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Castleknock 1-10

St Jude’s 2-2

Tesco Junior B Championship final

CASTLEKNOCK claimed their first ever adult championship title in Balreesk on Wednesday night as their young charges denied St Jude’s a treble as a string of well-worked, second half points saw them pull clear of a gritty opponent.

Goals early in each half did make Jude’s serious contenders but, in the face of a superb defensive effort from Grainne O’Brien and skipper Louise Mahony, it took them 46 minutes to register their first point and it ultimately proved the difference.

At the far end, the injections of pace from Laura Bourke – appearing in her second championship final of the week having officiated the Friday before in the Junior C tussle between St Brigid’s and St Finian’s – dovetailing with the accuracy of Jessica Comerford (1-4 from play) were a constant threat.

It brought a tear to the eye of Philip Bourke who has overseen the side’s progression since juvenile level, working all the while with Pat Convery and Pat Comerford, since the introduction of ladies football to the club in 1999.

Just three of their extended panel came from outside of this channel and Bourke hopes this landmark occasion can propel the club further up the ranks, saying: “it’s such a pleasure to be involved with this team. There are a lot of juvenile teams coming up so hopefully this will spur them on.”

His side got off the mark first, Comerford applying a neat finish after Deborah Geraghty’s early effort had rebounded off the post.

But Jude’s stormed back and had the game’s first goal when Linda Lodge calmly slotted home low past Amy Mahony from a great through pass from Niamh Naughton.

It was to be their only score of a stop-start first half, though, which saw a couple of delays as both sides took on the challenge with ferocity. 

Laura Bourke added a monster point to reduce her side’s deficit but Jude’s continued to look dangerous up top, Lodge and Leah Barry using their strength to create goal chances. Taryn O’Hara and Lodge both dragged efforts across goal, the former via just the faintest of nicks from a Castleknock defender in one particularly nervy instance.

The blue and golds hit the front soon after as Geraghty’s lengthy ball bounced kindly for Comerford which she gathered before firing a vicious shot high into the net from an acute angle in the 23rd minute.

Bourke drew a fine save from Aine O’Sullivan before she and Comerford added a point each, capping a pre-break purple patch, going in at half-time 1-4 to 1-0 ahead.

It led to some stern words in the Jude’s huddle as they looked to fire up the fluidity that had seen them win the Division four league and cup trophies.

And it seemed to work when Dublin senior Aoife Burke moved into midfield and proceeded to net her side’s second goal almost direct from the throw-in. It was a brilliant effort, latching onto the breaking ball and marauding through the heart of the opposition’s back-pedalling defence.

It precipitated Aisling O’Donnell’s move into midfield and, having acquitted herself superbly in the wing-backs, she played a major part in securing and distributing swift ball into the Castleknock forwards.

When Katie Elliott was sandwiched moments later, the Dublin 15 side had a penalty to bounce back instantly but a slight slip on a slick surface meant O’Sullivan was able to deny Comerford a second goal.

Bourke’s short sharp runs, though, created another point and drew a foul from Emily Hearne which led to her sin-binning in the 36th minute. During her time out, Castleknock continued rebuilding their lead with Aisling Mahony’s long pass finished off by Comerford and Lisa Quinn also weighed in for a 1-7 to 2-0 lead.

A lusty Lodge blow reeled one back in with Hearne available once again but a swift interchange between Bourke, Comerford and Geraghty kept Castleknock out of range. The trio combined to add a couple more points for a six-point lead with six minutes left.

A grandstand finish, however, was still in the offing as Jude’s threw themselves forward, drawing umpteen blocks from the likes of O’Brien, Louise Mahony and Rioghan Ni Lorcan.

Carmel Kearney was felled for a late penalty but Lodge’s shot was parried by Amy Mahony before Louise Mahony completed the job with a brave, covering block and while Sarah Ward did grab a last minute score, it did not affect the outcome.

Castleknock: Amy Mahony, L Heavey, L Mahony, N Fagan, A O’Donnell, G O’Brien, Aisling Mahony, D Convery, R Ni Lorcan, M Delaney, L Quinn (0-1), K Elliott, J Comerford (1-4), L Bourke (0-3), D Geraghty (0-2, 0-1f)

Subs/panel: C Black, S Comerford, R Kavanagh, D Rogers, N Valentine, A Delaney, M Waters, N Murphy

St Jude’s: A O’Sullivan, R Doolin, R Kavanagh, M Healy, A Burke (1-0), M Lavin, D Lyons, E Hearne, L Barry, N O’Connell, S Lynch, A Rockett, N Naughton, L Lodge (1-1), T O’Hara

Subs: S Ward (0-1), C Kearney, A Blake, A Swaine, C O’Brien, S Brady, F Canavan, K Hegarty, H Hegarty, C Bermingham, A English, S Curran