Ladies lift the Parnells
December 30, 2009Stabannon has been largely starved of success since their men's team beat Kilkerley Emmets in 1999 to claim their fourth Joe Ward of the 'Nineties.
Since the turn of the millennium, the former kingpins of Louth football have slid slowly down the ranks but Padraig Lynch - who was involved with both the men and womens' teams this season - believes the success of the ladies could be a turning point for the club as a whole.
Lynch, who trained the ladies team alongside Colin Rafferty and Matt Gormley, said the side's 0-10 to 1-5 win over the Malachi's was just the boost the club needed heading into the next decade.
"It was definitely a massive thing for the club," he said.
"There was that much bunting and flags up around the area that nearly every pole in Stabannon was covered.
"It gave everyone a lift having a team in a final again and it meant as much, if not more, to a lot of the community as it would have if the men's team had been in a final."
Stabannon were made work hard for their win though.
Despite dominating the initial tie at Clan na Gael Park, it took a last gasp point from Tara Lynch to take the game to a replay after the Malachi's had got off to a dream start with a goal from Louth captain Edel McKeown-Sloane.
That stoppage time score left it 0-7 to 1-4 at the full-time whistle and things were just as tight in the replay with the game following a similar pattern to that of the first. McKeown-Sloane hit another early goal for the holders and despite points two points from Tara Lynch bringing the sides level, the Malachi's went on to lead by 1-3 to 0-4 at the break.
They extended that lead to three points on the restart but after Jenny McGuinness and Eilish Mulholland had swapped scores at either end to leave it 1-5 to 0-5 after 36 minutes, Stabannon fought back by holding their opponents scoreless for the remainder of the game before hauling themselves level with two Tara Lynch points either side of another score from substitute Kim Lynch.
The drama was far from over though with goalkeeper Nicola Barry saving a 59th minute penalty from Sharon Callan to deny the Malachi's a chance to retake the lead. Inspired by that save, Stabannon broke upfield with substitute Danielle Sharkey putting her side in the lead for the first time in the game before another free from Tara Lynch gave them a two point cushion that they held onto despite 10 minutes of additional time being played.
At the full-time whistle, Grace Lynch - Padraig's sister - collected the Senior Championship trophy from Louth Ladies County Board chairman Dermot Woods and it was a win that the trainer felt was well deserved by all involved.
"Last year we had won the league but we said after that that no one remembers the league winners so we set out to challenge for the championship this time around," said Padraig.
"We got to the final and that was a great achievement in itself because we had never been there before. On the first day we equalised in injury time and on the second day we won it in injury time so that shows just how much it meant to the girls. They weren't going to give up on it.
"They all made great sacrifices this year to win that title. Take Nicola Barry, for instance, she saved the penalty late on in the replay but she was actually one of our better forwards for the last three or four years. We asked her to do goals for the championship though and she agreed. That showed that the girls were willing to do whatever was required of them to win.
"From a personal point of view I was delighted for Grace to finally get her hands on the trophy. Nobody deserves it more than her for the effort she's put in over the last decade. This win was for everyone though that helped out at any stage.
"Hopefully now we can challenge for the championship on a more regular basis. The Malachi's will probably start next year as favourites while Cooley can beat anyone on their day but we feel we've finally made a significant breakthrough this year after six years in senior football.
"There is definite potential in this squad to be challenging every year. Of the panel that got to the final there were three U-16s and five minors so that all bodes well for the future. Everyone played a part and no one is satisfied with just one championship so hopefully it's the start of good things to come," he said.
Buoyed by the team's success, Stabannon now hope to enter a second team in competition for 2010.
"We had a panel of 36 for the championship but some of those girls probably weren't ready for championship football just yet. We hope to bring them along though and in order to that we've applied to the County Board to enter a junior team next year as well.
"It'll stop some girls from lose interest but I don't think that's in danger of happening anytime soon because they'll want to step into the boots of the girls who won this year.
"Everyone played their part along the way though whether it be in training, friendlies, league games or in the championship itself and I'm sure everyone will be fit to play championship next year.
"I think the big panel was what made the difference for us this year. In the championship semi-final and final we used 11 forwards for the six positions and we didn't have that sort of competition in other year. It definitely made a difference too as it stopped some of the girls from getting complacent and taking their places for granted."
The Stabannon ladies side that featured in the final was as follows: Nicola Barry; Oonagh Giggins, Andrea Carney, Michelle McArdle; Aine McGee, Anne Marie Lynch, Bronagh McGrane; Grace Lynch, Sinead McGrane; Julie Campbell, Jenny McGuinness (0-1), Grace Rogers; Maria Bannon, Tara Lynch (0-5), Denise Moynagh (0-2). Subs: Suzanne Carroll, Siobhan Giggins, Kim Lynch (0-1), Deirdre Lynch, Mary Moloney, Catriona McKeown, Danielle Sharkey (0-1), Kelly Lynch, Grainne Whelan, Aideen Smith, Niamh Greene, Orla Byrne, Kate Greene, Roseanne Campbell, Ellen Keenan, Marie McLoughlin, Carol Cluskey, Suzanne Reilly, Isobel Keenan.
While there were celebrations in relation to the ladies team, things were not so good for the men's side who, according to Lynch, suffered due to inconsistency.
That was evident from the word go when they started the defence of their Kevin Mullen Sheild title that they had won the previous year with a 0-13 to 1-3 defeat at home to St Mochta's.
To their credit, they bounced back with wins over Lannleire, the Wolfe Tones and the Westerns before going down to the Sean McDermotts by 0-12 to 0-7.
They completed their group with a 0-6 to 0-5 win over St Kevin's leaving them as one of three teams on eight points behind tabletoppers the McDermotts but they missed out on the knockout stages because their minus four score difference was well off that of Lannleire (+37) and St Mochta's (+22).
Their league campaign was little better and although they started off with a 1-7 to 1-5 win over the Wolfe Tones, they would fail to put back-to-back wins together for the entire campaign.
The championship though was always Stabannon's main ambition and things looked to be going well for Enda McKeown's side when they opened their campaign with a 1-10 to 1-8 win over St Finbarrs in Dromiskin when, despite trailing most of the way, they turned things around courtesy of a Robbie Callaghan goal, two Shane Sweeney frees and four superb Ian Quinn points.
They followed that up with a 3-11 to 1-6 win over the John Mitchels in Dunleer and although they lost out to St Fechin's by 2-7 to 1-8 in Drogheda in their next outing, they completed their group campaign with a 1-5 to 0-4 win over Dowdallshill and a 0-14 to 0-10 win over St Kevin's to finish as runners-up in Group B.
That set them up for a quarter-final clash with the Sean McDermotts but unfortunately they found themselves well out of their depth, going down by 2-10 to 0-3 in Ardee having completely collapsed in the second half.
It was a bitter end to a campaign that, for a while at least, looked promising.
Lynch, however, insisted that Stabannon got exactly what they deserved.
"We have no one but ourselves to blame for the year we had," he admitted.
"We had a couple of good games and a couple of bad games but at the end of the day we just weren't good enough.
"We made a good start to the championship by beating the Finbarrs, who we had lost to by 12 points the year before but it's one thing bluffing your way through the group stages. When you get to the knock-out stages though that's where the teams who haven't given 100% all year are found out.
"We didn't really give Enda McKeown or the selectors a chance because they didn't know who they'd have at their disposal from one week to the next. We had a few lads away in Australia this year and there was one week during the summer when we had seven over there," he said.
The defender admitted, however, that he felt Stabannon were good enough to challenge if they put their shoulder to the wheel.
"If we could get 25 lads giving it 100% then I'd say we'd be there or thereabouts but when you don't have everyone committed then it's always going to be a struggle. Generally teams that have done well in junior football in the last few years have been the ones who've got the players focused.
"We were very inconsistent though. We never followed up a good performance with another one though and that was no fault of Enda's. He's a very good trainer and he was involved with the ladies for years so he probably deserves more recognition than most in the success they've had.
"Hopefully their bit of glory can turn things around for everyone though.
"Over the last few years lads might not have given as much commitment because they didn't think a junior championship would mean as much as some of the successes we've had in the past.
"We've all seen the buzz around the club because of the ladies though and hopefully that will bring out the hunger that has probably been missing of late.
"Some people might look down on ladies football but they've seen now what a bit of silverware means to the community and hopefully that'll spur everyone on next year.
"The ladies made a breakthrough this year and hopefully the men can next year. As good as this year was, we'd love to be celebrating a double in 12 months time," said Lynch.
Stabannon Ladies collect first SFC title
Stabannon Ladies GFC made history for their club on 23rd September 2009 as they won their first ever senior championship final, defeating Naomh Malachi by 0-10 to 1-6. This was the first time in the seven years that the club have been playing in senior that they reached the final and what a way to end those seven years.
Stabannon Ladies have a history of getting to championship finals and winning them - in 2001 they reached their first Junior Championship final and they beat St. Fechins and then in 2002 they reached the Intermediate final for the first time and they beat St. Pats. Although in 2009, it took two matches for them to take the title, history in some way repeated itself.
In the replayed match goalkeeper Nicola Barry was the heroine for Stabannon as she brilliantly saved Sharon Callan's 59th minute penalty at Clan na Gael Park. This was the second time the sides had met in order to decide on the title as the first day the sides drew level at seven points each on the full time whistle.
Stabannon once again failed to avail of their greater number of chances, kicking nine wides throughout to just one from their opponents
It looked like those misses would come back to haunt them when, with the sides level at 1-5 to 0-8, referee Paul Finnegan awarded a penalty for a foul on Lizzie McNulty.
Sharon Callan stepped up to take the kick but her well hit shot was brilliantly palmed away by Barry.
That gave Stabannon the lift they needed as straight away they broke upfield where substitute Danielle Sharkey finished off a flowing move with a superb point.
Finnegan played ten minutes of stoppage time after that but despite dominating possession, Stabannon but could only add a further score from a Tara Lynch free.
Orlaith Kirk almost rescued the Malachi's deep into added on time when her vicious shot skimmed the crossbar but Stabannon survived to claim a full deserved first ever senior title with the deafening noise at the final whistle evidence of just how much it meant to them.
The Mid-Louth side had to work very hard for their win, however, with some good performances from the likes of full back Andrea Carney, Anne Marie Lynch, Bronagh McGrane, Grace Lynch, Tara Lynch, Jenny McGuinness and Denise Moynagh. They also used their bench to good effect with Kim Lynch and Danielle Sharkey having notable contributions.
The eventual winners were first to score with Denise Moynagh firing over inside the opening two minutes. Within two further minutes, however, they were rocked when Edel McKeown-Sloane - in similar fashion to the first game - opened her side's scoring with a goal after Caroline Lynch's punt forward was flicked into her path by Lizzie McNulty.
Tara Lynch replied almost immediately with a free and Stabannon had a great chance to gain major initiative when they were awarded a penalty following a foul on Grace Rogers. However, Jenny McGuinness' effort was weak and easily saved by Yvonne Quigley.
Still, they didn't let their heads drop and another free from Lynch had the sides level at 1-0 to 0-3 after 13 minutes.
Rogers was then thwarted by another good save from Quigley while at the other end Barry denied Abbey Duffy. Duffy did manage to put her side back in front from a free moments later before Sharon Callan made it 1-2 to 0-4.
Moynagh then went close to a goal for Stabannon only to be denied by a superb block from Callan at the expense of a 45.
Having weathered the storm, Duffy added another point before the break to leave the Malachi's 1-3 to 0-4 in front at the interval.
A free from Callan extended the Mals' lead to a goal within two minutes of the restart but just three minutes later Jenny McGuinness replied with a similar score.
Barry was then forced to tip an Eilish Mulholland shot over the bar to leave it 1-5 to 0-5 after 36 minutes but this was to be the Malachi's last score for the remainder of the game as the superior fitness of Stabannon began to show.
Sustained pressure only earned them two points - one apiece from Kim and Tara Lynch - while their best chance of a goal saw Moynagh fire into the side-netting.
Tara Lynch did manage to bring the sides level before Barry came to her side's rescue with the penalty save that undoubtedly swung the game in her side's favour.
Stabannon - Nicola Barry; Oonagh Giggins, Andrea Carney, Michelle McArdle; Aine McGee, Ann Marie Lynch, Bronagh McGrane; Grace Lynch, Sinead McGrane; Grace Rogers, Tara Lynch 0-5, Julie Campbell, Denise Moynagh 0-2, Mary Maloney, Jenny McGuinness 0-1. Subs - Suzanne Carroll, Siobhan Giggins, Catriona McKeown, Aideen Smyth, Kim Lynch 0-1, Deirdre Lynch, Danielle Sharkey 0-1, Roseanne
Campbell, Kelly Lynch, Maria Bannon, Niamh Greene, Kate Greene, Ellen Keenan, Grainne Whelan, Orla Byrne, Carol Cluskey, Suzanne Reilly, Isobel Keenan, Marie McLoughlin. Subs used during the game were Kim Lynch for Sinead McGrane, Danielle Sharkey for Julie Campbell and Maria Bannon for Mary Maloney
After the game there were joyous scenes at Clan na Gael Park, somewhat reminiscent of when Stabannon Parnells were winning Joe Ward for fun in the 1990's. Speaking after the game, captain of Stabannon Ladies, Grace Lynch said it was the 'best feeling the world to win a senior championship'.Grace said that her team had to 'work hard against a good Malachis team and that the win was for everyone in the Stabannon community and that her team never ever gave up during the game and that the hard work all year had finally paid off.' She commented that 'it was the best day of her life, getting to her first senior championship final and winning it.'
Stabannon Ladies then went on to compete in the Intermediate Leinster Championship and in their first match against Kilmore of Wexford the girls from Louth ran out winners on a scoreline of 3-13 to 0-6 points. The next match pitched Stabannon against Garrycastle from Athlone and the sides were level at half time during this match but in the end Garrycastle ran out winners by six points. While Stabannon were disappointed with this match result, overall they know that the season of 2009 will be one in which Grace Lynch and her team made history for the club and this is something that will live on in the club for many years to come. Tweet
