AIB All-Ireland SFC club semi-final: St Ergnat’s, Moneyglass (Antrim) 1-12 Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) 1-10
Cathy Carey and Maria O’Neill were in excellent form at Pairc de Burca as history-makers St Ergnat’s Moneyglass booked their spot in the forthcoming AIB All-Ireland senior club championship final with a superb victory over Kilmacud Crokes.
A constant thorn in the side of their opponents, Carey and O’Neill were instrumental in ensuring Ergnat’s became the first side from Antrim to make it to a top-tier ladies football national club decider.
Managed by former Donegal boss Maxi Curran, the Saffron County outfit were well in contention from the early stages of the action with the influential duo of Carey and O’Neill on hand to cancel out Crokes efforts by Eabha Rutledge and Niamh Cotter (free).
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Kilmacud were aiming to make a swift return to the All-Ireland senior showpiece after losing out to Kilkerrin-Clonberne in last year’s final and they created some daylight with unanswered points from Michelle Davoren (two) and Cotter. While Ergnat’s subsequently restored parity thanks to the reliable boots of O’Neill (two) and Carey, Crokes reasserted themselves when Michelle Davoren palmed to the opposition net on 26 minutes.
Although this was a setback for their Moneyglass counterparts, another successful Carey free left them just two points in arrears (1-5 to 0-6) at the interval.
Crokes restored their half-time lead as a result of Cotter cancelling out a Carey point on the resumption, but the Dublin and Leinster champions were being placed under increased pressure as the action progressed.
Back-to-back points from Carey and the hard-working Eleanor Mallon had Ergnat’s back on level terms by the third-quarter mark and they squeezed in front for the first time when the excellent Carey bagged yet another score on 47 minutes.
This was immediately followed by a superbly taken goal by O’Neill and this suddenly had the Moneyglass women without sight of a monumental triumph. Traded efforts between Crokes midfielder Doireann Egan and Leah Stewart kept the gap at four, before three points on the bounce from Cotter left the bare minimum between the teams heading into seven minutes of stoppage-time.
This ramped up the tension in an already gripping affair, but thanks to a point at the death by substitute JoJo Darragh, it was the outstanding St Ergnat’s who advanced to face reigning champions Kilkerrin-Clonberne in the All-Ireland final on December 13th at Croke Park.
ST ERGNAT’S, MONEYGLASS: A Devlin; C Graffin, N McIntosh, L Stewart (0-1); A Leahy, S O’Neill, R Bradley; A Kelly, E Louise McAreavey; C Griffin, M O’Neill (1-3, 1f), N Neeson; B Devlin, C Carey (0-6, 4f), E Mallon (01). Subs: L McCann for Kelly (38), J Darragh (0-1) for B Devlin (44).
KILMACUD CROKES: D Gower; P Greene, E Sweeney, C Regan; S O’Donoghue, A Kane, N Carr; D Egan (0-1), K Murray; L Kane, A Davoren, N Cotter (0-6, 5f); A Conroy, M Davoren (1-2), E Rutledge (0-1). Subs: K McDaid for L Kane (42), A Bedford for O’Donoghue (45), A O’Grady for Regan, E Kane for Conroy (both 52).
Referee: Barry Redmond (Wexford).
AIB All-Ireland SFC club semi-final: Kilkerrin-Clonberne (Galway) 1-11 Comeragh Rangers (Waterford) 0-3
Kilkerrin-Clonberne’s “Drive for Five” is still on after an 11-point win over Comeragh Rangers booked their place in the AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Championship final in two weeks.
There were just two points between the sides at half-time but the four-in-a-row All-Ireland champions showed their class in the second half as they pulled away in front of a home crowd.
Olivia Divilly was top scorers for the Galway club with 0-5 but it was Eva Noone who was the star of the show in the second half, kicking four excellent points off her left foot.
After a low-scoring first half, it was Noone who got her side up and running within a minute of the restart and a brace of points from Divilly stretched Kilkerrin-Clonberne’s lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
Three points in a row from Noone between the 42nd and 48th minutes made it 1-7 to 0-3 and Kilkerrin-Clonberne powered home with Hannah Noone, Olivia Divilly (two) and Nicola Ward all finding the target.
The champions struggled in the first half to break down Comeragh’s well-organised defensive set up and it took until the 13th minute for the game’s first score to come, Olivia Divilly knocking over a close-range free.
Comeragh, who looked to attack quickly when they turned over possession, had a great opportunity to grab goal midway through the half when All Star Emma Murray broke through but her effort was well-saved by goalkeeper Lisa Murphy. The Waterford side didn’t come away empty-handed from the move with Mairéad Power kicking the rebound over the bar to level matters.
Kilkerrin-Clonberne continued to probe in the minutes that followed and they finally found the gap they were searching for in the 24th minute. A turnover in midfield saw the home side attack before Comeragh could set their defence and Olivia Divilly’s handpass over the top found Aisling Madden and the midfielder crashed the ball to the roof of the net.
A fantastic point from Comeragh’s Clodagh Power made it 1-1 to 0-2 at the break but the Munster champions’ defensive effort took its toll in the second half as they managed just a single score through Katie Murray in the final 30 minutes.
Kilkerrin-Clonberne: L Murphy; L Finnegan, S Gormally, K Mee; C Costello, N Ward (0-1), N Divilly; S Divilly, A Madden (1-0); O Divilly (0-5, 3f), L Ward, H Noone (0-1); E Noone (0-4), C Miskell, L Noone. Subs: C Boyle for Miskell (48), E Hynes for L Noone (58), Á Shaughnessy for Costello (58) Aoibhinn Madden for Finnegan (64), L Pettit for Mee (66).
Comeragh Rangers: A Norris; O Kennedy, T Kelly, K Broxson; S Dunphy, K Hahessy, C Murray; E Murray, K Corbett Barry; C Power (0-1), M Power (0-1), K Murray (0-1); A Power, E Power, A Connolly. Subs: S Connolly for A Connolly (43), N Dunphy for Broxson (50), G Power for C Power (50), E Bolger for Hahessy (55), E Power for Kennedy (59).
Referee: Maggie Farrelly.
