History Made as Clara claim a first ever Division One title
Clara Ladies created their own special piece of history on Saturday last when they dethroned Naomh Ciaran to be crowned Division 1 league champions for the first time.
Glenisk Offaly Ladies Football Division 1 League Final
Clara 8-12
Naomh Ciaran 3-4
It was the reigning champions who were first out of the traps here and after great work from Lauren Kelly the threatening Sarah Fitzgerald got their sides opening score of the afternoon.
Clodagh McKeon and Lorraine Keena exchanged white flags for their sides before Ailbhe Sheridan, Maria Kelly and Ava Jane Cornally pushed the Clara ladies out in front.
The first goal of the afternoon came just at the end of the first quarter when a McKeon shot was deflected into the back of the Naomh Ciaran net to put the first sign of daylight between these sides.
Two minutes later the excellent Maria Kelly broke through the West Offaly sides defence before finishing excellently to the back of the net stretching her sides lead.
Naomh Ciaran showed their first sign of concern at this point and went to their reserves getting the returning Kate Kenny onto the field, Clara had clearly anticipated this change and Caoimhe Fitzpatrick was detailed with the job of picking up Kenny.
This move certainly didn’t phase the Clara ladies and they remained cool, calm, collected and were rewarded with their third goal in the twenty third minute when Maria Kelly doubled her tally.
Emma Johnston and following a cracking pass from Kate Kenny, Lorraine Keena exchanged white flags before Ailbhe Sheridan got Clara’s fourth goal of the afternoon, Maria Kelly was fierce unlucky not to have got her hatrick when her shot was blasted wide seconds later.
Sheridan soon increased her personal tally pointing excellently before Sarah Fitzgerald gave the Naomh Ciaran outfit a small glimmer of hope scoring a cracking goal.
Kelly added three quick points in succession, two from frees, on the stroke of half time to give Clara a comfortable lead going into the second half.
The Clara ladies picked up from where they left off in the second period and Hannah Cronin got in on the scoring act finishing well to the back of the net ultimately sealing the deal for her side and leaving Naomh Ciaran with an insurmountable hill to climb.
The Kelly’s, Maria and Eve once again found the net for their sides increasing their own personal tally’s as the game pushed towards its final ten minutes.
To be fair to Naomh Ciaran they kept on trying here and were rewarded with two well taken goals both from the boot of Sarah Fitzgerald before Lorraine keena completed their sides tally here just as the stopwatch crept into injury time.
Clara Sub Chloe Sheridan added two points in injury time and the full time whistle from Kyle Waters was met with jubilant scenes from the large Clara contingent in Bretland Park.
MATCH ANALYSIS
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Rachel Bracken and Eve Kelly (Clara): Unusually here, I have went with two players as it was almost impossible to split the two. While Triona McDonald, Maria Kelly and Hannah Cronin were all excellent for their side, the nod goes to Bracken and Kelly.
Bracken was flawless at full back doing really well especially when picking up county player Sarah Fitzgerald, it was a real tough display from the Clara number 3.
Kelly was lively at the other end of the field shooting very well, finishing with a tally of and causing massive problems for the Naomh Ciaran defence.
THE TEAMS
CLARA: Niamh Phelan; Ciara White, Rachel Bracken, Eimear Rickard; Fia Quinn, Imelda Fleming, Niamh Rooney; Triona McDonald, Caoimhe Fitzpatrick; Ailbhe Sheridan, Ava Cornally, Hannah Cronin; Eve Kelly, Maria Kelly, Clodagh McKeon. Subs - Cloe Sheridan for Ciara White, Niamh Gorry for Rachel Bracken, Emma Johnson for Clodagh McKeon, Laura Doyle for Hannah Cronin, Anna Stewart for Maria Kelly.
NAOMH CIARAN: Amanda Keena; Ellagh D’Arcy, Leah Ryan, Jenna Hesketh; Emily D’Arcy, Aoibhe Kelly, Teegan Daly; Aine Maher, Emily Flynn; Lauren Kelly, Lorraine Keena, Molly Wheeler; Sarah Fitzgerald, Kaitlin Rigney, Zoe Tighe. Subs: Kate Kenny for Tighe (18), Sarah Flynn for Wheeler (38).
Referee – Kyle Waters
REFEREE WATCH
Kyle Waters done a good job here, keeping up with play, being consistent and explaining his decisions. He consulted with his team of officials when necessary and over all was not a factor in this game, which is every referees dream.
VENUE WATCH
Bretland Park was in great nick after a heavy volume of traffic recently on the pitch. Car park was open and stewards on hand with scoreboard in operation, programmes available and tuck shop open it was nearly perfect. The only small thing was the fact there was no P.A for announcements, anthems or presentations which isn’t ideal for league finals.
WHAT'S NEXT
Thoughts turn to championship in July for both camps now.
THE SCORERS
Clara: Maria Kelly 5-3 , Eve Kelly 1-3, Ailbhe Sheridan 0-2, Clodagh McKeon 1-1, Hannah Cronin 1-0, Chloe Sheridan 0-2, Emma Johnston 0-1.
Naomh Ciaran: Sarah Fitzgerald 3-1, Lorraine Keena 0-3.