Report Div 4 Feile Final
- Apr 22,2024
Dublin Ladies Gaelic Football Féile Division 4 Final
St Patricks Donabate 4-01 Naomh Mearnóg 2-06
Report by Rónán MacLochlainn
Finals Day in O’Toole Park finished on a high as St Patrick’s Donabate completed a remarkable comeback when pipping a talented Naomh Mearnóg by the bare minimum in their thrilling Dublin LGFA Féile Division 4 decider on Sunday afternoon.
The Portmarnock outfit appeared to have built up a sufficient buffer as we entered the closing stages but their St Pat’s clawed their way back into contention before overtaking their opponents in the dying minutes.
The contest took a while to kick into life with the first point of the game arriving through the influential Isabel Sheehy of Naomh Mearnóg in the 7th minute.
Sheehy turned provider two minutes later as her well-timed pass allowed Molly O’Connor the time and space to fore home across Alanna Rudden from close range.
Donabate were in dire need of a score at this stage and it duly arrived through a Lucy Sheridan free in the 11th minute as Mearnóg entered the break with a 1-1 to 0-1 advantage.
Captain Nina Butterly was driving her Mearnóg team forward at every opportunity while Diane Kennedy and Keelin McKeever also impressed in their defence as they took control of proceedings after the break.
A goal and a point by Sheehy and a free from Sorcha Lowry was just reward for their dominance but in an instant their eight-point lead was whittled down to just two points as Niamh Zaidan plundered a brace of excellent goals in quick succession.
Naomh Mearnóg bounced back well from these concessions to restore their buffer to four points through Seren Fitzpatrick and Sheehy as the contest revered fever pitch in the blistering sunshine.
An Izabelle Reilly goal breathed fresh life into the St Patrick’s challenge and when a high ball bounced down from the upright soon after, Zaidan was in the right place at the right time to put the finishing touches to a hat-trick of the highest quality.
Scorers – St Patrick’s Donabate: N Zaidan 3-0, I Reilly 1-0, L Sherdian (f) 0-1. Naomh Mearnóg: I Sheehy 1-3, M O’Connor 1-0, S Lowry 0-2 (1f), S Fitzpatrick 0-1.
St Patrick’s Donabate: A Rudden; R Ennis, G Collins, Z Hand; O Browne, J Walsh, A O’Reilly; S Finnegan, C McDonald; E Finn, I Reilly, L Sheridan; A Ward, N Zaidan, L Maher. Subs: S Folco, L Fitzpatrick, E Higgins, L Ryan, R Turner, S Bissett, G Hall.
Naomh Mearnóg: C Swan; L Carr, D Kennedy, S Kelly; N Butterly, K McKeever, J Lupton; M White, E Duncan; E Hayden, S Lowry, S Fitzpatrick; M O’Connor, I Sheehy, J Redmond. Subs: S Crilly, G Wilson, C McAnally, O Walshe, C Nixon.
Referee: David Murphy (St James’ Gaels/An Caisleán)
