Rice and Boyle the perfect recipe
HALPENNY TRAVEL LADIES SFC FINAL
COOLEY Kickhams claimed their tenth Louth Senior ladies title under the newly floodlit grounds in Stabannon on Friday night at the expense of an inferior Geraldines side.
The game itself was lit up by some good old fashioned wing play from the peninsula’s star county players Niamh Rice and Lauren Boyle.
The youthful duo’s twin threat in attack always meant the Geraldines were on the back foot and played with caution as they always had the terrible twins on their mind.
The pair would go on to combine for six unanswered scores in the games defining stages of the second half as they reeled in a fortuitous Geraldines lead and then guided their side to a deserved victory.
Such is the time of year and catching the tail end of Storm Callum, wind was always going to be a factor in the showpiece and the Haggardstown’s sides failure to capitalise when they held the wind advantage would lead to their downfall.
They simply didn’t put enough scores on the board and went in at half time 5-3 down. They had chances to do so Abbi O’Connor started brightly and county star Bonnie Fleming buzzing on the fringes.
Yet it was Leanne Tuohy that opened the scoring for Cooley. Rebecca carr levelled with a free before Boyle opened her account with a fine effort Fionnula Cafferty again levelled for the Gers as the game continued to fail to ignite.
As the Gers struggled Cooley found the range through midfielder Siobhan McDonald after a quick free and Tuohy’s second. It could well have been more only for Boyle’s free taking malaise.
A sin bin for Irene O’Hare compounded the Geraldines woes, however the groundwork for Cooley’s lead was set by the defensive work of Patsi Boland and her use of the ball critical in freeing up Cooley’s dangerous wingers.
Boyle did find her dead ball range accuracy but Fleming provided the Blackrock ladies some hope with the final score of the half after some good pressure on the Kickhams kick out.
Still at a numerical advantage after the break, Niamh Rice pounced to fire over a score her industry deserved.
Suddenly the final then took a dramatic twist. Under the cosh, against the wind and swamped in their own half of the field Geraldines full back Ciara O’Connor set off on a barnstorming counter attacking solo run.
The surge into space allowed the play to open up and ball in the hands of Victoria Pendergast. She made a determined solo run herself and fired the ball into the Cooley net. Draw game.
Minutes later and more drama, Claire Donnelly, Cooley Ladies Captain is presented with the Senior Championship cup by John Halpenny of Halpenny Transport. Pictures: Ken Finegan
Rebecca Carr gave the Geraldine’s a lead for the first time in the game with 38 minutes on the clock. The county player took a long range free and it some how ended up in the net after Cooley goalkeeper Sinead Rice failed to deal with the dropping high ball.
Cooley refused to panic and Rice and Boyle set about their work. Rice in particular spurred her side on with powerful decisive runs to bring her side back into the game with two free’s that would start the run of six unanswered.
Boyle added the finishing touches to the match winning sequence, but it wasn’t after some more nerves in front of the posts.
She duly composed herself after her fifth wide from free’s to fire over a delightful leveller.
The score showed her character and indeed her teams too and that was the confidence boost she needed to inspire her team to victory as she kicked on with two more free’s and one from play after catching the kick out.
Rebecca Carr countered once again and had the chance to level, but blazed her goal chance over the bar, it would have been cruel on Cooley but replacement Megan Ferguson set up by brilliant Boyle removed all doubt with a point that meant Cooley Kickhams would claim their first title since 2013.
COOLEY KICKHAMS: Sineád Rice; Aoife Traynor, Claire Donnelly, Laura Grills; Laura Traynor, Lisa McCarragher, Leanne Tuohy; Patsi Boland, Siobhán McDonald (0-1); Lauren Boyle (0-6, three frees), Katlyn Quinn, Niamh Rice (0-3, three frees); Eibhlin Rice (0-2), Niamh Quigley, Coirin Rice. Subs: Renee McGlynn for Tuohy (24), Megan Ferguson (0-1) for Coirin Rice (41), Sarah Jane O’Reilly for McGlynn (59), Ellen Quinn for Laura Traynor (60)
GERALDINES: Caoimhe Byrne; Andrea Lennon, Abbi O’Connor, Éilís Hand; Gemma McCrave, Megan Scully, Irene O’Hare; Rebecca Carr (1-2, 1-1 frees), Helen Ryan; Áine Lynch, Ciara O’Connor, Lauren McFaul; Bonnie Fleming (0-1), Fionnuala Cafferty (0-1), Victoria Prendergast (1-0). Subs: Amy Dalton for O’Hare (HT), Sharon O’Connor for Scully (37), Sandra Neary for McFaul (50), Lisa McCabe for Ryan (58)
REFEREE: Paul Burke LATE Friday night Cooley Kickhams captain Claire Donnelly beamed in the twilight of her sides triumph over the Geraldines in Stabannon as she raised the Louth Ladies trophy.
‘Unbelievable nothing like it,’ she declared but showed maturity beyond her years off the field as well as on it,as she was able to sense the magnitude of what she had just achieved just moments after the final whistle stating: ‘Five years since we won, I was only thirteen! It was a long time coming and overdue the bunch of girls were great and we trained so hard.’
That youthful enthusiasm was a strong trait the champions possessed and she admitted it was needed at times during the season. ‘The girls have trained so hard all year, we were building on it since January. Its just blood sweat and tears went into that year and it all paid off in the end thank god.’
Donnelly shrugged off any sense of panic having found themselves three points down in the second half despite being the game’s most dominant side. ‘At the end of the day every team has there purple patch in a game. The Geraldine’s are an unbelievably strong side and we knew it was going to be so so tough, but we kept our calm and you have to admire the girls for that.’
The defender didn’t hide as to where that calmness came from, their strong management team. ‘Alan Page, Lisa Maguire and Paul Hanlon, all unbelievable. They’ve drilled it into us all year to keep calm and the score will come and the wins will come.
With a Leinster campaign on the very near horizon ‘Two sleeps’ in fact. Donnelly accepted ‘We’ll take it as it comes.’ They most certainly will.