Football

Donaghamoyne dethrone champions St Macartan's to reach Ulster ladies football final

Ulster Senior Club Championship semi-final: St Macartan's (Tyrone) 1-8 Donaghmoyne (Monaghan) 3-7

DONAGHMOYNE booked their place in a 15th successive Ulster senior club final as they dethroned champions St Macartan's in Sunday’s semi-final at Clogher.

The Monaghan champions avenged last year’s final defeat to set up a decider against Glenfin, a repeat of the 2011 final, on Saturday November 3 in a double header with the junior final.

Three first half goals proved crucial as the victors built up a 3-1 to 0-2 interval advantage playing against a stiff breeze.

They needed that cushion though as St Macartan's, who will have been disappointed by their first half performance, took the game by the scruff of the neck in the third quarter and reduced the deficit back to two points, 1-5 to 3-1, by the 43rd minute.

However, Rosemary Courtney, who finished with 1-5, popped up with a vital 44th minute point, their first since the 25th minute of the first half, and she followed it up with another two, all from play, to push Donaghmoyne ahead by five, 3-4 to 1-5, by the 49th minute.

Despite being reduced to 14 players when half-forward Eimear Traynor was shown a straight red card in the 46th minute and then to 13 players when half back Hazel Kingham was sin-binned in the 55th minute, St Macartan's could not make their numerical advantage count.

Captain Joline Donnelly and Cathriona McConnell exchanged points from frees and although Donnelly reduced the gap back to four with another converted free, Courtney added two long range points from frees in injury time to make sure of the win.

Captain Cora Courtney said while there was nothing won on the day, it was a huge relief to come out on the right end of the result.

“That was very tough going. We expected that coming in to the game. We knew from last year that they were going to come at us from the first whistle so set ourselves the target from the start that we were sticking player on player, wherever they would go we go too; forwards get back, and we would get back and go forward together,” she said.

“We got a few lucky goals and we needed them. We were under a lot of pressure throughout but especially in the second half. We knew they were going to come back at us. They hassled and harried us and put us under so much pressure but we got a crucial few points to get us over the line.

“It’s not an Ulster final, there was nothing won today. I know St Macartan's are hurting now. That was us last year. We came with a new aim this year that we want to go all the way but it is one game at a time. Other years we might have looked ahead but this year it is one game at a time and Glenfin are waiting on us now in the final.”

The 10 times Ulster champions made the perfect start to game when team captain Courtney linked well with her sister Sharon to finish to the back of the net for the game’s opening goal in the third minute and McConnell followed up with a point from a free three minutes later.

However, it wasn’t until the 21st minute that the next score came, when a opportune Rosemary Courtney effort dropped in over Niamh Kenna to the bottom corner for a 2-1 to no score lead. That stretched out to 10 points on 25 minutes when Niamh Callan finished a well-worked team move that started in the heart of their own defence to put them in the ascendency 3-1 to 0-0.

St Macartan's though were creating chances and had three goal chances of their own. Shauna McGirr managed a touch ahead of Donaghmoyne goalkeeper Linda Martin after she was spotted by Cathy Maguire racing in to the danger area but the ball failed to cross the line and the visitors averted the danger in the 14th minute.

Then four minutes later, a Maguire pass across the mouth of the Donaghmoyne goals was just out reach while Chloe McCaffrey shot across and wide of the target in the 22nd minute and it was the Tyrone All-Ireland medal winner who finally got her side off the mark in the 29th minute with a point from a free. She followed it up in injury time with another to leave eight between them at the break, 3-1 to 0-2.

An unanswered 1-3 in the first 13 minutes of the resumption had the champions right back in the mix, with points from McCaffrey (two) and Donnelly before Colleen McQuaid calmly slotted home from the penalty spot in the 43rd minute after Martin was penalised for a foot block on a Maguire effort. That scare was the wake-up call Donaghmoyne, led by Rosemary Courtney, needed and from there they did not look back.

St Macartan's: N McKenna; N McGirr, M Donnelly, M Treanor; L Donnelly, S McCarroll, G McKenna; C McQuaid (1-0 pen), M McMenamin; P Donnelly, C McCaffrey (0-4, 0-3f), S McRory, S McGirr, J Donnelly (capt) (0-3f), C Maguire (0-1)

Sub: T O’Hagan for S McRory (h/t)

Donaghmoyne: L Martin; J Geoghegan, F Courtney, L Garland; H Kingham, S Courtney, J Courtney; N Callan (1-0), Rosemary Courtney (1-5, 0-2f), A Garland, L Kerley, E Traynor; C McConnell (0-2f), C Courtney (capt) (1-0), S McConnell

Subs: A Keenan for S McConnell (52), A Burns for L Kerley (60)

Referee: K McKeever (Armagh)

THE Ulster Intermediate Club final will see Emmett Og take on Kinawley on Sunday November 4.

Monaghan champions Emmett Og edged Donaghmore by a single point in Aghabog on Saturday, 0-12 to 1-8 while Fermanagh representatives Kinawley, who were in the 2016 provincial decider hit four goals in their 4-12 to 3-6 win over Cavan’s Arva/Killeshandra.

The junior final, which will be the curtain-raiser to the senior decider on Saturday 3 November, will be between Trillick, who eased to a 4-16 to 0-1 victory over Derry’s Faughanvale on Saturday, and Cavan champions Lavey who came from behind against Scotstown to edge them 1-5 to 0-7.

Results

Ulster Senior Club Championship semi-final: St Macartan's (Tyrone) 1-8 Donaghmoyne (Monaghan) 3-7

Ulster Intermediate Club Championship semi-finals: Arva-Killeshandra (Cavan) 3-6 Kinawley (Fermanagh) 4-12, Emmett Og (Monaghan) 0-12 Donaghmore (Tyrone) 1-8

Ulster Junior Club Championship semi-finals: Scotstown (Monaghan) 0-7 Lavey (Cavan) 1-5, Trillick (Tyrone) 4-16 Faughanvale (Derry) 0-1