Athlone 1-8 Clann Gaels 2-8
It wasn’t to be for the Athlone ladies’ team as they were defeated by Clann Gaels in a hard-fought and exciting junior championship final fixture played in The Downs on Sunday.
A youthful Athlone team fought hard from start to finish against a physically strong Clann Gaels team and while they will be disappointed not to bring home the cup, they can take heart in reaching the club’s first championship final since 2006 knowing that if they keep working and improving as they did through this year, silverware will surely follow in the coming seasons.
Both sides started nervously and missed several chances in the opening minutes, before Clann Gaels eventually opened the scoring with a point after 12 minutes. This settled the Bunbrosna/Multyfarnham outfit and they quickly tacked on two more points to lead by 0-3 to 0-0 at the water break.
The break allowed the Athlone girls to regroup and they opened their account soon after play resumed through a fine long range effort Ava Martin. Athlone goalkeeper Aoife Temple then pulled off a fine save from a close-range effort to prevent what seemed like a certain goal, although Clann Gaels managed to regain possession from the rebound and add a fourth point.
Athlone were growing in confidence however and halved the deficit from a Brionna Geoghegan free after Eimear Connellan had been fouled. A good attacking move then put Geoghegan through on goal, but she was tripped from behind before she could get her shot away.
The ref correctly awarded the penalty which Eimear Connellan calmly slotted it past the keeper to give her side an unlikely lead as the interval approached. Unfortunately for Athlone, there was still enough time left for Clann to regain the lead with a goal of their own, a very good solo effort, before Brionna Geoghegan brought the first half scoring to a close with her second free, after Ellen O’Connell had been fouled.
This left a half time score of 1-4 to 1-3 in Clann Gaels favour, which Athlone would not have been too unhappy with, after not having scored for almost the opening 20 minutes.
Athlone didn’t have to nearly as long for their opening second half score and drew level within a minute of the restart when Eimear Connellan pointed after some excellent build up play.
Again, however, they were unable to build momentum and Clann Gaels regained their lead their lead almost immediately with two points in quick succession, the second of which would’ve been a goal had Aoife Temple not done superbly to push a powerful shot over the bar. This proved to be only a temporary reprieve and Gaels did add a second goal soon after, through a powerful finish after an incisive attack.
Ellen O’Connell kept her side in touch with a point from a tight angle, but Athlone were then dealt a blow when influential forward Brionna Geoghegan was forced off with a hamstring injury. A further Clann Gaels point left Athlone trailing by five points, 2-7 to 1-5, at the second water break.
To their credit, the Athlone ladies didn’t throw in the towel and they dominated the final quarter as they battled to get back into the game, but scores were hard to come by against the packed Clann Gaels defence.
Points from Ellen O’Connell and Eimear Connellan reduced the deficit to just a goal as the game entered stoppage time, and then Niamh Byrne’s lofted effort struck the top of the crossbar before going over. With just two points between the sides, Athlone kept piling on the pressure but they were unable to find the space necessary to create any further goalscoring opportunities.
Instead, Clann Gaels were able to break away and add the insurance point after almost eight minutes of stoppage time. There was still time for Athlone to launch one further attack, but the Clann defence was able to turn the ball over in a crowded penalty area and clear it as the final whistle blew.
