Mayfield (Cork) 2-16
Mooncoin (Kilkenny) 1-18
Kevin O’Brien reports from Croke Park
MAYFIELD, THE NORTH-east suburb of Cork city, is best known as the home place of Irish soccer legend Roy Keane but they made headlines of their own in Croke Park today.
The Banks Of My Own Lovely Lee rang out amid joyous scenes in HQ after Mayfield centre-forward Nicky Kelly hit the winning score in stoppage-time for the Munster champions.
It was finally a happy final appearance for the 24-year-old Kelly, who was part of a CIT team to lose both a Fitzgibbon Cup and a Cork SHC decider in the past.
But the man of the match posted 0-11, including six points from play, in a remarkable display. Mayfield brought two trains up supporters up to Dublin for the game and their fans gave tremendous support to the victors.
The Cork club ended a run recent of Kilkenny dominance in the competition and brought a first All-Ireland junior club hurling title back to the county since 2011.
Mayfield, who won their first junior county title since 1978 last October, enjoyed a dominant run through Munster and the All-Ireland series – their closest game was a seven point win in the semi-final over the Sligo champions.
But this game went right down to the wire after Mooncoin erased a six-point half-time deficit to draw level by the 50th minute.
Like two heavyweights brawling it out, these teams traded blows in a tense final ten minutes before Kelly hit the match winner in stoppage time to secure the title.
Kilkenny clubs have won lifted silverware in this competition on four of the last six occasions but Mooncoin were unable to add to that tally.
Like Kilkenny teams often do in Croke Park, Mooncoin were quick out of the blocks.
Their direct style of hurling paid dividends and, with Alan Walsh influential, they roared into an early 0-3 to no score lead.
Mayfield hit back with three of the next four points, before Patrick Duggan bagged a real poacher’s goal to leave the Cork men in front by 1-3 to 0-4 after 14 minutes.
That sparked off a glut of scoring as John Fitzgerald and David Malone traded goals for either side.
Mayfield outscored their opponents by 0-6 to 0-1 in the ten minutes before half-time, with Nicky Kelly firing over four points to leave his side in front by 2-9 to 1-6 at the interval.
Mooncoin captain Ethan O’Ryan was introduced at the interval and he inspired his side back into contention.
Eamonn Hennebry, Kevin Crowley and and John Fitzgerald hit important scores as the Leinster champions battled back to level terms by the 50th minute, setting us up for a ding-dong finale.
Both clubs traded the lead before Kelly wrapped up the win with a dramatic injury-time score.
Scorers for Mayfield: Nicky Kelly 0-11 (0-5f), David Malone 1-2, Patrick Duggan 1-0, Kevin Punch, David O’Neill and Shane Duggan 0-1 each.
Scorers for Mooncoin: Kevin Crowley 0-6 (0-3f), John Fitzgerald 1-0, Eamonn Hennebry 0-3, Alan Walsh and Ray Wall 0-2 each, Michael Grace 0-1.
Mayfield
1. Richard O’Keeffe
2. Kieran Brosnan
3. Dan Lucey
4. Brian O’Leary
5. Garry Lehane
6. Shane O’Donovan
7. Gavin Looney
8. Kevin Punch
9. Darren Hayes
10. David O’Neill
11. Nicky Kelly
12. David Malone
13. Shane Duggan
14. Shane Kelly
15. Patrick Duggan
Subs
17. Ian Looney for Shane Duggan (49)
21. Colm O’Sullivan for Punch (57)
18. Kevin Walsh for Shane Kelly (57)
Mooncoin
1. Eoin Purcell
2. Conor Brophy
3. Niall Mackey
4. Liam Hennebry
5. Cormac Daly
6. Eoin Hennebry
7. Seamus Kearns
8. Cormac Fleming
9. Kevin Crowley
10. Sean Walsh
11. Alan Walsh
1.2 Ray Wall
13. Michael Grace
14. Eamonn Hennebry
15. John Fitzgerald
Subs
22. Ethan Ryan for Fleming (half-time)
18. Keith Kirwan for Sean Walsh (40)
24. Paul Hennebry for Fitzgerald (48)
19. Patrick Walsh for Grace (48)
Referee: Colum Cunning (Antrim)
Great article. Foreman amazing achievement.