Daire Walsh reports from Grant Heating St Brendan’s Park
Clare 1-6
Roscommon 1-4
THE IMPRESSIVE AILISH Considine grabbed 1-2 at Grant Heating St Brendan’s Park in Birr on Saturday as Clare held off a late surge from Roscommon to claim the Lidl National Football League Division 3 title.
Having lost out to Kildare after extra-time in last year’s third-tier showpiece, Clare got their hands on national silverware in the Offaly venue and will now embark on their TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship campaign with renewed confidence.
Unbeaten on their way to this decider — including a group stage draw away to Clare — Roscommon ultimately fell short in their quest for a second Division 3 final success in just three years.
After their goalkeeper Helena Cummins turned away a couple of early goal chances, Roscommon edged in front with a pointed free from Laura Fleming on five minutes. While Clare found it difficult to keep the scoreboard ticking over facing into a stiff breeze, they opened their account in spectacular style on the first-quarter mark.
Known in recent years for their prowess in soccer and Australian Rules football respectively, marauding wing-back Laurie Ryan released Ailish Considine for a smooth low finish beyond the reach of Cummins. This was an early set-back for Roscommon, but Ollie Lennon’s charges had restored parity by the 20th minute with a brace of points from the dependable Fleming.
Although midfielder Aisling Reidy moved Clare back into the driving seat with a point, a fourth successful free from Fleming left the teams on level terms at the break at 1-1 to 0-4 for Roscommon.
It proved to be an initially cagey start to the second half, but it was the team with the elements behind them that eventually created some daylight. Supplementing a 0-2 salvo from the increasingly-influential Ailish Considine — one from play and one from a free — substitute Ciara McCarthy and Reidy also split the uprights to move Clare four clear on 43 minutes.
McCarthy followed up her earlier effort with a sublime pointed free off the outside of her right boot inside the final-quarter and this left them a step closer to claiming their first Division 3 crown since 2011.
An Aisling Hanly goal with just over a minute remaining suddenly brought life back to Roscommon’s challenge, but time ran out for them in their bid for a dramatic comeback triumph.
Scorers – Clare: A Considine 1-2 (0-1f), C McCarthy 0-2 (1f), A Reidy 0-2. Roscommon: A Hanly 1-0, L Fleming 0-4 (4f).
CLARE: A Lenihan; A Keane, S Ní Chonaill, G Harvey; L Ryan, J Doohan, R Considine; S Considine, A Reidy; L Griffin, C Harvey, A Sexton; T Collins, F Marrinan, A Considine. Subs: C McCarthy for Griffin (39), O Devitt for Sexton (46), L Griffey for Collins (49), K Mullen for R Considine (56).
ROSCOMMON: H Cummins; A McGrath, E Irwin, J McDermott; R Fitzmaurice, S Wynne, C Cregg; L O’Rourke, K Nolan; L Fleming, L Shanagher, A Hanly; A MacAuliffe, A Shanagher, A Feeley. Subs: S Farrell for Feeley (13), N Feeney for MacAuliffe (40), E Thompson for McDermott (42), A O’Connor for Shanagher (51), A Gavin for Nolan (57).
Referee: Barry Redmond (Wexford)
Carlow 1-7
Limerick 0-6
Earlier today, substitute Maeve O’Neill struck a 55th-minute goal to help Carlow towards a first ever Lidl National Football League Division 4 title.
Thanks to the presence of Storm Kathleen on these shores, Limerick played with the aid of a gale-force breeze in the opening half of this contest. It took the Treaty women a little while to get up and running, but unanswered scores from wing-back Meadhbh MacNamara, dead-ball specialist Deborah Murphy and Iris Kennelly ultimately gave them a three-point lead on the first-quarter mark.
Although the likes of Aoife Carroll and skipper Ruth Bermingham were performing well in defence, Carlow were struggling to create attacking opportunities when playing against the elements.
Yet the Barrowsiders were able to keep Limerick on their toes with extended spells of possession football and they finally opened their account on 25 minutes as Bennekerry/Tinryland star Clíodhna Ní Shé split the posts off a close-range free.
This significantly boosted the spirits of their travelling supporters and having managed to keep their Munster counterparts scoreless for 18 minutes, Ed Burke’s side were just two points adrift at 0-3 to 0-1 at the interval.
A wind advantage now in their favour, Carlow levelled matters within three minutes of the restart thanks to a brace of successful frees by the dependable Ni She. Momentum now appeared to be with the Leinster outfit and even though Limerick attempted to batten down the hatches, Roisin Bailey and Rachel Sawyer knocked over quickfire points from play to give Carlow a 0-5 to 0-3 platform on the stroke of 40 minutes.
However, Limerick reduced the deficit to the bare minimum with a second point from Kennelly moments later and subsequently breathed a sigh of relief when Ni She had a goal disallowed from a long-distance free.
Limerick then restored parity through Monagea’s Murphy, only for Ní Shé’s latest place-ball point to edge Carlow back into the ascendancy in the 48th minute.
After also scoring a crucial goal in their semi-final victory over Fermanagh, it was then left for the impactful O’Neill to roll a low shot to the net with five minutes remaining on the clock.
Caoimhe McGrath’s pointed free kept Limerick in the hunt, before Bermingham chipped over an excellent score at the death to seal a precious national crown for Carlow.
Scorers – Carlow: C Ní Shé 0-4 (4f), M O’Neill 1-0, R Bermingham, R Bailey, R Sawyer 0-1 each. Limerick: D Murphy 0-2 (1f), I Kennelly 0-2, M MacNamara, C McGrath (f) 0-1 each
CARLOW: N Hanley; A Carroll, A Roche, S McCullagh; R Bermingham, N Murphy, N Forde; E Hayden, R Bailey; B Nolan, R Sawyer, S Doyle; E Molloy, E Coogan, C Ní Shé. Subs: S Hayden for McCullagh (h-t), M O’Neill for Coogan (47), T Lyons for Nolan (52), M Townsend for E Hayden (55), E Ware for S Hayden (59)
LIMERICK: C Bateman; J McGuire, Y Lee, F Bradshaw; G Lee, C Mee, M MacNamara; R Ambrose, L Ryan; K O’Leary, D Murphy, K Heelan; E Woulfe, A O’Sullivan, I Kennelly. Subs: G Mullane for Heelan, R Browne for McGuire (both h-t), C McGrath for O’Sullivan (47), K Kennedy for Ryan (55), M Kavanagh for Woulfe (59)
Referee: Declan Carolan (Armagh)