every time Cavan got a goal, we went up the other end of the field and responded. That’s the sign of a good team.
