Ulster Club Intermediate Ladies’ Football Championship:
St Joseph’s, Glenelly (Tyrone) 4-8 Donaghmoyne B (Monaghan) 0-7
FULL-FORWARD Siobhan Sheerin was the second half hat-trick hero for Glenelly as they empathically claimed the Ulster Intermediate Club Championship title in Killyclogher yesterday afternoon.
It was not to be a historic double for Donaghmoyne, their B team unable to match the joyous scenes enjoyed by their senior A team at the same ground eight days earlier.
Weather conditions were much better for the second of two games at the Tyrone venue, however, the strong wind remained and it was Glenelly who made the better use of it, helped by a much superior display.
Their inside forward line of Sheerin, Fiona Marie Devlin and Patricia Morris were too hot for Donaghmoyne to handle – Sheerin and Devlin combining for 4-7 of their side’s total, the impressive Aisling O’Kane contributing their other point and while Sheerin and Devlin will enjoy the headlines, this was very much a solid team display from Noel O’Kane’s impressive side, who now go on to meet Cahir of Tipperary in the All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship semi-finals in two weeks’ time.
“It’s unbelievable, that’s the only way I can describe it,” said manger O’Kane afterwards, whose sister Edel played at centre-half forward. “At half-time it was level and we were very fortunate to have a couple of star forwards up there and star players all over the field who really dug deep in the second half with the wind and made it count.
“The reputation Donaghmoyne have in ladies football, we knew it was going to be a very tough game, but we focused on ourselves and stood the test and were able to get back into it when they did get those unanswered scores.”
While O’Kane says the wind helped, he believes the class of the forwards and the team’s performance as a whole was the winning factor.
“The wind, if it was going to be at our advantage, we knew we had to use it. I don’t think it won us the game, we just excelled in the second half, but it did assist in getting the balls in there. They are a good unit up there and I think the forward line as a whole and the girls that came on, it was a credit to them as we have a big panel.
“We didn’t think past today. There is no training set for this week so plans will have to be rejigged and we will have to put the head down and push forward but it’s amazing for the club. I think The Plum is empty today the amount of people here. It’s great to see everyone out supporting us, it’s the highlight of the club’s year so far."
It was a very even and entertaining first half between the sides. Glenelly had the better of the opening exchanges and opened up a 1-3 to 0-2 lead by the 20th minute. Aisling O’Kane registered the first score of the game in the 8th minute with a point but two for Donaghmoyne, from Eimear Finnegan and corner forward Louise Kerley (free) edged the Monaghan champions into a 0-2 to 0-1 lead.
Playing against the wind, however, it was Glenelly who found the back of the net first, through Fiona Marie Devlin, tucking it past Ann Marie Burns at the second opportunity in the 14th minute after the Donaghmoyne goalkeeper had first denied her.
Sheerin opened her account with a point in the 15th minute and five minutes later Devlin added to her tally with a point to give Glenelly a 1-3 to 0-2 lead. But they failed to score for the remainder of the half and it was Donaghmoyne who finished stronger with four unanswered points, three from Kerley frees and captain Gina Cumiskey the other to send the sides in level 1-3 to 0-6 at the break.
However, it was all one-way traffic in the second half with full-forward Sheerin starring, grabbing her second hat-trick in consecutive games. Devlin edged Glenelly into the lead again with a point from a free in the 31st minute.
The warning signs went out a few minutes later when Sheerin was denied by a great save from Burns, but less than a minute later, she had found the back of the net with a superb individual effort to open up a 2-4 to 0-6 lead. It was the Devlin and Sheerin double act in the second half, Devlin stretching Glenelly’s lead to five from the dead ball and from the resulting poor kick-out, Sheerin majestically lobbed Burns for her second major.
The lethal duo both pointed from play as Donaghmoyne struggled to get any hold in the game, Glenelly’s defence cutting out any opposition attack and using the strong wind to good effect, supplying their forward lines with good first time ball to attack.
Donaghmoyne did open them up momentarily in the 43rd minute but Kerley could only slam the ball against the post and the danger was cleared.
Sheerin almost grabbed her hat-trick in the 50th minute only to see her fist punch find the side netting, but she did not have to wait too long, sealing her third and Glenelly’s fourth goal in the 53rd minute to really knock the stuffing out of Donaghmoyne as they saw the Tyrone side’s lead stretch to 4-8 to 0-6.
That was to be their last score and they finished the game with 14 players, Eilis Kearney sent to the sin bin a couple of minutes from time, but it mattered little, Kerley getting a consolation point from a free deep into injury time to at least get Donaghmoyne on the second half scoresheet.
GLENELLY: K Morris; A McConnell, M Morris, C McBride; C Morris, E O’Kane, O Harkin; E Kearney, E McCullagh; A O’Kane (0-1), N Bradley, G Donnelly (captain); F M Devlin (1-5, 0-2f), S Sheerin (3-2), P Morris
Subs: E Donaghy for F M Devlin (54), L McCullagh for O Harkin (59), M O’Hagan for A McConnell (59), P A Kearney-Murray for C McBride (62), E Doherty for S Sheerin (62)
DONAGHMOYNE: A Burns; F Finnegan, A Callan, R Finnegan; A Keenan, Alanagh McElroy, E Finnegan (0-1); A Finnegan, G Comiskey (captain) (0-1); Aine McElroy, R McConnell, S Keenan; L Kerley (0-5f), C Woods, N McCarthy
Subs: E Keenan for C Woods (46), L Garland for S Keenan (46), A Garland for Alanagh McElroy (48)
Referee: M Farrelly (Cavan)
Ulster Club Junior Ladies’ Football Championship final: Brian Og, Steelstown (Derry) 1-7 O’Neill Shamrocks (Monaghan) 1-4
STEELSTOWN captain Emma Doherty led by example to help the Derry champions clinch their first-ever Ulster Junior Championship title in Killyclogher yesterday.
Doherty scored all seven of her side’s points, five of those from frees, as they deservedly overcame the challenge of Monaghan champions O’Neill Shamrocks.
It was a scrappy game overall, yielding more than 50 frees, and it was in a five minute spell that saw Steelstown hit an unanswered four points to effectively end Shamrocks’ hopes.
Doherty’s 49th minute point from play, the first score for either team in 28 minutes, saw them level matters at 1-4 apiece before she followed up with points from frees in the 50th, 52nd and 55th minutes to put her side into a three-point lead.
Steelstown were reduced to to 14 men for the final minutes when Katie Holly was sent to the sin bin but it didn’t matter in the end.
“All the hard work from this year has just paid off in that one moment,” said Doherty afterwards.
“For the girls, it is just rewards they deserved. To come here today as underdogs is testament to all the hard work over the months.
“Those few points lifted our heads and maybe dropped theirs and for the last five minutes we just held firm. It’s unbelievable.”
MATCH STATS
Steelstown: E McCallion; L Casey, R Doherty, A McGough; D Wilson, K Nic Aindreis, R Laverty; A Laverty, O Flanaghan; K Holly, M Wilson, Emma Doherty (0-7, 0-5 free);
C McGurk (1-0), L McCready, M Devine. Subs: B Heaney for D Wilson (HT), R Roberts for M Wilson (HT), Enya Doherty for C McGurk (52), U Casey for L McCready (65)
O’Neill Shamrocks: S McDonald; N Kieran, L Ward, N Kerry; S Brennan, E Kerr, R Malone; M Atkinson (0-1), H McSkeane; N Tibby, M Kerr, S Mohan (0-1); D Tavey (1-1, 0-1 free), N Brennan (0-1), S McCague.
Subs: A Boyle for N Kerr (HT), U Treanor for N Tibby (43).
Referee: Y Duffy (Cavan)
