Extra-time heartbreak for St Clare's CS Manorhamilton in FAI Schools All-Ireland Final
FAI SCHOOLS MINOR ‘B’ GIRLS NATIONAL CUP FINAL GALLEN CS FERBANE 3 ST. CLARE’S CS MANORHAMILTON 1 (AET)
A memorable and historic season for the girls of St. Clare’s Comprehensive School didn’t quite see the Manorhamilton students reach the top of the FAI Schools mountain in Athlone Town Stadium this afternoon. They lost out in extra-time to their west Offaly opponents at the end of a nerve-wracking All-Ireland final where both teams grew into the game after a tense and scrappy opening half.
As with any game that needed an additional 20 minutes to separate the teams, there were plenty of ‘what if’ moments for both sides over the course of the hour of regulation time. St. Clare’s goalkeeper Sophie Devaney made some outstanding saves throughout the afternoon.
She showed excellent positional sense and strong hands to block an Ella Kenny free in injury time, and that was just three minutes after Aoife Boylan had the ball in the net for what might have been a winner for the Leitrim school at the other end, only to be denied by an offside flag.
In extra time however, Gallen just seemed to have that little bit more energy in their legs. While the break of the ball went their way with a fortunate own goal in the first additional half, there was no denying the cool-ness and quality of the run and finish from Hannah Mitchell with just two minutes to play, just one last moment of magic from this game’s ‘Player of the Match’.
St. Clare’s had impressive performers too, particularly in the first half when they looked like the team that was more interested in getting the ball down on the slick astroturf surface and picking the lock of the opposition, as opposed to just moving the ball in a general forward direction towards Mitchell, a more agricultural approach that appeared to dominate Gallen’s playbook.
Saoirse Reynolds and Jessica Sheridan had the better of things in the engine room around midfield, with Sheridan protecting her defence with authority while Reynolds tried to give Aoife Boylan the service she needed at the top end of the pitch.
There were a couple of times that Boylan was brought down, though shots from outside the penalty area were unlikely to test either of two very reliable goalkeepers, and the best chance of the half fell to Ceola Kelly before half-time.
A floated ball from the left wing shot over the top of two defenders and ran through to the St. Clare’s winger, but with Niamh Waldron closing her down well, Kelly had to take on her shot earlier than she would have liked, and Waldron was able to make the block.
In a game where both teams seemed to lean heavily on their solo striker up top, Gallen management seemed to recognise this when they brought on Irene Kelly to play in a more advanced role shortly before half-time.
Once the sides turned around, Gallen looked a lot more threatening with that extra attacking option high up the pitch and they started well, forcing an early corner that was volleyed over the bar by Amber Kelly.
A slick move out of defence saw Meghan Heavin play in Mitchell and the attacker was able to hold off a tackle, control the ball and just about beat Devaney inside the near post, albeit the St. Clare’s keeper was desperately unlucky not to keep the ball out after she got a fine reflex save.
If anything that only drove St. Clare’s to greater heights, and after Lily Ferguson fired in a perfect delivery from a right wing free, a deft flicked header from Boylan was enough to put the sides back on level terms four minutes later.
Boylan’s disallowed goal and a couple of near Gallen misses – often due to Devaney saves – were the key moments of the final 20, meaning that it would take additional time to separate the teams.
This extra 20 minutes was the only phase of the game where either side had any real control on the game, and after pressure from Gallen forced goalmouth chaos and an unlucky bounce for the opening goal, St. Clare’s were forced to push up with that bit more urgency, leaving themselves open to exactly the type of fast break that Mitchell turned into the match-winning goal.
ST CLARE’S MANORHAMILTON: Sophie Devaney; Dervela Loughlin, Jessica Attard, Lily Ferguson, Lexi Duffy; Jessica Sheridan; Ceola Kelly, Ella O’Donnell, Saoirse Reynolds, Faye Watters; Aoife Boylan. Subs: Lakoda McBride for Watters (58), Emma Maguire for Reynolds (full-time), Reynolds for Maguire (77)
GALLEN CS: Katie Egan; Niamh Waldron, Ellie Flynn, Eibhleann Lynam, Isabel O’Regan; Ella Kenny, Amber Kelly; Ciara Keenaghan, Meghan Heavin, Annabelle Egan; Hannah Mitchell. Subs: Irene Egan for Heavin (23), Heavin for A Egan (half-time), Ella Shrahan for I Egan (48), I Egan for Shrahan (57)
Referee: Colin McCormack