Report Beann Eadair v St Patricks
- Sep 29,2024
Go Ahead Ireland Dublin LGFA Junior C Club Championship Final
Beann Eadair 2-09 St Patricks Donabate 1-07
By Nigel McCarthy
Beann Eadair overcame the challenge of St Patrick’s Donabate to secure the Go Ahead Ireland, Dublin LGFA Junior C Club Championship title this afternoon in St Margarets GAA club.
In an entertaining final, it was the side from Howth who were more clinical with their scoring chances and dealt with the windy conditions better than their opponents.
St Patrick’s Donabate hit the first score of the game inside the opening minute, but it would be eighteen long minutes before they would trouble the scoreboard again due to some wayward shooting and stout defending from Beann Eadair.
During that period Beann Eadair built up a commanding six points lead with Nicole Haas on the end of the games opening goal.
That lead though was halved with ten minutes to go to the break when St Patrick’s overturned the ball as Beann Eadair tried to break out from the back and Isabelle Coogan finished to the net to leave the score at half-time 1-05 to 1-02.
A second goal for Beann Eadair early in the second half, from player of the match Kate Skillington, gave the side from Howth some breathing space.
A couple of points for St Patrick’s midway through the second period reduced the deficit, but the sin-binning of full back Megan McCullough with six minutes left in the game was a big turning point for the side from Donabate and it allowed Beann Eadair to drop extra cover in defence to close down space in the scoring zone.
And two excellent points from Hazel Prior in the closing stages insured that the Junior C title would be heading for the hills of Howth this evening.
St Patrick’s Donabate won the throw-in at the start of the game and attacked with gusto, winning a free which was converted by captain Alex Ryan.
St Patrick’s penned their opponents in their own half for the next couple of minutes, but they failed to convert this early dominance into scores because of some wayward shooting.
Beann Eadair finally got motoring and a foul on late replacement Ali Carton was dispatched over the bar by Kate Skillington to level the scores.
The Howth side worked the ball with some hand passing through the lines, passed it out to the right to Nicole Haas who cut in along the end-line and was fouled, up stepped Skillington again to punish the St Patrick’s ill discipline in the tackle to give Beann Eadair the lead for the first time.
Nine minutes in midfielder Jane McGurrin brilliantly turned the ball over, took off through the centre of the St Patrick’s defence towards posts, the ball though was spilled just in front of goal, but Nicole Haas was quickest to respond and pulled first time on the ball to rifle it to the back of the net to give Beann Eadair a four point advantage.
A long ball out of defence found Kate Skillington in acres of space on the forty five after the bounce of the ball was misjudged by a couple of players, Skillington took off at pace towards goal and swung it beautifully over the bar to stretch the lead further.
A minute later Ali Carton was on hand to add her name to the scoresheet with a well taken point to leave six points between the teams.
In the nineteenth minute St Patrick’s finally recorded their second score of the game, a converted free from Alex Ryan. A minute later Ryan overturned the ball in the Beann Eadair half, fed the lively Andrea Walsh who picked out Isabelle Coogan in space with a precise pass and the full forward pulled the trigger and rattled the back of the net to leave just two points in it.
Four minutes to the break Beann Eadair patiently worked the ball from the left hand side to the right to Cait Phelan, she cut inside two players and slotted the ball over the bar to give her side a three point advantage that they held onto till half-time to leave the score at the break 1-05 to 1-02.
St Patrick’s started the second half as brightly as they did the first, but they would be disappointed to once again fail to take advantage of a couple of decent attacks.
They did reduce the deficit to two points five minutes into the second half, a short kick-out found midfielder Katherine Bolger, she picked out first half substitute Katie Wood with an accurate foot pass, Wood sped past two Beann Eadair defenders and hand passed to Alex Ryan who swung her trusty right boot at the ball and it sailed over the bar.
Beann Eadair’s Ellen Quinn though won the resultant kick-out inside her own half, showed good strength to get away from two St Patrick’s players, ran with pace and purpose through the centre of the pitch and released Kate Skillington in behind the St Patrick’s backline and the centre forward made no mistake and buried the ball to the net to put her side five points in front.
Two points from Alex Ryan, one from a free and one from open play reduced the lead back to three, but Beann Eadair restored their five point advantage with two points of their own from Cait Phelan and Skillington with ten minutes of the final still to play.
A minute later and St Patrick’s were dealt a further blow when full back Megan McCullough was shown a yellow card for a robust tackle and faced ten minutes in the sin-bin.
This allowed Beann Eadair to drop extra bodies into the defensive line making it very difficult for St Patrick’s to find space in the scoring zone.
Six minutes from the end another Alex Ryan converted free pulled a point back, but Ellen Quinn once again drove out from her own half into the St Patrick’s defence, the Beann Eadair players calmly recycled the ball between the twenty one and forty five metre lines looking for openings, the ball found its way to Hazel Prior who swung a superb shot from distance over the bar.
As the game headed into injury time Prior added another point after going on a penetrating run through the middle, St Patrick’s tried desperately to haul themselves back in the game in the closing stages, but an Alex Ryan pointed free was the only score they could muster and Beann Eadair ran out deserving winners.
BEANN EADAIR SCORERS: Kate Skillington 1-04 (2F), Nicole Haas 1-00, Hazel Prior 0-02, Cait Phelan 0-02, Ali Carton 0-01.
ST PATRICKS DONABATE SCORERS: Alex Ryan 0-07 (5F), Isabelle Coogan 1-00.
BEANN EADAIR: Amy O'Gorman, Ellen O'Shea, Laura Kellett, Mary Haines, Mimi Cuddy, Almha Fitzpatrick, Hannah Armstrong, Jane McGurrin, Katherine Bolger, Sadhbh O'Neill (C), Ellen Quinn, Ali Carton, Nicole Haas, Kate Skillington, Cait Phelan.
BEANN EADAIR SUBS: Hazel Prior for Mimi Cuddy (45), Emma Middleton for Ali Carton (54), Grace O’Shea for Sadhbh O’Neill (62).
ST PATRICKS DONABATE: Aoife Flood, Sinead Lee, Megan McCullough, Ella Culleton, Ellen Kirwan, Julie O'Neill, Andrea Walsh, Laura Sinnott, SJ Moroney, Ursula Fee, Isabelle Malone, Alex Ryan (C), Jennie Rogers, Isabelle Coogan, Emily O'Connor.
ST PATRICKS DONABATE SUBS: Katie Wood for Isabelle Malone (15), Ally Wall for Laura Sinnott (49), Katie Hanratty for Isabelle Coogan (57).
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Kate Skillington (Beann Eadair).
REFEREE: Mark O’Shea (Na Fianna)