Moneyglass All-Ireland bid comes up short

AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Championship

Kilkerrin-Clonberne (Galway) 2-8

St Ergnat’s, Moneyglass (Antrim) 1-5

By Daire Walsh

MONEYGLASS came up short in their All-Ireland bid as Chloe Miskell and Lynsey Noone grabbed goals in either half at Croke Park on Saturday evening as Kilkerrin-Clonberne earned their fifth AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Championship crown in succession.

Returning with 14 of the starting line-up from last year’s final win over Kilmacud Crokes, Kilkerrin-Clonberne initially found it difficult to break down a stern Moneyglass defence. Olivia Divilly and Eva Noone eventually kicked a point apiece from frees in the ninth and 10th minutes respectively, before ex-Antrim stalwart Cathy Carey split the posts in fine style at the opposite end.

Team captain Louise Ward fired over an excellent point from play for the title holders off a later attack, but it wasn’t until the closing 10 minutes of the opening period that the game truly sparked into life.

While Moneyglass reduced the gap to a single point through Leah Stewart, Kilkerrin-Clonberne immediately responded with a clinically-taken goal from Chloe Miskell – following excellent approach work from Hannah Noone and Nicola Ward.

This looked like being a significant blow for St Ergnat’s, but they came roaring back into contention when Stewart palmed to the net in the 24th minute after a Carey shot for a point had hit the post. Yet a second free from Olivia Divilly ensured Kilkerrin-Clonberne were two points in front (1-4 to 1-2) at the break and the westerners increased their advantage on the restart with back-to-back scores from midfielder Aisling Madden and Eva Noone.

Miskell also added to her earlier goal with a point from close-range as Kilkerrin-Clonberne slowly asserted their authority on this showpiece affair. First-time finalists St Ergnat’s had come into this game on the back of an outstanding semi-final victory against Kilmacud Crokes, but they found themselves eight points in arrears when Niamh Divilly fed Lynsey Noone inside for a 44th minute goal.

Another score courtesy of Noone’s sister Eva had Kilkerrin-Clonberne nine points ahead moving into the final-quarter, though St Ergnat’s finally interrupted this devastating blitz from their opponents with a fine effort by Maria O’Neill.

Stewart and substitute Bronagh Devlin also found the range for the industrious Ulster side, but Kilkerrin-Clonberne subsequently dominated possession in the closing moments to keep their hands on the Dolores Tyrrell Memorial Cup.

Scorers – Kilkerrin-Clonberne: C Miskell 1-1, E Noone 0-3 (1f), L Noone 1-0, O Divilly 0-2 (2f), A Madden, L Ward 0-1 each. St Ergnat’s, Moneyglass: L Stewart 1-2, M O’Neill, C Carey, B Devlin 0-1 each.

KILKERRIN-CLONBERNE: L Murphy; L Finnegan, S Gormally, K Mee; H Noone, N Ward, N Divilly; S Divilly, A Madden; O Divilly, L Ward, L Noone; E Noone, C Miskell, C Costello. Subs: E Hynes for Finnegan (52), A Shaughnessy for Miskell (57), C Boyle for L Noone (60).

ST ERGNAT’S, MONEYGLASS: A Devlin; C Graffin, N McIntosh, L Stewart; A Leahy, S O’Neill, R Bradley; A Kelly, EL McAreavey; C Griffin, M O’Neill, L McCann; N Neeson, C Carey, E Mallon. Subs: A Griffin for Bradley (44), B Devlin for Kelly (45), A Boyd for Leahy, J Darragh for Mallon (both 57), R McErlain for McCann (60).

Referee: Ray McBride (Dublin).