All-Ireland final beckons for Downings

All-Ireland Ladies Junior Final

Sunday December 15

Mungret St Paul’s (Limerick) v Na Dúnaibh (Donegal)
Parnell Park, 2pm, Live on TG4 YouTube

By Jackie Cahill

CLUBS from Munster and Ulster will battle it out at Parnell Park in Sunday’s AIB All-Ireland Junior Club Championship Final.

Flying the flag for Limerick and Munster are Mungret St Pauls, who will take on Donegal and Ulster representatives, Na Dúnaibh.

Mungret St Pauls are just the third Limerick team to reach an All-Ireland Club Final, and they’re following in the footsteps of Murroe-Boher (2014) and Gerald Griffins (2000), who were both successful on Junior Final day.

Na Dúnaibh, meanwhile, will become the very first Donegal club to line out in an All-Ireland Junior club Final when they grace the Donnycarney venue.

Termon (winners in 2014) and St Eunan’s (runners-up in 1996) have contested Senior deciders and Na Dúnaibh will now become the third club from the county to appear in an All-Ireland Final.

This has already been a superb year for Mungret St Pauls, who won the Limerick Intermediate title with victory over Knockainey, before going on to lift the Munster Junior silverware following a gripping victory over Cork opponents Midleton.

After lifting the Donegal Junior crown, Na Dúnaibh, from the coastal village of Downings, went on to defeat Down opponents Warrenpoint in the Ulster Final.

In their respective All-Ireland semi-finals, both of Sunday’s finalists secured gritty victories.

On their travels, with the semi-final held in Tubbercurry against Sligo’s Coolera/Strandhill, Mungret St Pauls claimed a dramatic shoot-out victory on free kicks, after the sides couldn’t be separated after extra-time.

Meanwhile, Na Dúnaibh made home advantage count against Kildare opponents Kilcock, with captain Sinéad McBride’s goal proving pivotal in a three-point win.

Sunday’s opponents are well used to digging deep to grind out results and this Final could be no different.

From goalkeeper Charlie Shevlin, right through to corner forward Lauren McBride, who scored four points in the semi-final, Na Dúnaibh are a team with genuine class.

The same applies to Mungret St Pauls, who have Monaghan native Grainne McKenna in the mood to punish any defensive indiscretions with her prowess from placed balls, as evidence by a six-point semi-final haul.

All-Ireland Final day is one where wonderful individual displays feed into the overall team dynamic.

Take, for instance, the performance of Éabha O’Donovan here at Parnell Park in last year’s Junior Final, when the O’Donovan Rossa star collected 2-5 in a Player of the Match performance, to help steer her team to glory.

So, who will emerge as the matchwinners? All will be revealed over the course of 60 minutes and you couldn’t rule out a replay either.

If there’s a winner, and it’s Mungret St Pauls, an All-Ireland club title will be heading to Limerick for the first time in a decade.

Should Na Dúnaibh prevail, it’s a similar story, and they’ll become the first club from Donegal to savour an All-Ireland club title since Termon’s famous Senior win ten years ago.

The scene is set for what promises to be a rip-roaring encounter and when you consider that last year’s Junior winners, the aforementioned O’Donovan Rossa, contested an Intermediate semi-final recently, this might be just the start of a wonderful journey for the 2024 AIB All-Ireland Junior club finalists.

Mungret St Pauls: C Bateman; C O’Neill, L Dunne, C Moloney; J Buckley, S Burke, M Clancy; Á Ryan (capt.), C O’Meara; E O’Rourke, F Morrissey, A Morrissey; J Casey, G McKenna, N Crowley.

Na Dúnaibh: C Shevlin; J Roberts, C Hay, M Doherty; N Gallagher, E Trearty, M Wilkin; J Trearty, C McLaughlin; A McLaughlin, M.T. Boyce, S McBride (capt.); D Doherty, S McGroddy, L McBride.