Thomas Davis Finally Reach Holy Grail
- Sep 02,2012
Lucan Sarsfields 1-3
Tesco Home Grown Junior A Championship final
Thomas Davis finally reached the Holy Grail at the fourth attempt as they claimed the first ever championship title after three previous finals saw them come out on the losing side.
They set the record straight in dominant fashion at Blakestown on Saturday afternoon, corner forwards Ciara McGuigan and Katie Fitzsimons putting on a breath-taking display of scoring as Lucan struggled to get going.
With a big wind working in their favour, that duo put clean distance between the Tallaght side and their west Dublin rivals with a scintillating first quarter, sharing four of the first five points. 2010 All-Star Siobhan McGrath also weighing in with a barn-stormer, striding forward from centre-back.
At the far end, Davis were defending feverishly, Michelle Kelly finding her route to goal cleared away by Katie Fitzhenry and Aishling Clark saw her shot denied by Sarah Roche's diving block. Influential midfielder Mari Moynihan - a former All-Ireland U-16 champion - did get Lucan on the board with a close range free but it proved as close as they would get in the remainder of the tie.
Once again, Roche's brave intervention shut out Leanne Behan, setting a platform for Davis to pile on the scores. McGuigan duly obliged with four scores in the first half while Fitzsimons added three of her own, drifting from flank to flank to great effect.
They did have one moment of real worry when McGrath pulled up in worrying fashion with what looked a hamstring pull. But, after treatment, she eased those frets as did Laura Murtagh for Lucan as each side stretched every sinew.
Skipper Norah Kirby tacked on a thumping left-footed point while Fitzsimons second and third scores extended the margin to 0-9 to 0-1 at the interval. It was part of a strong riposte as the start of the second half as they enjoyed their best spell immediately after the break.
But they could not get the scores to close the gap while Thomas Davis always had the more clinical edge in attack and the speed of interchange among their forwards to pick off more scores.
McGrath's burst forward laid up for McGuigan to continue her hot streak before Fitzsimons added a peach of a goal in the 40th minute. McGuigan's quick-thinking from a free set in motion a zippy exchange of passes that worked their way through the palms of Sinead Deegan, Christina Collins-McGinty to its ultimate destination and Fitzsimons fired to the net.
At 1-10 to 0-2 with 40 minutes gone, it placed the Kiltipper club well on the way to the title and they could have moved even closer had a sweet move via Olwen Carey and the two corner forwards nipped in rather than inches wide.
Lucan's lifeline came with 14 minutes to go when Behan's free floated delightfully into the danger zone for a towering Moynihan to get a strong fist to the ball. Her effort clattered off the bar but straight into the hands of substitute Shauna Kinsella who thrashed home a thunderous effort that clattered into the goal and out in the blink of an eye.
A Behan free trimmed the deficit to eight points but, after that brief wobble, Collins-McGinty chipped over the bar to settle any possible nerves. It was a fitting score in many ways for the full-forward, playing in her 25th season with Thomas Davis' ladies en route to her first ever club championship title.
Fitzsimons and McGuigan closed out the tie with a point each, bringing their respective tallies to 1-4 and 0-6 to cap a comprehensive victory and memorable milestone in their club history.
Thomas Davis: Louise Curran, Pauline Casey, Maeve Shiels, Sarah Roche, Katie Fitzhenry, Siobhan McGrath (0-1), Debbie Brennan, Miriam Liston, Olwen Carey, Norah Kirby (0-1), Sinead Deegan, Amanda Shiels (0-1), Ciara McGuigan (0-6), Christina Collins (0-1), Katie Fitzsimons (1-4)
Subs: Rachel Newell for Kirby (51mins), Linda Payne for Shiels (53mins), Kelly Saul for Casey (60mins), Emma Bates for Collins (60mins)
Lucan Sarsfields: Maureen Fitzharris, Gillian Ryan, Sarah Maloney, Caroline Gerathy, Orlaith McKelvey, Patricia Gordon, Maria McGrath, Mari Moynihan (0-2, 0-2 frees), Miriam Wynn, Emer Maloney, Leanne Behan (0-1, 0-1 free), Laura Murtagh, Aishling Clark, Michelle Kelly, Emma Flanagan
Subs: Shauna Kinsella (1-0) for Clark (33mins), Tracey O'Brien for Ryan (33mins), Aoife Reynolds for McGrath (44mins), Fiona Gibbons for Kelly (52mins), Sinead O'Keeffe for Gerathy (53mins)
Stephen Findlater
Photos from the game can be viewed by clicking here
