Ballinamere/Durrow reel in Naomh Molaoise to claim U16 glory

Trailing by six points after 10 minutes, Ballinamere/Durrow fought back to overcome Naomh Molaoise in an exciting K Buggy Coaches Offaly LGFA U16 ‘B’ Championship final at a sun-drenched Bretland Park on Saturday afternoon.

K Buggy Coaches LGFA U16 ‘B’ Championship final

Ballinamere/Durrow 2-10

Naomh Molaoise 1-10

Goals in either half from Amy Duncan and Rachel Lambe (penalty) proved decisive as the charges of Declan Thornton, Adrian Dunne and Dermot Cunningham put their slow start behind them to bring another ladies football championship back to Ballinamere/Durrow after they retained their senior crown at Naomh Ciarán’s expense a fortnight ago. Claire O’Brennan, Aisling Flanagan, Grace McLoughney, Rachel Lambe and Grace Scully were all to the fore for the winners who scored an unanswered 1-5 down the home stretch after trailing for most of the game.

Ailish Walsh led the scoring charge for Naomh Molaise with 1-4 - her goal also coming from a penalty - but Ballinamere/Durrow were that little bit better balanced and fitter in what was a very sporting and well-contested decider that was played under the old LGFA rules.

With conditions perfect for football and the evergreen Noel Cooney on the whistle, the first quarter yielded a whopping 12 scores and not a single wide. Ballinamere/Durrow opened the scoring with a free from Grace Scully before their opponents from Daingean and Killeigh parishes rattled off seven points in as many minutes.

Mentored by Brendan Donagher, Damien Longworth and Dermot Cuskelly, Ailish Walsh got Naomh Molaoise off the mark before adding three more points (one free), which were supplemented by scores from Kelly Kilmurray, Chloe Bracken and Sophie Fox (via the inside of the post). But against the run of play, Amy Duncan netted for Ballinamere/Durrow in the 11th minute to make it 1-1 to 0-7 and bring them right back into contention.

Rachel Lambe added a point before Sophie Fox finished off a brilliant team score and Kelly Kilmurray also kicked her second point to leave Naomh Molaoise 0-9 to 1-2 to the good at the end of a breathless opening quarter.

But the girls in black and amber wouldn’t trouble the scoreboard operator again in the first half as Ballinamere/Durrow finished in the ascendancy with a brace of points from Grace Scully (two) and Hannah Dunne to trail by the minimum at the break, 1-5 to 0-9.

A slow-burning second period finally came to life when Walsh tucked away a 40th minute penalty and lively substitute Kate Marsden followed up with a point after her earlier goal attempt had struck the crossbar and was scrambled away.

Leading by 1-10 to 1-5 with 14 minutes remaining, Naomh Molaoise had one hand on the silverware, but everything changed after Rachel Lambe converted a Ballinamere/Durrow penalty following a high challenge on substitute Tilly Clavin.

Naomh Molaise 'keeper Ciara Dunne brought off a fine save from Grace Scully moments later, but the momentum remained with the winners who regained parity through points from Kathleen Lynam and Lambe before Clavin gave them the lead for the first time in over 50 minutes.

Ballinamere/Durrow now had the scent of victory in their nostrils and Lambe added two late frees to put the game beyond their tiring opponents.

For the record, Ballinamere/Durrow registered seven wides compared to Naomh Molaoise’s six.

Player of the Match

Rachel Lambe (Ballinamere/Durrow). The powerful wing forward gets the nod over team-mates Grace Scully and Claire O’Brennan, who had a fine game when switched from corner back to midfield for the second half. Naomh Molaoise’s Ailish Walsh was the best player on view in the first half and was ably assisted by Sophie Fox.

Scorers -

Ballinamere/Durrow: Rachel Lambe 1-4 (1-0 pen, 2fs), Grace Scully 0-3 (2fs), Amy Duncan 1-0, Hannah Dunne, Kathleen Lynam and Tilly Clavin 0-1 each.

Naomh Molaoise: Ailish Walsh 1-4 (1-0 pen, 1f), Sophie Fox and Kelly Kilmurray 0-2 each, Chloe Bracken and Kate Marsden 0-1 each.

Teams -

Ballinamere/Durrow: Halle Thornton; Claire O’Brennan, Aisling Flanagan, Lily Kiernan; Sinead Boland, Kathleen Lynam, Clodagh Shaw; Ruby McNally, Grace McLoughney; Rachel Lambe, Grace Scully, Hannah Dunne; Edel Gillespie (captain), Aoibheann Mannion, Amy Duncan. Subs used: Tilly Clavin and Erin Guilfoyle. Rest of panel: Jessica Betson, Aisling O’Gorman and Muireann Kelly.

Naomh Molaoise: Ciara Dunne; Mia Longworth, Farah Delaney (captain), Katie Cuskelly; Lauren O’Reilly, Ella May Keys, Karen Dunne; Sophie Fox, Kelsie McCormack; Amy Minnock, Ailish Walsh, Lily Peyton; Kelly Kilmurray, Kitty Carey, Chloe Bracken. Subs used: Kate Marsden, Nora Flynn, Ciara Daly, Sophie McCluskey. Rest of panel: Maisy Maguire, Amy Fox, Hannah Geraghty, Ena Kelly.

Referee - Noel Cooney (Erin Rovers).