LGFA U14A Final

 Cargin 5-4 St. Enda’s 4-3

An eagerly awaited County final was staged at Dunsilly on Thursday evening with two evenly matched sides battling it out for the title of U14A Champions of Antrim.

Undoubtedly these two sides deserved their place in the showpiece with Naomh Éanna having dispatched Tír na nÓg and early season favourites Gort na Móna in the earlier rounds while Clann na hÉireann accounted for St Ergnat’s and Kickham’s en route to Dunsilly. With neither club appearing to have prioritised the league, their focus on the championship was well merited. The South West Antrim girls were seeking a 2nd U14A title in a row, while the City ladies were intent on establishing themselves as the top juvenile LGFA club, not just in the Big Smoke but also the county. All to play for as it were, and both were confident on winning.

With a strong wind blowing across the pitch presenting both sides with challenging conditions, the game began at a frenetic pace.  Cargin seemingly settled early with scores from Eva McCann and Emma Diver nudging the girls in green into an early lead but that evaporated as an attacking blitzkrieg rocketed the Hilltown girls towards a perhaps unassailable lead.  Utilising the chaos caused by the wind, the Ella McAlea hoisted a high ball into the box and through the mass of bodies a Glengormley fist got to it which ended up bobbling into the Cargin net.  Just minutes later, having won a free kick, the same tactic was used however referee Fionnula Murphy spotted a defensive infringement somewhere in the maelstrom and awarded a penalty to much protestations from the Cargin Cailiní.   A confidently and well executed kick from Úna McCavana high to the keeper’s left ensured the momentum was with the girls in black and amber. Ella McAlea was now a constant thorn in Cargin’s side with her running from deep and willingness to foray deep into the opposition half.

Erin’s Own reasserted themselves and attacked with intent but were then caught on the break.  Úna McCavana was now the source of all their problems when she collected the ball, broke through a series of tackles accepting the referee’s advantage rule, and blasted an unstoppable shot into the top corner past net minder Aimee Graham to leave the score at 3-1 to 0-2 in favour of Naomh Éanna.  Abbie McAuley, Caitlin Donnelly and Effie Walsh were linking well with McCavana. In the central areas Caoimhe Murphy, Aoife Conwell and Saffron Murphy were set and established themselves in the match.   The industry shown by Eimhear Walsh, Eimear Campbell and Molly McGivern was a shield in front of the safe hands of the reliable Sofia Reilly. Niamh McGilloway made important interceptions as key stages and both Tierna Keenan and Maeve McMenamin worked tirelessly in their roles.  Sophia Grew gave a tidy display while Rosario McCracken was a rock at the centre of defence displaying great handling and tenacious tackling. A feature of this time was the relentless attacking of Clodagh Kearney and Ella McAlea which was causing the Toome girls problems.

At this juncture there looked like no way back for the Cargin Cailiní, and they could choose to wilt under this pressure and accept their fate or come out all guns blazing. They chose the latter.

One thing Cargin have always had within their armoury is a refusal to submit and these Cailiní are no different.  Having retained 6 starters from last year’s winning side they were able to draw on this experience and at no stage did panic set in, moreover the setbacks appeared to spur them on further.  At this point their ‘old hands’ really stood up and refused to wilt.  Aimee Graham was brave with her kicking game and handling was always secure.  Maisie Kelly marshalled the defensive wall superbly; Emily Scullion was both covering back and driving forward with menace.  Caoimhe Doherty importantly won the pressure outballs from defence, providing much needed respite for the defence.    The Cargin full back line readjusted itself well to deal with the ever-present threat of Úna McCavana with Shannon McFall, Mya Annett and Cara Liddy each intelligently taking turns to cut off options to this remarkable forward peril, picking their time to challenge and directing her to the line. In addition to this, Cate McCann came out to midfield and relished the battle, helping to reassert Clann na hEireann’s position there.  In the windy conditions, the power solos of Adele McCann from midfield were critical while Sienna Conway and Sophia McCann swept, covered, and interlinked superbly with ever-scheming and unmarkable forwards of Eva McCann and Emma Diver who consistently took the game to the opposition while creating bedlam.   Annie Scullion was using the space up top to keep the full back line occupied and at the top of this spine was the exceptional Niamh McAleese who is surely the most dangerous forward in Antrim on this evidence, displaying an array of attacking weapons with pace, strength, soloing, handling and accurate kicking off either foot as well as covering defensive duties when called for.   

Niamh McAleese was in no mood for relinquishing her title and guided a lovely shot into the bottom corner of the Naomh Éanna net.  Annie Scullion was then quickest to react to a loose ball to force another goal a few minutes later and it was game on.  Ella was now dropped back to assist Rosario McCracken cover Niamh McAleese.  St Enda’s weren’t finished, and their full forward line was always dangerous, so it was unsurprising they launched yet another superb counterattack and subsequent finish by Úna McCavana which left them 3 points up and again in the driving seat just before the short whistle.  This would set us up for yet a further piece of drama with the last kick of the first half.  A pivotal moment of the game had arrived when last ditch Cargin defending produced 3 blocks in as many minutes from Shannon McFall and Emily Scullion. The ensuing attack worked its way to Niamh McAleese who was fouled when through on goal producing a free kick.  While Niamh McAleese may have been perhaps too young at the time to remember her coach Tomás McCann’s famous 21-yard free kick in the Men’s championship of 2018 v St Galls, she invoked the spirit of such anyhow in an almost identical position by unleashing an absolute rocket of a shot into the top of the net past a maze of black and amber shirts.  The half time whistle blew immediately after and remarkably Cargin were level at with scores at 3-4 to 4-1.

The wind seemingly became ever blusterier as the 2nd half started and with the floodlights on, the game had that Dunsilly championship feel about it with both sides all to play for.   It was however more of an attritional affair with neither side giving an inch and the defences carefully watching the dangerwomen of Úna McCavana and Niamh McAleese. St Enda’s got a point for the first score of the half, but the game was now cagey and both defences were on top. Cargin adjusted their set up with Nicole McFall impressive in the half back line.  Unfortunately, there can only be one winner, and when a team need to ‘grind’ out that win there few clubs better at it than Cargin.    Niamh McAleese received the ball 30 yards out and went for the gap. Despite numerous defenders attempting to thwart her progress she burst through and blasted into the top corner only to be called back to be awarded a penalty instead.  With the pressure on to deliver she sent the keeper the wrong way, stroking the ball into the other corner to send Erin’s Own into a 2-point advantage and in such a tight game that could prove pivotal. 

While the play went back and forth, with 5 minutes to go the girls in green conjured up yet another opportunity for McAleese who again made no mistake from 15 yards by burying the ball into the net with a deadly finish.  Jane McCann was released from the bench to become a well working fulcrum, linking attack and defence. An excellent save from net minder Sofia Reilly after a brilliant solo run from the lively Bella Scullion kept Naomh Éanna alive and the Hilltown girls did not give up, forcing yet another point to leave 4 between the sides going into injury time.   The Cargin Cailiní were in lockdown mode at this stage with Cara McPeake coming on to solidify the defence. The Erin’s Own girls were forcing attackers into the corners and away from threatening positions but all the while counterattacking in numbers and with pace, forcing St Enda’s to regroup and start from the back again.  Sofia Reilly made further saves to ensure Naomh Éanna retained slim hopes, but Cargin did as Cargin do and the managed the period with no further drama to realise ‘Back-to-Back’ u14A Championship wins, a remarkable feat for a club relatively new to the LGFA scene.  The final scoreline was Cargin 5-4, St Enda’s 4-3.

Naomh Éanna have shown they are now a force within the Antrim LGFA scene and their B Team won the u14C Championship final earlier in the evening against a battling St Patricks Lisburn, highlighting they have numbers and quality in depth for a sustained run at future glory.  The mentors of Ciaran McCavana, Gerard McAlea, Stephen McGilloway, Mark Mooney, Francis Moss, Niall Murphy and Jenni Reilly will have immense pride in seeing the development of this squad of girls. The future looks very bright.

The Cargin management team of Tomás McCann, Maura McCann,  Mary McAuley, Maria O’Neill and Sarah O’Neill will be delighted with their charges and particularly how they problem solved throughout this final.  Fully deserving of their historic win it will be interesting to see how far this group of girls can go and it can only be good for Antrim LGFA to see the talent pervading through both these squads and viewing the greater number of clubs now challenging for Juvenile trophies.