U17B LGFA Championship Final
Glenravel 4-16 St. John’s 3-7
An comfortable early season win for St Johns over Con Magees augured well for the ladies from the Whiterock Road in this Minor B Championship final, and for large periods of the opening half the blue and whites were very much in contention at a sun swept Dunsilly.
The opening minutes saw both teams miss opportunities to take an early lead, before Con Magees opened the scoring with a point from Leona Gillen following a lovely pass from Clodagh McPeake.
A strong run forward by Ana Adams saw St Johns pull back with Luisne Adams slotting over a resultant free. St Johns pressed hard but were frustrated by wayward shooting that saw a number of wides and prevented them from pushing ahead.
Clodagh McPeake set the pattern for the game with a pass to Lucia McQuillan who bulged the net for Glenravel for the first time in the afternoon. Glenravel were enjoying the majority of territory and possession at this stage, but found themselves repeatedly held at bay by a resolute St Johns defence.
Gillen put further space between the teams with a point coming from a pass from the increasingly dominant Erin Coulter, who seemed to be covering every blade of grass for the ladies from Glenravel.
St Johns were still holding their own in this game with Luisne Adams leading the way with a further point from play. Hopes rose when Siobhan Meade followed up and punched her way through the Con Magees defence to slot the ball firmly in the net.
Glenravel immediately responded with Coulter placing the ball confidently into the hands of Lucia McQuillen who promptly placed it in the St Johns’ nets. This goal was followed up by two further points from Beth and Lucia McQuillan to leave Glenravel ahead by double scores.
Again St Johns responded with a point from Ana Adams and several goal opportunities presented themselves for St Johns to show that this game was still very much alive. Gillen’s point for Glenravel was answered with the eventual breakthrough for St Johns as Luisne Adams lobbed Caitlin McKeown in the Glenravel net for a deserved goal from play.
The concluding minutes of the opening half saw the Glenravel ladies increase the pressure on the St Johns defence, with Cliodhna McBride and Aisling Mulholland adding further points, with Ana Adams responding for St Johns to leave three points between the sides at the short whistle.
Half-Time: Glenravel 2-7 St Johns 2-4
St Johns started the second half strongly but were unable to convert this pressure into scores before the Glenravel ladies eventually found their rhythm and increasingly dominated this game. Three consecutive points from the on fire Leona Gillen pushed them ahead by 6 points but the Johnnies gave a spirited response with a goal from the ever dangerous Luisne Adams. However this score marked a turning point in this final. Lucia McQuillan replied with a goal straight from the kick out, and the dominance of Glenravel was further emphasised with a second goal soon after from Beth McQuillan.
St Johns never gave up, but the strong runs and speed of Erin Coulter were proving key in pushing the Glenravel ladies towards this Minor B title. Siobhan Mead and Ana Adams put further points over for the Johnnies but these were to prove all too little as Glenravel ended the game well in command. Caitlin McKeown came out of the Glenravel nets and added more firepower to the Glenravel attack.
The final score of the game appropriately came following a strong run by player of the game Coulter through the St Johns defence to be converted by Lucia McQuillan.
A well-deserved victory for Glenravel, but the Johnnies will have got great heart and encouragement from the spirit and determination displayed by their young team as they gave their best until the final whistle.
Final Score: Glenravel 4-16 St Johns 3-7
Glenravel: 1 Caitlin McKeown 2 Cailin McDonnell 3 Ellie Jo Butler 0-1 4 Eimear Butler 5 Emily Sharpe 6 Aisling Mulholland 0-1 7 Eimear McCann 8 Megan Law 9 Erin Coulter 10 Cliodhna McBride 0-1 11 Leona Gillen 0-7 12 Aoibhin McKenna 13 Beth McQuillan 0-1 14 Lucia McQuillan 3-2 15 Clodagh McPeake 1-3, Annie Higgins, Keira Young, Orlaith McDonnell, Hannah McDonnell, Ciara O’Neill, Emer Kelly, Moya Mulholland, Caitlín Law,
St Johns: 1 Orla Nolan 2 Caoimhe Scannell 3 Sinead McAleavey 4 Fiadh McKeough 5 Lucy Reynolds 6 Carla Hamill 7 Keela McAllister 8 Siobhan Mead 1-1 9 Siobhan McGurk 10 Hannah McAllister 0-1 11 Luisne Adams 2-2(1f) 12 Emma Early 13 Ana Adams 0-3 14 Catherine Thompson 15 Caolite Close, Eimear Johnston, Ava Kennedy, Leah McCrudden, Bronagh Irvine
