Congratulations to our Minor Ladies who achieved a fantastic double in the 2021 Division 1 League and Championship competitions.
Winter sunshine greeted the minor girls from Killygarry and Crosserlough as they ran onto Crowe Park, Lacken for the 2021 Division 1 Minor League final. Both sides had met in the championship decider in early September with Killygarry emerging victorious after a keenly fought encounter. Crosserlough, starting in a very determined fashion, ‘hit Killygarry for six’ as they raced into a 1-3 to 0-0 lead within the first five minutes of the match. Killygarry were struggling to deal with the pace and movement of the Crosserlough forward line in these early stages and could do little to stop the opening goal of the game, scored in the third minute by half forward Cara Smith. Crosserlough then added to their tally with two well taken points from Eimear Finnegan and Ciara Boylan.
As the first quarter progressed Killlygarry began to establish more of a foothold in the game and duly scored their first point of the match from their captain Deirbhile Lynch. Both sides then traded points before Killygarry scored a decisive goal just before the first water break. Breaking at speed from their defence, a long pass was gathered by corner forward, Shauna Gilsenan. She quickly laid off an incisive hand pass to her onrushing teammate Katie Lynch, who calmly finished the move with a shot to the bottom corner of the Crosserlough net. After a slow start the girls in ‘Red and Black’ now found themselves trailing by two points.
The second quarter saw Killygarry take control of the game. Goalkeeper Joanne Reilly was finding her midfielders with accurate kick outs and her backline was growing in confidence with Grainne Cahill, Kaioni Tu’ipulotu, Maeve Young, and Roisin Cooney to the fore. Killygarry continued to add to the scoreboard in this quarter thanks to points from Kaioni Tu’ipulotu and Katie Lynch together with the unerring accuracy of Deirbhile Lynch from frees. As the referee’s whistle sounded to conclude the first half Killygarry found themselves leading the contest 1-7 to Crosserlough’s 1-5.
The early minutes of the second half saw Killygarry add to their scoreline with points coming from midfielders Clodagh Kennedy and Deirbhile Lynch and the hard-working Sinead Levingstone. Crosserlough continued to fight back with points from Eimear Finnegan and Aine Smith but the Killygarry back line of Ella Noonan, Amy Fitzpatrick and Ailbhe Kennedy were proving difficult to break down. Deirbhile Lynch then tapped over two more scores and as the second water break approached Killygarry now led on a scoreline of 1-13 to 1-7.
As the game entered the final quarter Killygarry added three more points with one coming from second half substitute Lauren Morrisson after some great work by centre half forward Dearbhla Brady and her teammates Katie Sheanon and Emma Comiskey. In the closing stages of the game Kate McManus and Sophie Smith were introduced to the fray before both sides traded points to draw the contest to a close. As referee Martin Sexton blew the final whistle Killygarry, after a somewhat shaky start, were victorious with the scoreboard reading Killygarry 1-16 Crosserlough 1-8.
Captain Deirbhile Lynch accepted the Division 1 Minor League Cup on behalf of her team from competition sponsor Ann Reilly, Valu Centre Cavan and Cavan LGFA representative Lorraine Moore with the Killygarry girls completing a historic minor double for 2021.
Killygarry : Joanne Reilly, Amy Fitzpatrick, Maeve Young, Kaioni Tu’ipulotu (0-01), Roisin Cooney, Grainne Cahill, Ella Noonan, Deirbhile Lynch (0-09), Clodagh Kennedy (0-01), Katie Lynch (1-01), Dearbhla Brady, Sinead Levingstone (0-03), Shauna Gilsenan, Katie Sheanon, Emma Comiskey. Subs : Ailbhe Kennedy for Roisin Cooney, Lauren Morrisson (0-01) for Shauna Gilsenan, Kate McManus for Katie Sheanon, Sophie Smith for Emma Comiskey
Crosserlough : Cara Reilly, Susie Whelan, Niamh Smith, Niamh Duffy, Ciara Donohoe, Christina Charters, Atlanta Lovett, Aine Smith (0-01), Laoise Smith, Cara Smith (1-00), Ciara Boylan (0-01), Kate Smith (0-02), Fiona Finnegan, Eimear Finnegan (0-03), Niamh Shalvey. Subs : Amy Clarke for Laoise Smith, Ella Boylan for Cara Smith
