Leinster double for Ladies
April 30, 2010Westmeath's Leinster 'B' title wins in the under 16 and minor grades were the highlights of the ladies football year at inter-county level.
The minors recorded a 1-17 to 3-6 victory over Wexford in their provincial decider, while the under 16s were resounding 8-11 to 2-9 winners over Louth. However, both teams' quest for All-Ireland honours were ended at the semi-final stage by Tipperary.
At intermediate level, Westmeath held onto their National League Division 2 status before losing to Longford in the Leinster championship. In the All-Ireland championship, they beat Roscommon, received a walkover from Kilkenny and lost to both Waterford and Longford.
"It was a good year overall," outgoing Westmeath intermediate and minor team manager Dermot Brady says.
"We retained our Division 2 and intermediate status, although Westmeath will play in Division 3 this year following a recent restructuring of the league. We were delighted to win the Leinster minor 'B' title, but were disappointed not to have given a better account of ourselves in the All-Ireland semi-final. We lost a few players after the Leinster final but, having said that, Tipperary were far stronger and we couldn't have any complaints.
"The under 16s also won a Leinster title so that bodes well for the future as well."
Under the management of former Railway Cup winner Brady, 1995 All-Ireland minor winning goalkeeper Aidan Lennon and Eoghan Kevlihan, the minor team produced an impressive display to beat Wexford in the Leinster final by five points at Kinnegad. The home side never looked back after Niamh Farrell buried the ball in the net after just three minutes.
Sarah Dolan followed up with a point before Miriam Smith brought Wexford back into it with a spectacular goal. Westmeath responded to that setback with a flurry of points from Dolan, Gillian Corbett, Farrell and Ciara Scally. Two points from Aoife Tormey kept the visitors in touch, but another burst of scores from local girl Maud Anne Foley, Niamh Farrell and Corbett eased the Lake County into a 1-10 to 1-2 interval lead.
Wexford started the second half impressively and a quick 1-1 had the margin down to four points. However, a point from team captain Joanne Carroll settled Westmeath nerves and further scores from Foley, Dolan, Shauna Butterly and Farrell put them firmly in the driving seat once again.
But the Slaneysiders refused to throw in the towel and they brought the margin back down to four points when Katie Redmond scored their third goal. However, Maud Anne Foley had the final say when she landed the insurance point in the closing stages.
Two months later, Westmeath regrouped for the All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary in Banagher, Co. Offaly. Despite taking a first-minute lead through Ciara Scally, the Leinster champions were outclassed for much of the game and the writing was on the wall when they trailed by 0-3 to 2-6 at the break. It got a lot worse for Westmeath in the second half when Tipperary cut loose for an emphatic 5-13 to 1-4 victory, with the losers' goal coming from Maud Anne Foley two minutes from the end.
The Westmeath under 16 team, which was managed by Gerry Feery, Aileen Mulvihill and Bernie Watts, emulated their minor counterparts when they recorded a facile victory over Louth in the final at Athy, Co. Kildare. After hammering Offaly by 7-19 to 1-5 in the semi-final at Durrow, the Lake County girls maintained their impressive form in the final against a Louth team who they had beaten earlier in the championship.
Despite the difficult conditions, Westmeath played some scintillating football and were already out of sight by half-time when they led by 6-7 to 0-4. Full forward Faye Kearney had a field day, helping herself to 3-2 in a player of the match display. Jennifer Byrne swooped for the opening goal inside two minutes and further majors from Nicole Feery, Faye Kearney (two), Joye Kearney had Westmeath sitting pretty at half-time.
Louth came out with all guns blazing for the start of the second half and goals from Laura Collins and Nicole Hanratty closed the gap. But despite being reduced to 14 players for the final 10 minutes, Westmeath finished with a flourish. Midfielder Hannah Bagnall crashed home their seventh goal before Jennifer Byrne completed the rout with time almost up.
Sadly for Gerry Feery's charges, they suffered the same fate as the minors when they succumbed to Tipperary by 0-3 to 2-10 in the All-Ireland semi-final, which was also played at Banagher. Backed by a strong breeze in the first half, Tipp hit the ground running and had established a 2-5 to 0-1 lead by half-time with Katie Crowe scoring both of their goals. And whatever hopes Westmeath had of making a comeback in the second half were dashed when their star centre forward Vicki McEnery was forced off with an injury shortly after the restart.
After a mixed league campaign, the acid test came for Dermot Brady's intermediate side when they faced Longford in the first round of the Leinster championship on April 26 at Pearse Park. But despite a strong showing from the visitors, Longford prevailed on a 0-9 to 0-8 scoreline.
After the sides traded early points, Westmeath were awarded a penalty when Claire Killian was brought down. However, Fiona Leavy's spot-kick was brilliantly saved by Longford goalkeeper Michelle Kilkenny. Kilkenny denied Johanna Maher of another certain goal before the home side swept down the field and made it 0-2 to 0-1. But they wouldn't score again in the first half as three points from Leavy and another from Maher gave the Lake County a 0-5 to 0-2 lead at the interval.
Longford resumed with a point inside two minutes and they tagged on four more unanswered scores to go 0-7 to 0-5 in front midway through the half. But Westmeath quickly drew level with scores from Fiona Claffey and minor star Maud Anne Foley to set up a grandstand finish.
The home side nudged two points ahead, only for Fiona Leavy to make it a one-point game once again. But from the kick-out, the final whistle sounded, leaving the Westmeath girls heartbroken.
They still had the All-Ireland championship to look forward to, however, and made the long journey to Ballymacarberry for their opening game of the round-robin series against Waterford. The home side had narrowly beaten Westmeath in the league and, unfortunately, history repeated itself with Waterford claiming victory by the slenderest of margins, 2-15 to 3-11.
There were shades of the Longford game as goals from Fiona Leavy and Ruth Kearney helped Westmeath to a 2-6 to 0-6 interval lead. But Waterford moved up several gears in the second half and they quickly turned their six-point deficit into a four-point lead. A second Leavy goal from the penalty spot left the minimum in it, but the home side held on for the win.
Westmeath produced their best performance of the year to beat Roscommon by 3-8 to 1-7 in their second round clash at Kinnegad. Once again, Westmeath were quickly out of the starting blocks and led by 2-6 to 0-3 at half-time thanks to goals from Fiona Claffey and Sarah Dolan. Roscommon came more into it in the second half, but Westmeath always looked comfortable and sealed victory with a third goal from Katie Somers.
Sadly for Westmeath, the form they had shown against Waterford and Roscommon deserted them when they renewed their rivalry with Longford at Killoe. With Garrycastle's Denise Murtagh helping herself to 1-6, Longford eased to a 2-13 to 0-7 victory against a side they had just a single point to spare against in the Leinster championship.
Westmeath subsequently received a walkover from Kilkenny, but it mattered little as they had already made their exit from the championship.
Dermot Brady has since handed over the managerial reins to another former county footballer, Alan Mangan, citing personal reasons for his decision to step aside after just one year.
"I'd like to think we made progress last year, especially with the minors, and that we picked up from where Kenny McKinley and his selectors had left off the previous year. There is a great group of girls there and hopefully Alan Mangan will be able to take the next step with them," the Columba College, Killucan school principal concludes.
The Westmeath minor team that lifted the Leinster 'B' title was: Christine Warburton; Megan Pendred, Lorraine Duncan, Emma Rafferty; Kelly Boyce, Margaret Kilroy, Lisa Fitzpatrick; Joanne Carroll, Maud Anne Foley; Niamh Farrell, Gillian Corbett, Sarah Dolan; Louise Kelly, Ciara Scally, Shauna Butterly. Subs used: Sarah Keegan and Patricia Igoe.
The under 16 side which also claimed Leinster honours was: Christine Warburton; Karen Hegarty, Sinead Boyce, Laura Kiernan; Avril Corbett, Maedhbh Flynn, Arlene Coughlan; Hannah Bagnall, Joye Kearney; Nicole Feery, Vicki McEnery, Aoife O'Brien; Jennifer Byrne, Faye Kearney, Lorna Mulvihill.
The Westmeath team that faced Longford in the Leinster intermediate championship was: Niamh Mulligan; Carole Finch, Rebecca Dunne, Edel Marshall; Aileen Martin, Triona Durkin, Karen McDermott; Fiona Leavy, Elaine Finn; Johanna Maher, Jenny Rogers, Laura Newman; Claire Killian, Maud Anne Foley, Fiona Claffey. Subs: Katie Somers, Emer Connellan, Georgina Fagan, Gemma Leahy, Joanne Carroll, Aisling Flanagan, Tally Flynn, Sarah Dolan, Deirdre Robbins, Regina Croash, Louise Kelly, Aileen Leavy, Tianna Watts and Grainne Temple. Tweet
