Flying Kilmacud Crokes turn on the style against Offaly champions

TRAVELLING over to Kinnegad on Saturday, Naomh Ciaran were under no illusions about the size of the challenge that awaited for them and will not have been unduly surprised at their defeat in the Leinster Ladies Football Senior Club final.

Leinster LGFA Senior Club Final

Kilmacud Crokes 4-19

Naomh Ciaran 1-10

They may be disappointed at the scale of their loss, the fact that the game was over as a contest within a few minutes but for the West Offaly side, this match up against the reigning provincial champions was always going to prove a bridge too far and the achievement for them was in reaching the final.

The dominant force in Offaly ladies football for the past several years, Naomh Ciaran have won provincial and All-Ireland titles in intermediate and they needed to try and see how they got on at the top grade outside of Offaly. They were also beaten by Kilmacud last year but it was a huge achievement to reach the final at this level this year and Naomh Ciaran can reflect proudly on their season's work.

As the final scoreline of 4-19 to 1-10 suggests, Naomh Ciaran were well and truly outclassed here. 1-3 of their 1-10 came in the final ten minutes as Kilmacud Crokes emptied their bench - not that the new players weakened them to any noticeable extent and a couple of them in fact injected new life into them at a stage when Kilmacud players could have started looking into the crowd.

The only consolation for Naomh Ciaran is that they were beaten by a truly outstanding side. Ladies football in Dublin is at a considerably higher level than Offaly and with a handful of county players in the Kilmacud Crokes' ranks, Naomh Ciaran knew it would take something extraordinary for them to win.

As things turned out, the only extraordinary thing was the sheer excellence of Kilmacud's performance. It was as close to flawless football as you will ever see. Kilmacud were absolutely relentless the whole afternoon and never put a foot wrong. They played with a ferocious pace and matched that with intensity and work rate.

They closed down Naomh Ciaran any time they breathed and their attacking football was a joy to watch. Their use of possession was top class as they broke forward at pace but were patient in reycling the ball until the right scoring opportunity presented. Their shooting was out of the top drawer. All six forwards scored and they never had a wide until the 48th minute – a couple of earlier balls had went wide but Kilmacud were playing the advantage at that stage and the free was given, which was duly floated over.

That 48th minute wide came from a corner back, Aoife Kane and they only had one more wide. With 4-19 on the board, 4-15 from play, that was a serious return, as good as you will see at any level. When you are beaten by a side that good, even if the scoreline does not look good, there is never any shame in defeat and Naomh Ciaran can hold their heads up high.

It was a long and challenging afternoon for them. Naomh Ciaran brought a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters from all across their west Offaly base and there was a noticeable air of excitement in the build up to the game. Naomh Ciaran were as highly motivated for this game as they could be but within minutes of the throw in, it was clear that there would be no evening of celebration in Ferbane or anywhere else.

Kilmacud Crokes made a flying start with Michelle Davoren and Eabha Rutledge running riot on their full forward line. Davoren was sensational, kicking the first two points and hitting the post with a goal shot after racing through the centre. It was 0-4 to 0-2 when Kilmacud did breach Aine Maher's goal, Ailbhe Davoren firing to the net arter Michelle Davoren set her up. The game was over at that stage and Kilmacud's second goal arrived in the 12th minute – Niamh Cutler finishing a Kate Murray pass.

It was 2-6 to 0-2 after fifteen minutes and even though only a quarter had lapsed, Naomh Ciaran were late in making defensive switches. They eventually switched Emer Nally back onto the rampant Michelle Davoren and this worked to an extent, as she got tight on her opponent and made life very difficult, even though the Dub remained a constant threat. Lorraine Keena also did much better when moved out of full back, working hard, putting in good hits and turning over ball - Naomh Ciaran were also missing one of their in-form players, Pullough woman Nicole Buckley who was on boxing duty for Ireland.

In fairness to Naomh Ciaran, it would be completely pointless to focus on any individual displays as Kilmacud had so many threats, were so on top all over the field that they would have won no matter what the losers did.

Naomh Ciaran did have brief good spells themselves and flashes of very good football. They looked threatening when Amy Gavin Mangan, Kate Kenny and Ellee McEvoy ran at their opponents at pace but as a unit, they were always swimming against the tide and Kilmacud were dominant for a good 75% of the game.

Their third goal came from Julia Buckley in the 21st minute and at half time, Naomh Ciaran were on a damage limitation exercise as they trailed by 3-10 to 0-5 – four of their points came from Kate Kenny frees and their only one from play was a fine kick by Emma Cahill in the 23rd minute.

The second half went as anticipated with Kilmacud in cruise control but still very focused on the basics. The way they defended, both in the back line and attack, their closing down of players and tackling commanded complete respect.

It was 3-17 to 0-7 when Kilmacud got their fourth goal in the 49th minute, a fortunate one as Aine Maher fumbled a shot from very impressive sub, Emma Kane into the net. Amy Gavin Mangan's 52nd minute goal brought a loud cheer from the Namh Ciaran support but if was the only one of the day as Kilmacud sauntered home – Naomh Ciaran did get the closing three points.

MATCH ANALYSIS

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Michelle Davoren (Kilmacud Crokes): Kilmacud had several outstanding performers but two of their forwards, Michelle Davoren and Eabha Rutledge really reached for the stars. My choice is Davoren as she was absolutely brilliant in the first quarter plus when Kilmacud quickly took control. She got scores, constantly broke tackles and went at pace at the goal every time. She was at the epi-centre of a lot of Kilmacud's work and set up a good few scores.

THE SCORERS

Kilmacud Crokes: Eabha Ruthledge 0-9 (4f), Niamh Cutter, Emma Kane and Ailbhe Davoren 1-1 each, Michelle Davoren 0-4, Julia Buckley 1-0, Niamh Carr, Grace Kos, Mia Jennings 0-1 each.

Naomh Ciaran: Kate Kenny 0-8 (6f), Amy Gavin Mangan 1-0, Emma Cahill and Kaithlyn Rigney 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

KILMACUD CROKES: Rachel Fleming; Philippa Greene, Emer Sweeney, Aoife Kane; Sinead O'Donoghue, Kate Murray, Niamh Carr; Lauren Magee, Grace Kos; Niamh Cotter, Ailbhe Davoren, Mia Jennings; Julia Buckley, Michelle Davoren, Eabha Rutledge. Subs – Ciara Regan for Murray (35m), Amy Conroy for Buckley (38m), Cassie Sultan for Cutter (41m), Emma Kane for Jennings (49m), Lauren Bedford for Greene (51m), Alanah Jones for O'Donoghue (52m).

NAOMH CIARAN: Aine Maher; Anna Grehan, Lorraine Keena, Ella Hogan; Aoibhe Kelly, Emer Nally, Roisin Ennis; Emma Maher, Amy Gavin-Mangan; Emma Cahill, Kate Kenny, Lauren Kelly; Sarah Fitzgerald, Ellee McEvoy, Roisin Cockram. Subs – Kaitlyn Rigney for Lauren Kelly (HT), Maria Egan for Fitzgerald (54m).

Refereee – Marian Hayden (Carlow).

REFEREE WATCH

Marian Hayden had a very good game. She was in control the whole way and was very consistent. Her application of the advantage rule was excellent as she weighed up whether a side would benefit by allowing play to progress before calling the free. There were a few times when 14 metres frees were given for fouls that were suspiciously close to being in the penalty area but these balanced out and she was in no way a factor in the outcome.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

This game was over from the moment Ailbhe Davoren got Kilmacud's first goal in the ninth minute.

VENUE WATCH

The Kinnegad pitch held up well despite looking heavy. It was a perfect day for football, cold but with no wind out. There was plenty of stewards to manage the large crowd and it was great to see so many supporters from the wider GAA community present to back the two teams. The Leinster LGFA put on a lot of pageantry which added to the sense of occasion and they did this very well. A couple of basics did let them down – the scoreboard was wrong on a few occasions during the game while the tannoy system was not working that well and the announcements were not very clear in the stand.

WHAT'S NEXT

The season is over for Naomh Ciaran while Kilmacud Crokes go into the All-Ireland series.

STATISTICS

Wides: Naomh Ciaran – 5 (3 in first half); Kilmacud Crokes – 2 (2 in second half).

Yellow cards: 0.

Red cards: 0.