Pearse's experience counts in the end

A determined Pearse's side of Galway collected their third All-Ireland title when they beat Michael Davitt's of Swatragh, Derry…

A determined Pearse's side of Galway collected their third All-Ireland title when they beat Michael Davitt's of Swatragh, Derry in Cusack Park, Mullingar yesterday.

Pearse's opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a Sharon Glynn free and, with six minutes to go in the first half, she found the back of the net from a 45 to put her side 1-7 to 0-3 ahead at the break - the Swatragh scores coming from Bernie O'Loughlin, Grainne Maguire and Clare McNicholl.

Played in front of a crowd of almost 1,500, Pearse's had two second-half points from Sharon Glynn and player of the match Carmel Hannon before Swatragh's Grainne Maguire crashed the ball to the back of the net from a 45 in the 12th minute to leave it 1-3 to 1-9.

However, the sheer determination of Pearse's began to come through and, with seven minutes left, Ann Forde got her side's second goal to seal the issue.

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Swatragh, who were seeking their first All-Ireland title, had been dealt a cruel blow earlier in the week when top player Paula McAtamney broke her foot in an accident. Her place was taken by Aideen Mullan.

Pearses: L Curry; A Divilly, A Ward, P Burke; M Haverty, T Laheen, M Harkin; M Glynn, V Sweeney; C Hannon (0-2), A Hillery (0-1), O Kilkenny (0-2); S Ward (0-1), S Glynn (1-4) A Ford (1-1). Sub: L Lally for S Ward.

Swatragh: M McAtamney; A McGuckian, C Scullin, J McKeagney; N O'Hagan, G Maguire (1-1), P McKenna; A O'Loughlin, B O'Loughlin (0-1); A Mullan, A Tohill, M O'Kane; C McNicholl (0-1), O Mullan, D O'Doherty. Subs: B McGuckian for A Mullan; M Kirkpatrick for N O'Hagan.

Referee: Aine Derham (Dublin).

Derry champions Slaughtneil proved that experience counts in the first-round Ulster minor football game at Shaw's Road, Belfast. It is Slaughneil's third year in a row in the tournament and Buncrana, making their debut, ended on the wrong side of a 1-11 to 1-9 scoreline.

A final attack by Buncrana saw a shot from Condy Doherty fly over the bar when a goal would have won the match.

Scorers: Slaughtneil (J Kelly 1-5, three frees, Paul Bradley 0-4, three frees; B McGuigan, G Logue 0-1 each), Buncrana (O Doherty 0-5, four frees; M Cutliff 1-0; Colm Doherty 0-2, Condy Doherty, S Boucher-Hayes 0-1 each).

Adapting themselves better to the heavy ground, Clare produced a solid performance to score a seven-point win, 0-11 to 0-4, over London in yesterday's McGrath Football Cup Final at Ruislip.