First half goals pave the way for Éire Óg All-Ireland success

Éire Óg Carrickmore (Tyrone) 2-7

St Kevin’s (Louth) 1-5

FIRST half goals from Sorcha Gormley and Leanne McKernan gave Éire Óg Carrickmore a lead they never relinquished in Abbotstown as the Tyrone side claimed All-Ireland glory at the expense of St Kevin’s.

In a competitive encounter that saw both sides create scoring opportunities throughout, Éire Óg held their nerve to keep their Louth opponents at bay despite adding just a single point from the 38th minute onwards.

The Ulster champions established an early foothold in the contest through the accurate free-taking of joint-captain Aoibhínn Daly, who converted two early placed balls before adding a point from play to give Carrickmore a three-point advantage.

The opening goal arrived in the 15th minute through Gormley, who demonstrated excellent awareness and composure when she saw McKernan emerge out of a ruck and after moving well to take a pass off the right shoulder of her wing-forward, Gormley drove through unopposed to finish clinically to the top left corner.

St Kevin’s registered their first wide through Amy Murray as they struggled to establish their attacking rhythm while playing into the breeze. The scale of the challenge facing them grew even larger when a hopeful ball into the square wasn’t seized and McKernan reacted sharply to bat the loose sliotar to the net from close range.

That goal seemed to spur the Louth champions into action as they showed their resilience with a strong response. Roisín Maguire opened their account with a well-taken point from play before Murray delivered a moment of quality. Standing just inside the arc, Murray struck a long-range effort that evaded the Carrickmore goalkeeper Tara Haughey and found the net, bringing St Kevin’s right back into contention.

Daly added another free for Carrickmore to give the Tyrone side a 2-4 to 1-1 advantage at half-time.

With the breeze to come, St Kevin’s weren’t without hope, but a strong start to the second half from the Éire ÓG saw them register the next two points through a highlight reel point from Niamh McElduff and another Daly free.

Lucy Sheridan reduced the deficit with a well-struck free for St Kevin’s, converting with accuracy under pressure. After wides from both Aoife Gregory and Carrickmore’s Niamh McElduff, Gregory broke through with an important point from play in the 12th minute to keep the Louth side in touch.

Niamh McElduff added a point from play to restore the six-point cushion and while Amy Murray hit back for St Kevin’s, the Tyrone champions maintained control of proceedings.

The Leinster champions needed a goal but it was Éire Óg who came closest to raising a green flag, St Kevin’s goalkeeper Tara Reilly producing an excellent save late in the second half to deny Daly from close range.

The Louth side introduced several substitutes including Grace King, Mary Taaffe, and Lauren Gregory in an attempt to spark a late rally, but the chances they needed never materialised and those early goals proved to be the difference.

A wonderful day for the northerners was crowned by Gormley picking up Player of the Match honours for her stellar performance in midfield, from where she controlled the game and was crucial to Éire Óg’s dominance of possession.

SCORERS FOR ÉIRE ÓG: A Daly 0-5(2fs); S Gormley 1-1; L McKernan 1-0; N McElduff 0-1

SCORERS FOR ST KEVIN’S: A Murray 1-1; T Reilly, R Maguire, A Gregory, L Sheridan (f) 0-1 each

ÉIRE ÓG: T Haughey, N Ní Dhonnghaile, E Gallagher, A Kerr; B Kerr, R Kerr, O Nic Giolla Dhuibh, S Gormley, C Clarke, L McKernan, N McElduff, A Daly, N McElroy, M Daly, K Hughes.
Subs: M McCollon for M Daly, A Bennett for A Kerr, A Gallagher for Hughes

ST KEVIN’S: T Reilly, C Mason, L Cunningham, S Cunningham, A Gregory, C Mason, C Logue, R Maguire, G Murray, L Sheridan, G Murray, A Murray, K Matthews, A Carroll, L Carter.
Subs: C Cunningham for Mason, G King for Carter, M Taaffe for Carroll, L Gregory for G Murray,

REFEREE: Karol Collins (Galway)