Northern Property Antrim Ladies’ SFC final
Moneyglass 3-8 St Paul’s 0-7
MONEYGLASS won a third consecutive Antrim senior title with victory over arch-rivals St Paul’s in Davitt Park yesterday.
This was a low-scoring affair compared to the last two county finals which saw Moneyglass win by double scores on both occasions, but the defending champions will not care what the winning margin was as long as they retained their title.
They were made to work hard for it by a well-organised St Paul’s outfit who battled right to the end and had impressive performances from youngsters Aoife and Clodagh Mervyn.
Moneyglass were four points ahead at half-time, 1-4 to 0-3, but St Paul’s were still very much in the game and they had their goalkeeper, former Fermanagh net-minder Shauna Murphy, to thank as she pulled off four top-drawer saves in the first half, including a double save to first deny Maria O’Neill and then Bronagh Devlin with the follow-up.
However, she couldn’t stop the duo eventually finding the back of the net in the second half, goals in the 35th and 45th minutes ending any thoughts St Paul’s might have had of causing an upset.
The sides traded the first two scores of the game, a point from an Orlaith Prenter free and likewise from Lara Dahunsi.
Cathy Carey added a second Moneyglass point before Laura McCann got the game’s opening goal in the ninth minute with Carey pointing again to open up a 1-2 to 0-1 lead after 11 minutes.
Niamh Ritchie (free) and Eimilie Rogers Duffy put back-to-back points together for St Paul’s to reduce the gap to two but despite Moneyglass going down to 14 when Cliona Griffin was sin-binned, they ended the half with a Prenter point from a free to lead by four at the break.
Rogers Duffy opened the second-half scoring from a free to leave the goal between them but that became two when O’Neill, who was outstanding, played in Devlin for her goal five minutes after the restart.
St Paul’s replied through a Ritchie free and a Clodagh Mervyn point to bring them within four but Moneyglass hit 1-4 without reply in an eight-mintue spell to open up a 3-7 to 0-6 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. A Prenter brace from play within a minute of each other was followed by O’Neill’s 45th-minute goal, a real blow to St Paul’s while Carey grabbed her third of the day in the 48th minute.
Dahunsi had a chance from the penalty spot to reduce the deficit but she missed as Rogers Duffy rounded up the St Paul’s scoring in the 52nd minute, as did Alicia Boyd for Moneyglass, who ended the game with 13 players following a second yellow, resulting in a red for Griffin and a sin-bin for Aine Devlin.
The Antrim champions will now face Ulster champions Donaghmoyne in the senior club quarter-finals on October 22 in a repeat of last year’s provincial final that went right down to the wire.
