Ulster LGFA Senior Championship
Donaghmoyne 1-7 Moneyglass 2-8
Moneyglass produced what must rate as the greatest result in the club’s history when they travelled to Monaghan and Ulster champions Donaghmoyne on Sunday and beat the greatest team in Ulster club history in their own back yard to set up a semi-final meeting with Armagh champions Clann Eireann in two weeks’ time.
Beaten by the Monaghan giants in last year’s Ulster final Moneyglass travelled to face a side who had not lost a home game in Pairc Fontenoy in 24 years. A mighty task for any team but this Moneyglass side, under the stewardship of manager Charlie O’Kane, has come on in leaps and bounds over the past two years and they were undaunted about the task they faced. Once again Orlaith Prenter showed her class, turning in another great display to steer the St Ergnat’s girls to victory.
It was never going to be plain sailing and so it proved as Donaghmoyne took a three point lead after ten minutes and even the most optimistic fans must have had doubts, but once Orlaith Prenter got her teams first score the tide began to turn. Just after that opening point the Antrim champions received a further boost when Donaghmoyne’s Caoimhe Mulholland was sin binned and with Prenter proving unmarkable she swung the game firmly in the Antrim champions favour as she hit 1-3 without reply, the vital score coming on 18 minutes as she found the back of the home team’s net.
That magical spell put Moneyglass four ahead but the reigning Ulster champions battled back before half time with points from Niamh Callan and Lauren Garland to trail by just two at the half time whistle.
When Garland got the first point of the second half the gap was down to the minimum, but once again the girls from Marian Hill found that little bit extra when it was needed and Maria O’Neill grabbed her team’s second goal to put four between the sides. When Cliona Griffin added another point the gap was out to five, but with more than twenty minutes still to play the Antrim champions knew there was still a lot of work to do yet. And so it proved when Rosemary Courtney found the back of the Moneyglass net with twelve minutes still to play. The gap was down to just two and with the tension rising by the minute the pressure was back on Moneyglass, but their defence closed ranks and held their Monaghan opponents scoreless for the rest of the game while adding two points of their own, one of them from Prenter to close out a remarkable win.
