Banner breeze past West Clare Gaels

Banner Ladies 4-12   West Clare Gaels 2-8

West Clare Gaels will reflect on their first half display as being a deciding moment in their 2009 campaign. They only led by a point at half time, having played with the strong wind in the opening 30 minutes.

Although Katie Geoghegan scored a second half goal from a penalty, the 2008 beaten finalists missed a spot kick in the opening half.
West Clare Gaels led 0-7 to 1-3 at half time, with Sonya Maher having scored the goal for the eventual winners.
Louise Henchy scored their second goal after half time and from there on, the Banner girls were looking the likelier winners.
Maher added another goal, while county player Niamh Keane scored their remaining goal.
While West Clare Gaels will feel that they should have made more of their first half advantage, their real mistake was in losing to Kilmihil in the group play-off stages.
While nobody can say for certain, if they had topped their group and played Fergus Rovers in the county semi-final, it’s very likely that they would now be preparing for Saturday’s county final.
As it is, Banner ladies are back in the final and will take some beating this weekend.

Banner: Aoife Davoren, Niamh Kavanagh, Jane Kennedy, Laurie Ryan, Aoife Martin, Michelle Delaney, Lorna Higgins; Katie Cahill, Sarah Hoey; Louise Henchy, Niamh Keane, Naomi Carroll, Sonya Maher (captain), Niamh O’Dea, Louise Woods.
Subs used: Emma O’Driscoll, Shónagh Enright, Niamh Walsh, Niamh Martin.

West Clare Gaels: Megan McGrath, Rita Boland, Kathleen Foley (captain), Suzie O’Gorman, Ciara Harvey, Sinead Kelly, Saoirse McGrath; Michelle Downes, Deirdre Troy; Shauna Harvey, Leanne Lynch, Katie Geoghegan, Majella Griffin, Denise Geaney, Niamh Lardener.
Subs used: Lisa Harte, Lauren McMahon.