Donaghmoyne glory hopes dashes as Kilkerrin-Clonberne retain title

ALL-IRELAND LADIES CLUB SFC FINAL

Kilkerrin-Clonberne 0-13 Donaghmoyne 0-7

By Daire Walsh

IT wasn’t to be for Ulster champions Donaghymoyne in Saturday’s All-Ireland final as Olivia Divilly and Chloe Miskell kicked a combined tally of 0-9 at Croke Park on Saturday as Kilkerrin-Clonberne successfully defended their title.

After securing their maiden Senior national crown against Cork outfit Mourneabbey at the beginning of the calendar year, Kilkerrin-Clonberne once again marked themselves as the finest club team in the land. Cora Courtney led the way for Donaghmoyne with three points from play, but the Farney side ultimately came up short on the day.

Within the opening five minutes of the contest, Eva Noone, Miskell, Olivia Divilly and team captain Louise Ward had all raised white flags for Kilkerrin-Clonberne. Donaghmoyne were struggling to establish the same sort of attacking foothold, but wing-forward Amy Garland eventually got them off the mark with an 11th-minute point.

There were a couple of nervous moments for Kilkerrin-Clonberne either side of the first-quarter mark, but a second point from Louise Ward helped to ease any nerves the Tribeswomen might have been experiencing.

There was an abundance of experience in the Donaghmoyne ranks, however, and the Monaghan outfit came to life thanks to a brace of superb points by the influential Cora Courtney.

Nevertheless, Kilkerrin-Clonberne kept their composure and unanswered scores from the attacking duo of Lynsey Noone and Olivia Divilly (two) ensured the Connacht side brought a 0-8 to 0-3 buffer into the half-time break.

Olivia Divilly was one of Galway’s leading lights in this year’s inter-county championship and her fourth point on the restart edged Kilkerrin-Clonberne a step closer to another national crown. Miskell doubled her own personal haul on 38 minutes, but Willie Ward’s charges suffered a temporary set-back when defender Hannah Noone was sent to the sin-bin moments later.

Although Donaghmoyne inside forward Cathriona McConnell kicked a superb score in her absence – and Lauren Garland rattled the crossbar with a speculative shot – Miskell’s two-point salvo left Kilkerrin-Clonberne in an even stronger position for Noone’s eventual return on the stroke of 50 minutes.

Olivia Divilly once again split the posts off a close-range free to put nine points between the sides with the final whistle approaching. While Donaghmoyne finished strongly with successive scores from sisters Rosemary Courtney (two) and Cora Courtney, Kilkerrin-Clonberne were full value for a six-point triumph.

Kilkerrin-Clonberne: L Murphy; C Costello, S Gormally, C Dunleavy; K Mee, N Ward, H Noone; S Divilly, L Finnegan; O Divilly (0-5, 3f), L Ward (0-2), L Noone (0-1); E Noone (0-1f), A Morrissey, C Miskell (0-4)
Subs: N Divilly for L Finnegan (47), S Fahy for K Mee (52), M Flanagan for L Noone (53), Caitlin Boyle for A Morrissey (58), Caoimhe Boyle for C Miskell (59)

Donaghmoyne: L Martin; J Geoghegan, N Callan, A Callan; F Courtney, S Courtney, E Traynor; C Courtney (0-3), E McElroy; A Garland (0-1), R Courtney (0-2), S McConnell; C McConnell (0-1), L Garland, A Burns
Subs: G Comiskey for A Burns (53), A McElroy for S McConnell (53), D Collier for A Callan (59), J Courtney for J Geoghegan (59), S Burns for A Garland (59)

Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow)