Junior ladies Shield champions🏆

Kilmeena vs Claremorris B

Kilmeena 4 - 11, Claremorris B, 1 – 15

Five weeks after their away victory over Belmullet, the Kilmeena Ladies were on the road again, this time headed east to the Connacht Centre of Excellence (Bekan) for the Division 4 Shield Final vs Claremorris B. The weather was kind, with a light breeze and sunshine giving temperatures of 23 degrees Celsius for the scheduled 12.30pm throw-in time. With the earlier game on Pitch 3 going to extra time, the Kilmeena vs Claremorris B game was switched to the main pitch and the ball was thrown in at 12.45pm.

Captained by Eabha Carney, Kilmeena played into the light breeze for the first half. Aoife Gannon registered the first score in the opening play of the game, a point for the Kilmeena ladies. After this, Claremorris dominated the scoring with five unanswered points, much of their purple patch derived from winning the Kilmeena restarts and turnovers. As the second quarter approached, Kilmeena steadied the ship and then a good attacking move yielded a goal from the boot of Ciara Joyce. Claremorris responded with a goal of their own shortly afterwards. However, Kilmeena finished the first half stronger with points from Lisa Hastings, Eabha Carney and Ciara Joyce.

Half Time Score: Kilmeena,1 – 07, Claremorris B, 1 - 09

Kilmeena picked up where they had left off before the small whistle and an early goal from Siofra Hughes set the ladies in black & white on their way. This was followed by a goal from the boot of Jaimee Geraghty and a long-range kick from Eabha Carney, which yielded Kilmeena’s 3rd major of the second half.

Together with points from Aoife Gannon (Free), Eabha Carney (2) and Lisa Hastings, Kilmeena outscored Claremorris B by thirteen points to six, in the second half and had five points to spare at the final whistle.

Bar a 7-minute spell midway through the second half when Claremorris B pressed the Kilmeena kickout wining primary possession and turnovers, and scoring four unanswered points, Kilmeena generally controlled the second half.

On the day, Kilmeena were very solid defensively. The middle third worked hard throughout and together with the forwards, good scoring opportunities were created, of which enough were converted to give victory to the ladies from the west of the county.

A special mention for Ellie Mai Keane who plays at U14 and who has stepped up on a number of occasions this year, not least for this Shield Final, to provide goalkeeping for the senior ladies. She made a number of crucial saves today and delivered some excellent restarts.

This was at times a hard fought but overall, a well-deservedvictory for the Kilmeena Senior Ladies. A piece of Silverware to take home and a reflection of the work and effort put in by the ladies at training over the past few months.

The learning continues for the players……and management!!

More Schooldays to come.

Team: Ellie Mae Keane, Mags Ryder, Laura O'Grady, Sheila Bohan, Aine Gallagher, Aine Regan, Sinead Hughes, Eabha Carney, Julia Sztejner, Lisa Hastings, Aoife Gannon, Siofra Hughes, Emma Murray, Ciara Joyce, Lucy O’Malley.

Subs: Katie Moran (Snr), Laura Kelly (for Mags Ryder), Rachel Gibbons, Jaimee Geraghty (for Lucy O’Malley), Leah Walsh, Niamh O’Connor, Eva Mulchrone, Amy Carney (for Siofra Hughes), Julie O’Grady, Katie Moran (Jnr), Laura Ingham (for Emma Murray).

Scorers; Ciara Joyce 1 – 2, Eabha Carney 1 – 4 (1f), Aoife Gannon 0 – 2 (1f), Lisa Hastings 0 – 3, Siofra Hughes 1 – 0, Jaimee Geraghty 1 - 0.

Thanks to Martin McIntyre for the snapshots! For more photos click this link - https://photos.app.goo.gl/4EYEn5qyaUsrPqGu8