All-Ireland LGFA SFC final:

Kilkerrin-Clonberne (Galway) 2-8 St Ergnat’s, Moneyglass (Antrim) 1-5

It was heartbreak in the end for St. Ergnat’s but the Moneyglass girls can hold their heads high after putting in a big effort at headquarters against reigning champions, Kikerrin-Clonberne but in the end they came up just short.

The Antrim champions looked well in the contest when they trailed by two points at the break in an opening half where they gave as good as they got, the two points separating them coming from a couple of questionable frees.

Chloe Miskell and Lynsey Noone grabbed goals in either half for the winners who stepped up their game in the third quarter to put considerable distance between the sides.

Leading by just two points at the midway stage in the contest, Willie Ward’s outfit turned on the style with an unanswered tally of 1-4 during the third quarter to ultimately see off their spirited Antrim counterparts.

Returning with 14 of the starting line-up from last year’s final win over Kilmacud Crokes, Kilkerrin-Clonberne initially found it difficult to break down a stern Moneyglass defence.

Olivia Divilly and Eva Noone eventually kicked a point apiece from frees in the ninth and 10th minutes, before ex-Antrim stalwart Cathy Carey split the posts in fine style at the opposite end of the pitch.

Team captain Louise Ward fired over an excellent point from play for the title holders, but it wasn’t until the closing 10 minutes of the opening period that the game truly sparked into life.

While Moneyglass reduced the gap to a single point through the boot of Leah Stewart, Kilkerrin-Clonberne immediately responded with a clinically-taken goal from Miskell following excellent approach work from Hannah Noone and Nicola Ward.

This looked like being a significant blow for St Ergnat’s, but they came roaring back into contention when Stewart – named in defence, but taking on a more advanced role in general – palmed to the net in the 24th minute after a Carey shot for a point came back of an upright.

The Antrim champions were matching their more illustrious opponents blow for blow with their defence giving little away while their approach play didn’t quite receive the rewards that it deserved.

Things were very much in the balance as half time approached but a second free from Olivia Divilly ensured Kilkerrin-Clonberne led 1-4 to 1-2 at the break.

Following a couple of early opportunities for the underdogs which broke down, the reigning champions refused to panic and they increased their advantage on the restart with back-to-back scores from midfielder Aisling Madden and Eva Noone.

Miskell also added to her earlier goal with a point from close-range as Kilkerrin-Clonberne produced a scintillating period of fast and highly efficient attacking football that had Moneyglass chasing shadows for a period.

St Ergnat’s came into this game on the back of an outstanding semi-final victory against Kilmacud Crokes, but they found themselves eight points in arrears when Niamh Divilly fed Lynsey Noone inside for a 44th-minute goal.

Another score courtesy of Eva Noone had Kilkerrin-Clonberne nine in front moving into the final quarter, but St. Ergnat’s battled to the end and a great point from Maria O’Neill gave them just a glimmer of hope.

The superb Leah Stewart and substitute Bronagh Devlin added two more to close the gap to six but that was as close as they would get as Kikerrin-Clonberne ran down the clock to deservedly collect their fifth title on the bounce.

Disappointment in the end for the Antrim champions but it has been an excellent season for the girls in blue where they finally conquered Ulster and overcame a fancied Kilmacud Crokes in the All Ireland semi-final.

A young side containing many outstanding performers they are sure to go again next season and they have shown this year that another trip to Croke is certainly not beyond them.

KILKERRIN-CLONBERNE: L Murphy; L Finnegan, S Gormally, K Mee; H Noone, N Ward, N Divilly; S Divilly, A Madden (0-1); O Divilly (0-2, 2f), L Ward (0-1), L Noone (1-0); E Noone (0-3, 1f), C Miskell (1-1), C Costello.

Subs: E Hynes for Finnegan (52 mins); A Shaughnessy for Miskell (57);C Boyle for L Noone (60).

ST ERGNAT’S, MONEYGLASS: A Devlin; C Graffin, N McIntosh, L Stewart (1-2); A Leahy, S O’Neill, R Bradley; A Kelly, EL McAreavey; C Griffin, M O’Neill (0-1), L McCann; N Neeson, C Carey (0-1), E Mallon.

Subs: A Griffin for Bradley (44 mins); B Devlin (0-1) for Kelly (45);A Boyd for Leahy, J Darragh for Mallon (both 57); R McErlain for McCann (60).

Referee: Ray McBride (Dublin).

AIB All Ireland Junior A Camogie final

Brídíní Óga  Glenravel 1-08 St Dominic’s Roscommon 1-05

Brídíní Óga Glenravel held off a determined fightback by Roscommon champions St Dominic’s to claim their second All Ireland Junior A title in three years at Ashbourne on Saturday afternoon. Playing with a strong wind at their backs in the first half the Antrim champions opened up a seven point gap by half time, but considering how strong the wind was that was by no means a safe lead. When the Connacht champions grabbed a goal six minutes into the second half to cut the gap to four there were a lot of anxious Glenravel fans wondering  if they could hold on, but their team did them proud as they hassled and harried their opponents to the very end to seal a memorable win.

To be honest it wasn’t pretty to watch for the neutral, but in these conditions it was never going to be. St Dominic’s looked a real threat in the early stages when they went 0-02 to 0-01 ahead, despite playing against the strong wind. However Brídíní Óga team captain Tori Edgar settled the nerves as she began to picks off points from frees. At 0-04 to 0-02 with just five minutes from half time it didn’t look like it would be enough but an attempt at another point from Edgar came back off the inside of the upright and bounced down on the edge of the ‘square’ where  Molly Woulahan reacted quickest to kick the sliothar to the net.

That score gave the Antrim girls a big boost and things got even better when Edgar added two more pointed frees to stretch her side’s lead to seven at the interval.

When St Dominic’s free taker Niamh Fitzgerald’s mishit shot free ended up in the back of the Glenravel net on 36 minutes it looked to be a pivotal moment in the game and with the gap down to four the smart money would have been on the Connacht champions, but two minutes later Edgar slotted over another free after Molly Woulahan was fouled and that eased the pressure a little.

The scores were hard to come by for the reaming 20 minutes of play but the intensity of the game never wavered as time after time the Glenravel girls got a hurl in to deny their opponents. Fitzgerald got the gap back to four midway through the second half and there was a heart stopping moment soon afterwards when Glenravel goalkeeper Orla Donnelly fumbled a high ball, but she recovered the situation brilliantly to clear the danger.

With time almost up Player of the match Edgar got her sixth pointed free of the game after a foul on Aimee Traynor and there was a degree of comfort for the Ulster champions as the game ticked into three minutes of injury time. Fitzgerald did close the gap to three again near the end of that extra time period but the whistle sounded on the poc-out to spark scenes of great celebration among the travelling Glenravel fans and players.

SCORERS FOR BRÍDÍNÍ ÓGA: T Edgar 0-6(6fs), M Woulahan 1-1, S Fyfe 0-1

SCORERS FOR ST DOMINIC’S: N Fitzgerald 1-3(fs); L Murray (f), K Egan 0-1 each

BRÍDÍNÍ ÓGA: O Donnelly, M Mulholland, J Woulahan, D Scally, E Coulter, B Laverty, E McCann, L Gillan, O Gould, S McDonnell, K Laverty, S Fyfe, A Traynor, T Edgar, M Woulahan

ST DOMINIC’S: E Cafferkey, SJ O’Connor, E McNally, M Rogers, H Murray, L Murray, A O’Connor, K Egan, C Dowling, N Watson, N Fitzgerald, L Mahon; A Campbell, Á O’Meara, C Kilcommons. Sub: M Lohan for O’Connor (39)

REFEREE: Simon Redmond (Dublin).

TO SEE MORE PICS FROM THIS GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

https://myalbum.com/album/8H88w68wgcfuob/?invite=e4da0c62-9634-4ad5-a8a3-f67fc8ca7819

https://myalbum.com/album/gEiMr74C4UMeP3/?invite=d8d52924-0cff-4155-b473-8ad1791db44e

For the day that’s in it

As two Antrim teams head south today in search of All Ireland titles all of us at the Saffron Gael wish them both the very best. Good luck to Brídíní Óga Glenravel, who take on St Dominic’s of Roscommon in the Junior A Camogie final at Ashbourne at 2pm, and to St Ergnats Moneyglass take on Kilkerrin-Clonberne of Galway in the LGFA Senior Club Football final at Croke Park at 4pm

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL

PREVIEWS: Time to crown the 2025 AIB All-Ireland Club champions

Moneyglass’s All-Ireland Senior Club Ladies Football final against reigning champions Kilkerrin-Clonberne of Galway will not now be shown live TG4 as originally planned, because of a clash  with the Junior Eurovision Song Contest which the Irish Language channel has been promoting.

Moneyglass became the first Antrim team to reach an All Ireland Senior final when they beat Dublin and Leinster champions Kilmacud Crokes two weeks ago and all roads lead to Dublin on Saturday as they bid to end the incredible run of the Galway champions, and there is great disappointment among the fans who are not able to make the journey. However fear not, as the game will be streamed live on TG4’s You Tube channel and the TG4 player, although the latter option is not available to viewers in the North of Ireland.

No doubt the St Ergnat’s club will have links to the game on their Facebook page so all their followers throughout the county get the chance to view this historic match.