Lady minors footballers steal the show
April 30, 2011The future looks bright for Westmeath ladies football after last year's talented minor team contested both the Leinster 'A' and All-Ireland Shield finals.
Building on the provincial 'B' title wins at under 16 and minor level in 2009, the Lake County girls recorded a sensational Leinster semi-final victory over Dublin before going down to Laois in the final. As beaten Leinster finalists, they entered the All-Ireland Shield competition and accounted for Down in the semi-final. But silverware once again eluded them when they lost the final to Mayo.
"The minor team's performances were hugely encouraging," says Westmeath ladies football board chairperson and former national president Geraldine Giles.
"To beat Dublin, who have become a powerhouse in ladies football over the last few years, was a fantastic achievement. Obviously, it was disappointing to lose the Leinster and All-Ireland Shield finals, but the girls could still feel very proud of what they achieved.
"Our adult team hadn't the greatest of years, but the minors have given everyone a huge lift. They have a lot of potential and will add a lot to the adult set-up in the next couple of years."
Ballinagore was the setting for the Leinster semi-final against Dublin, which was one of the finest victories achieved by any Westmeath ladies team in the past decade. Bidding for their seventh Leinster title in-a-row, the Jackies were the hottest of favourites but crashed to a shock 1-7 to 3-5 defeat at the hands of an inspired home side, who were managed by Peter Leahy, Michael Reynolds and former county footballer Alan Mangan.
Dublin had two points on the board before Ciara Scally opened Westmeath's account. Megan Brick levelled in the 26th minute, but Dublin replied with three unanswered points to take a 0-5 to 0-2 lead into the interval.
The sides traded points early in the second half before Megan Brick slotted home a penalty after her initial attempt had been blocked to bring the Lake County level with 20 minutes remaining. After Scally had given Westmeath the lead for the first time, the Jackies hit a quick 1-1 to take control once again.
But the underdogs refused to throw in the towel and in a dramatic finale, Ciara Blundell and Sheila Kelly both found the net to give them a famous 3-5 to 1-7 victory.
In the Leinster final at O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Westmeath faced another ladies football superpower in Laois. As it transpired, the maroon and whites were unable to reach the same heights as they did against Dublin and were beaten on a 0-7 to 3-9 scoreline.
It took Laois just 40 seconds to open the scoring and they had eased into a 1-3 to 0-0 lead before Megan Brick got the Lake County off the mark in the 15th minute. Nicole Feery added a second Westmeath point, but two more points had Laois sitting pretty on a 1-5 to 0-2 lead at half-time.
After Feery provided some early promise with a point four minutes into the second half, it all went downhill for Westmeath from there until the final whistle. Alice Malone's second goal stretched Laois' advantage to 2-7 to 0-4 before Tyrrellspass' Feery was unlucky to see her shot come back off the post in the 49th minute.
A Westmeath goal at that stage might well have set up a grandstand finish, but it wasn't to be and Laois wrapped up a comfortable victory when Chloe Ryan beat Christine Warburton from the penalty spot in the final minute.
All was not lost for Westmeath, who still had the All-Ireland Shield competition to look forward to. And they put behind them the disappointment of the Leinster final with a 3-10 to 2-10 victory over Down at the Fingallians GAA grounds in Swords to secure a place in the final against Mayo.
The Ulster side led by 1-5 to 1-3 at the break with Nicola Feery accounting for the Westmeath goal inside the first minute. Down continued to hold the upper hand in the third quarter and looked to have done enough when they notched their second goal to go five points clear. But just as they had done against Dublin, Westmeath produced a storming finish, which yielded goals from Nicola Feery and Ciara Scally. Scally's strike edged the Lake County in front with time almost up and they proceeded to close out the game with late points from Feery and Bronagh Beglan.
Westmeath travelled to Ballinamore in Co. Leitrim for the All-Ireland final and made a dream start when Kelly Boyce-Jordan's early goal was followed by quick-fire points from Ciara Blundell and Megan Brick. But that was as good as it got for the midlanders who went into the break trailing by 1-4 to 2-2.
While Brick equalised from a free just after the restart, it would prove to be Westmeath's only score of the second half. Mayo took complete after that and ran out comfortable 3-10 to 1-5 winners with Carol Hegarty's 50th minute goal putting the result beyond doubt.
Westmeath manager Peter Leahy reflected afterwards: "We got a great start and we really believed we could do it, but a few silly mistakes just before half-time really killed us. On the day, Mayo had the better players and were the better team.
"But it was great to see a Westmeath team in an All-Ireland final and they did us proud. They are a young side and they will be back again."
The other highlight of the ladies football year was the achievement of Mary Walsh's under 14 team in winning the Leinster Shield at Carlow's expense.
It was a largely disappointing year at intermediate level with relegation to Division 4 of the National League being followed by a Leinster intermediate final defeat to Longford and an early exit from the All-Ireland championship.
Also managed by Peter Leahy, Michael Reynolds and Alan Mangan, the team had a fine win over Waterford but lost their remaining Division 3 games to drop back to Division 4. Their fate was sealed when Roscommon inflicted a 0-8 to 3-14 defeat on them in the final round.
One of the teams to beat Westmeath in the National League was Longford and they repeated the dose in the Leinster intermediate championship decider when they prevailed by 1-11 to 1-7 at Killoe. A personal haul of 1-5 from full forward Fiona Gettings proved decisive as Longford completed a three-in-a-row of successes in a championship which was contested by just two teams last year.
Westmeath started brightly, but Longford rallied to lead by 1-7 to 0-4 at half-time and they held on for victory, despite a Ruth Kearney goal just after the restart.
In the All-Ireland championship, Kinnegad's Maud-Anne Foley came off the bench to score a late goal to hand Westmeath a 1-7 to 0-8 victory over Fermanagh at Cusack Park (the game preceded the All-Ireland football qualifier between Westmeath and Derry).
But subsequent defeats to Cavan (1-13 to 2-14) and All-Ireland champions-elect Donegal (1-6 to 4-22) ensured that Westmeath would not progress to the knockout stages.
Looking to the season ahead, Geraldine Giles adds: "I'm hoping we can show a big improvement on last year. We were disorganised for the start of the league, when we had no management, and the girls were playing catch-up for the rest of the year.
"We have the same management for the coming year and their first goal is to win promotion back to Division 3. A good few of last year's minors will be given their chance and I'd expect them to make their mark."
The Westmeath team which contested the All-Ireland minor 'A' Shield final against Mayo was: Christine Warburton; Avril Corbett, Aoife Brady, Ciaran Brannock; Kelly Boyce-Jordan, Teanna Watts, Katie Dunne; Aoife O'Brien, Karen Hegarty; Bronagh Beglan, Megan Brick, Ciara Blundell; Nicole Feery, Shelia Kelly, Ciara Scally. Subs used: Laura Kiernan, Meadbh Flynn and Sinead Boyce.
The team that lost the Leinster intermediate final to Longford was: Gemma Leahy (Mullingar Shamrocks); Aileen Martin (St. Loman's), Aoife O'Brien (Mullingar Shamrocks), Aoife Brady (Rochfortbridge); Elaine Finn (Killucan), Jenny Rogers (Milltown), Fiona Claffey (Kilbeggan Shamrocks); Joanna Maher (Tyrrellspass), Ruth Kearney (Milltown); Lisa Rigney (Tyrrellspass), Laura Newman (St. Loman's), Sarah Dolan (Garrycastle); Carol Finch (Mullingar Shamrocks, captain), Laura Walsh (Na Fianna), Mairead McCormack (Kilbeggan Shamrocks). Subs used: Karen Hegarty (Mullingar Shamrocks), Aoife Donoghue (Rochfortbridge) and Maud-Anne Foley (Coralstown/Kinnegad). Tweet
