St. Ergnat’s finally knock down the Ulster door

Ulster LGFA Club Final

Moneyglass 3-10 Errigal Ciaran 0-6

Refusal to accept second best finally paid dividends for St. Ergnat’s Moneyglass when they turned in a strong performance to beat Tyrone champions, Errigan Ciaran in the Ulster LGFA Senior final at Brewster Park on Sunday.

The Moneyglass girls halve been knocking at the Ulster door over the past five years and lost their previous final to Monaghan’s Donnaghmoyne back in 2022 before hitting a brick wall in the form of Clann Eireann.

This year the Clann Eireann challenge was overcome at the semi-final stage, setting up a second Ulster final appearance on Sunday against Errigal Ciaran.

Three first half goals from Leah Stewart, Cathy Carey and Maria O’Neill sent the Antrim champions on their way to a 3-1 to 0-4 half time lead and even at this stage it was hard to envisage an Errigal Ciaran comeback.

Goal scorers, Maria O’Neill and Cathy Carey

Maxi Curran and Charlie O’Kane had the Antrim champions well set up as they defended deeply and struck with devastating effect on the break.

It was Errigal Ciaran who started strongly however with county star Aoife Horisk firing over the first two points.

They continued to press and were awarded a penalty, but Maria Canavan sent her spot kick to the right and wide.

It took a time for Moneyglass to settle into the game but Cathy Carey got them on their way with a point in the 12^th minute and when Leah Stewart reacted fastest to a free that dropped short to finish to the net they were up and running.

Minutes later Stewart became the provider and this time it was the St. Ergnat’s talisman, Cathy Carey who applied the finish and there was a sense that the Antrim champions had victory firmly in their sight.

Horisk immediately responded with her third point but Moneyglass then extended their lead when Maria O’Neill fired to the net after a strong run.

Errigal had the last say of the half, with Maria Canavan firing over a free, however, the Antrim champs went in happiest, leading at the break by six.

Catrhy Carey has been a key player for the St. Ergnat’s side for over a decade and she continued to lead from the front in the second half and while the goals dried up it was the points that began to flow.

Carey continued to lead the charge for Moneyglass as they outscored Errigal 0-9 to 0-2 over the course of the second half while at the other end of the field the Moneyglass defence shut up shop.

The St Ergnat’s girls hit the ground running in the second half with Carey, O’Neill and Bronagh Devlin all pointing.

Horisk opened Errigal’s second-half scoring in the seventh minute but it was Moneyglass who continued to call the shots, with further points from Carey (2), Devlin and Stewart.

With time running out, Emile Loughran found the net for Errigal but the score was ruled out for a square ball infringement after the referee consulted with his umpires.

The Tyrone champions were handed an opportunity to get themselves going again when they were awarded a second penalty in the 28^th minute and Canavan stepped up once again but this time she had her effort pushed over the bar by Bronagh Devlin with the final act of the game to seal a maiden Ulster title for Moneyglass.

St Ergnat’s became the first ever club from Antrim to win the senior ladies crown and they will now represent Ulster in the All-Ireland semi-final later this year.

There were wild scenes of celebration at the final whistle. The door St. Ergnat’s have been knocking at persistently over recent years without gaining entrance had been finally broken down.

Scorers
St Ergnat’s Moneyglass: C Carey 1-04 (2f), L Stewart 1-02, M O’Neill 1-02, B Devlin 0-02.
Errigal Ciaran: A Horisk 0-04 (2f), M Canavan 0-02 (2f).

St Ergnat’s Moneyglass: A Devlin; Caitlin Griffin, N McIntosh, L Stewart; A Leahy, S O’Neill, R Bradley; A Kelly, EL McAreavey; Cliona Griffin, M O’Neill, N Neeson; B Devlin, C Carey, L McCann. Subs: E Mallon for A Kelly (54), D Duffin for A Leahy (59), A Griffin for L Stewart (59), J Daragh for B Devlin (59), K McCloskey for L McCann (62).

Errigal Ciaran: M O’Brien; O McAleer, M Traynor, C McCann; C Canavan, E Corrigan, M Moore; B McAleer, S Cunningham; E McNamee, M Canavan, E Maguire; K McCaffrey, A Horisk, M Corrigan. Subs: E Loughran for E Maguire (33), N Quinn for M Traynor (41), R Quinn for K McCaffrey (43).

Referee: Brendan Rice (Down)