The girls of St Louis underlined their wonderful football pedigree again in April 2006 by capturing a third successive All-Ireland senior schools title - a truly monumental achievement by any standards. Back-to-back All-Irelands are extremely rare at any level these days; winning three on the bounce is an accomplishment that the Monaghan town school can be rightly proud of. It has become a perennial ritual at this stage: another edition of the Monaghan GAA Yearbook hits the shelves and therein we pay tribute to the latest noteworthy achievement of the invincible girls from St Louis Convent. In the 2005/2006 season, the school scooped a third consecutive senior All-Ireland, leading all gaelic games enthusiasts in the county to wonder is there any end to this phenomenal success story. After conquering Ulster for the seventh time in a row, the defending champions took to the All-Ireland stage with justifiable confidence and self-belief. At the semi-final stage, they carved out a double-scores victory over St Attracta's of Tubbercurry in a low-scoring semi-final in late March. This set them up for an All-Ireland final tilt at competition surprise packets St Leo's, Carlow, shock conquerors of Colaiste na Sceillige in the other 'semi'. The decider was played at the St Perigrines grounds in Dublin on Wednesday April 5 and the Monaghan town side claimed a third successive national 'A' crown with a stellar 4-8 to 2-6 victory. Though winning All-Irelands may be almost second nature to the school at this stage, the victory still sent ripples of joy throughout the county and the magnitude of the latest achievement was placed firmly in perspective when Monaghan Town Council accorded the conquering heroines a civil reception upon their return home with the spoils of battle. In the All-Ireland final, St Louis were full value for their eight-point victory, proving beyond all doubt that they are the best schools team in the land. And have been for quite some time. The Monaghan school now has four senior All-Irelands to its credit in total. The reigning champions established the platform for success when bulging the Carlow net on three occasions in the first half. Those were fine scores and worthy of winning any match, but the Carlow girls didn't get to an All-Ireland final by being quitters and they demonstrated all their resolve with a spirited second-half fightback. Though privately, the holders may have been relieved to have avoided the repeat showdown with Colaiste na Sceillige, the Monaghan and Ulster champions still had an All-Ireland to win and this was always going to be a major undertaking, no more so against new pretenders to the crown. Calmly and with tremendous efficiency, St Louis proved that they have defensive capabilities to match their attacking prowess and held out for a famous and thoroughly-deserved win. Ciara Connolly, who was central to the success twelve months earlier, opened the scoring with a great point and this was followed by a fine score from Threemilehouse girl Catherine West. When Leo's replied with a point of their own, this was the cue for the Monaghan representatives to step it up a bit and fire 1-3 without reply. Catherine West found the net with a rasping drive, while Ciara McAnespie, Catriona Treanor and midfielder Charlotte Connolly were all on hand to split the posts. The Carlow girls added their second point but were rocked in their boots when Ciara McAnespie placed Alanna Hackett for the winners' second goal. Grainne McNally, the inspirational St Louis captain, tagged on another point to give the Ulster champions a commanding lead with ten minutes still remaining in the first half (and Ciara Connolly was decidedly unfortunate to see her 20th-minute shot come back harmlessly off the post). Sensing a reprieve, the Leinster champions tore forward and bagged a goal and a point. At this critical juncture, the Louis girls lifted their game again to finish the half strongly and claim a 3-7 to 1-3 interval advantage: Alanna Hackett hit the crossbar; Player of the Match Charlotte Brady pointed; and the irrepressible Ciara McAnespie closed the first-half scoring with a great goal at the end of a flowing move. A ten-point interval lead was always going to be enough. Even though St Louis were down to fourteen players at the start of the second half due to the sin-binning of Aoife McAnespie, they only conceded a single point before being restored to their full complement. Catherine West showed great alertness to sneak in for her second goal at the midway stage in the second half and Charlotte Brady pointed ten minutes from time. Scores were difficult to come by now as St Louis tightened their grip on the game. A late 1-1 salvo from St Leo's proved to be no more than mere consolation scores as St Louis held on for a remarkable and history-making victory. Every single player on the team contributed to an extraordinary win. St Louis is only the second school even to win three senior All-Irelands in a row at this level and they have every right to wallow in their latest stunning accomplishment. After the 2006 decider, captain Grainne McNally took the All-Ireland trophy back from ladies president Grainne Giles and the celebrations began in earnest. The Ulster senior (U19) final had been played in early March and the Louis girls romped to a convincing 4-5 to 0-7 victory over Enniskillen side Mount Lourdes at rain-soaked Roslea. After conceding two early points, the Monaghan champions went ahead with a Ciara McAnespie goal in the fifth minute. Two further goals before the break from Nicola Fahy provided St Louis with a 3-3 to 0-7 interval lead and McAnespie helped herself to her second goal upon the resumption as they went on to capture a seventh successive provincial title. Ciara also popped up with the crucial three-pointer in the All-Ireland semi-final defeat of St Attracta's, which saw Catherine West, Grainne McNally, and Theresa Marron get on the scoresheet. That game finished 1-7 to 0-5. St Louis, 2006 All-Ireland schools senior 'A' ladies football champions: Barbara McKenna; Aoife McAnespie, Grainne McKenna, Kim O'Dowd; Colleen Mulligan, Sarah Cuddy, Nuala Mulligan; Charlotte Brady (0-2), Grainne McNally (0-1); Charlotte Connolly (0-2), Catriona Treanor (0-1), Nicola Fahy; Ciara McAnespie (1-1), Alanna Hackett (1-0), Catherine West (0-1) Juniors complete historic double To cap a magnificent year for St Louis of Monaghan, the school completed a famous double when they defeated St Josephs from Castleisland (Kerry) by 2-7 to 2-5 in the 2006 All-Ireland schools junior 'A' final at Ballinasloe on Wednesday April 26. The Monaghan representatives had beaten St Attractas of Tubbercurry by 3-17 to 3-13 after extra time at the semi-final stage in Longford at the end of the previous month and went on to claim the national junior crown for the first time in their illustrious history. The final could not have had a more dramatic finale. With time running out, the Monaghan girls trailed by a point. When the Kerry side were awarded a penalty, Barbara McKenna from Truagh was on hand to make a brilliant save. Moments later, Nicola Fahy from Emyvale finished the job when firing the decisive goal right at the death to complete a remarkable senior-junior double for St Louis, Monaghan. St Louis, 2006 All-Ireland schools junior 'A' ladies football champions: Barbara McKenna; Rebecca McKenna, Grainne McKenna, Rachel Treanor; Aoife McAnespie, Alana Hackett (1-0), Tara McElvaney; Niamh Foley, Niamh Fahy (1-0); Sinead Maguire, Catriona Treanor (0-2), Laura Askin (0-2); Ciara McAnespie (0-1), Kathy McElroy, Breige McCarron. Sub: Natasha Mohan (0-1). Rest of panel: Claire McCarville, Damhnait McKenna, Eimear Stravog, Aoife McCarville, Orla Whelan, Orla McMeel, Aisling McElvaney, Elaine McNally, Hannah Hughes, Brid Treanor, Emma McCormack, Caoimhe McQuaid, Sarah Cuddy, Sinead McAnespie Tweet

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