Caulry crowned champions as second goal sinks Athlone

Westmeath LGFA Minor Division Two Championship final: Caulry 2-7 Athlone 1-4

By John Dingle

Caulry ended the season with more silverware when they defeated Athlone in the Westmeath LGFA Minor Division Two final at Tubberclair recently.

The girls in red and white led by five points at half-time as Athlone had just one score (a goal) to their credit in the opening half. There was just three points between the teams early in the second half as Athlone responded, but crucially Caulry then raised another green flag and they eventually won by six points.

There was a minute's silence before the game in memory of Athlone's Amby Fogarty and when the action got underway, there was an early goal fest. In perfect playing conditions, the green flag was raised at either end in Tubberclair. Athlone were first off the mark but did not trouble the umpire again for the remainder of the half, which was a major obstacle to overcome.

The game was just four minutes old when Sally Fleming found the net for Athlone. Caulry though posted an instant response as the impressive Erin O’Faolain also raised the green flag with a fine shot to level matters.

It looked like an evenly contested decider was unfolding but five unanswered points then had Caulry in control at the break. O’Faolain followed her goal with a point and a further point from the right by Kelly Lynam had Caulry in front by two.

O’Faolain kept the scoreboard ticking over with another point after 16 minutes. Karrissa Burns popped over another point to increase the lead to four.

There was a gap of ten minutes before the next score was recorded as Lynam grabbed the last point of the half from a free. Athlone had been kept scoreless since their goal but Fleming had the chance to put David Gibbons' team right back in contention on the stroke of half-time. The number 14 was out of luck though as her shot hit off the post to leave Caulry ahead by 1-5 to 1-0 at the interval.

Caulry always looked more dangerous on the attack while Athlone might have got closer with greater accuracy as they posted four wides in the first half alone.

The blue and white outfit made a double substitution at half-time and one of those replacements posted an instant response to celebrate her introduction. Isobel Tierney gave her team a boost with a point inside the first minute of the second half.

The comeback appeared to be gathering momentum when Katie Gibbons fired over a free from in front of the posts after 33 minutes to cut the lead to a single goal.

It was as close as they got, however, as Caulry recovered their composure and took a comfortable lead into the last quarter. A good move down the field was rewarded with their first score of the half after 36 minutes when O’Faolain grabbed another point.

The next score proved to be the turning point as the green flag was raised for a second time by the Mount Temple team. The Athlone revival was halted as Aoife McDermott scored a goal after 40 minutes to leave it 2-6 to 1-2 in Caulry's favour. A neat exchange of passes between McDermott and Burns led to the insurance score.

Athlone kept in touch with another Gibbons free kick heading into the last quarter. There was no late drama in the final 15 minutes with just two further scores to take note of. Caulry closed their account when Grace Shortall scored a point after 47 minutes to increase the lead to seven. Another Gibbons free two minutes later was Athlone's last of the game as the final petered out to its conclusion.

Trailing by six points heading into the closing stages, Athlone needed goals to get back into contention and tried hard to manoeuvre into a position to find the net. Sally Fleming and Leigha Donlon were prominent in their attempts at raising green flags, but Caulry held firm despite the increased pressure.

The ball did end up in the Caulry net in stoppage time but was ruled out by the referee. Nearly seven additional minutes added to the tension with Athlone pushing hard but to no avail and Caulry were soon celebrating victory.

Westmeath LGFA secretary Stephanie Kilmurray presented the cup to the winning captain Grace Shortall as Caulry completed their campaign with more silverware. The winners' management team consisted of Niall Shortall, Bernard Corcoran, Gareth McDermott and Marion Nolan.

Player of the match: Erin O’Faolain (Caulry). The Caulry number eleven set her team on the road to success with their first goal, while three further points confirmed her placing as top scorer in the final.

Scorers – Caulry: E O’Faolain 1-3; A McDermott 1-0; K Lynam 0-2 (1 free); K Burns and G Shortall 0-1 each. Athlone: S Fleming 1-0; K Gibbons 0-3 (3f); I Tierney 0-1.

Caulry - Grace Donohoe; Emma Allen-O’Loughlin, Aisling Murphy, Ellen Shortall; Ciara Nally, Sophie Padden, Clodagh Shortall; Grace Shortall, Aoife McDermott; Kelly Lynam, Erin O’Faolain, Amelia Nally; Anna Walsh, Karissa Burns, Tara Collins. Subs: Ellie Buckley for Collins (H-T); Grace David for Allen-O’Loughlin (43 mins).

Athlone - Gabriela Wyrzykowska; Rose Fleming, Lauren Daly, Sadhbh Hughes; Cindy Zhang, Leigha Donlon, Katie Gibbons; Emma Killian, Abbie Ganly; Lucia Wright, Eabha McGlynn, Caoimhe Nolan; Sally Fleming, Mia Buckley, Alesha White. Subs: Anna McCourt and Isobel Tierney for Ganly and Wright (H-T).

Referee - Vinny Cox (Rosemount).