Playing into a strong breeze blowing from the Whiterock Road end in the opening half, the saffrons were quickest to settle and opened the scoring with an Erin Boyd point after 5 minutes. Monaghan soon levelled though the next 7 minutes were taken up by seperate, match ending injuries to both centre backs Maeve Finnegan for Antrim & Monaghan captain Ella Carolan. On the restart Monaghan sneaked into a one point lead. Antrim were still performing well but struggled to get quality ball into their inside forward line. Aimee Traynor broke free on the left wing on the 18th minute and left her marker in her wake and crashed the ball to the back of the Monaghan net. Ellen Morgan tagged on another point as Antrim again pushed forward. Back came Monaghan although their wide count mounted as they were forced to shoot under pressure from a tenatious saffron defence. Maria Sestakova raced forward to split the posts on the counter attack & stretched the Antrim lead to 3. Eventually though Monaghan efforts were rewarded with a goal in the first of 7 injury time minutes. Again Antrim immediately responded with full forward Natasha Clarke pointed. Monaghan girls claimed 3 more injury time points to give them a 2 point cushion at half time.

The temperature continued to soar at half time and it was the saffron girls who got off to a blistering start to the second period. A long range effort from Morgan which was destined to cross the end line, was kept live by the nippy Aimee Traynor who spotted her opposite corner forward Caitlin McGuiness free across the square & McGuiness duely hit the back of the net. McGuiness added another point and added to her tally with another goal to open up a 5 point cushion for the saffrons after 3 minutes from the restart. Morgan pointed a free & 2 more McGuiness points by the 18th minute meant that Antrim had scored  2-4 to no reply.

An uncharacteristic mistake in the Antrim defense let the Farney girls in for a goal on the 25th minute and this gave Monaghan a life line. The Saffrom response again was immediate as McGuiness added another point to bring her second half account to 2-4. Toni Leigh Finnegan added a free as we entered injury time and when Ciara McGlinchey collected the ball on the 45 and pointed the game looked all over with a 8 point lead. Monaghan had other ideas and in the 7th minute of injury scored a goal & point to bring the deficit back to 4. Fittingly the last score fell to Antrim as McGlinchey pointed with the last kick of the game.

This was an excellent team performance from the Antrim girls who saved their best to the last game of the season. Orla Donnelly had a consistently solid game in nets, as she has done all season. The full back line of Siantelle Boyd, Caragh Shannon & Duana Coleman were strong and repelled all that Monaghan could throw at them. The most consistent line this squad have had all year had by their own high standards, a quieter day, maybe due to the early injury to Maeve Finnegan & an early knock to Maeve Mulholland however Mulholland & McConville on the wings never stopped & Erin Boyd was a revelation when seconded to centre half back. The mid field pairing of Niamh Quinn & Bronagh Laverty were always in control with the outstanding Laverty, who covered every blade of Corrigan turf, was deservedly awarded the O’Neills Sports Player of the Match award. The half forward line of Niamh McKay, Maria Sestakova & Ellen Morgan provided great link play throughout the day and tracked back when required. The inside forward line were always a threat. Traynor’s major in the first half gave Antrim a foothold by half time while McGuiness was in devastating form in the second half. Although Clarke was tightly marked she stilled scored as did substitutes Toni Leigh Finnegan & Ciara McGlinchey.

All in all a satisfying day for Antrim LGFA who now have lifted Ulster Championships in the last 3 weeks at U14, U16 & Minor.

Antrim Team: Orla Donnelly, Siantelle Boyd, Caragh Shannon, Dúana Coleman, Kerry McConville, Maeve Finnegan, Maeve Mulholland, Niamh Quinn, Bronagh Laverty, Niamh McKay, Eireann Boyd (0.1), Ellen Morgan (0.2), Caitlin McGuiness (2-4), Natasha Clarke (0.1), Aimee Traynor (1.0) Maria Sestakova (0.1) for Finnegan, Toni Leigh Finnegan (0.1) for Clarke, Ciara McGlinchey (0.2) for McKay, Naoise Farrelly for Sestakova, Erin Culbert, Tierna Bell, Niamh McArdle, Sara Gartside, Áineróis McKenna