Banner Ladies crowned county champions

Banner Ladies 1-14
West Clare Gaels 1-13

NIAMH O’Dea inspired Banner Ladies to a deserved county final triumph at Doonbeg on Saturday evening.

For most of the game they looked the better side but were never able to definitively shake off a determined West Clare Gaels.
The losers had the better start, with Bríd Troy getting on the board within seconds of the throw-in.
O’Dea had the first of her eight scores in the third minute, seconds after a free had been dropped into the ’keeper’s grateful arms. At the other end, Troy had a goal chance but Clare Walsh made amends for an initial error of judgement with a timely block down.
The impressive Niamh Keane and Niamh Boland traded points, making it 0-2 each, before Niamh Henchy put the Banner back in front with a free from 35m after eight minutes.
The Banner goal came through O’Dea in the 15th minute when she gathered a long ball and drove it past Megan McGrath.
Niamh Lardner was on target for the Gaels, before O’Dea replied in the 17th minute. Banner Ladies were becoming very dominant as Louise Henchy, from a free and Rebecca Culligan, from play, added points. Niamh Keane chipped in with a fine score from the left wing, bringing it to 1-7 to 0-3 and it looked like a very long road back for the West Clare side.
However, the gap was closed significantly before half-time, with West Clare Gaels having a storming finish to cut the gap to just a goal. The recovery began with a Denise Geaney point after a fine run from Katie Geoghegan, who was just back from the US and who caused a lot of problems for the winners.
After that, Bríd Troy pointed two frees in the closing minutes, while Lardner was also on target from a placed ball.
Eva O’Dea was introduced at the break and she made an impact with a point in the early minutes of the second half. Niamh O’Dea added another, stretching the Banner lead to five. However, the Gaels hit back again, scoring three points on the trot to leave the gap at 0-10 to 1-9.
Henchy stopped the rot from a Banner point of view, finishing off a good move in the 12th minute but her side were hit with another blow less than 90 seconds later when Clare Walsh was sin-binned after a rather reckless tackle.
Troy pointed the resulting free, which cut the gap to two again but Niamh O’Dea had the next three points, all three inspirational efforts offering the perfect tonic to a team reduced to 14.
Henchy was also very good during this period but the Banner’s difficulties were compounded when Niamh Keane was also sent to the sin-bin, apparently for a comment directed at referee Michael Talty.
As in the first half, the Gaels ate into the Banner lead in the last 10 minutes but they came up short. Troy pointed another free in the 22nd minute, which cut the margin to four. Then in the 27th minute, Maria Kelly found the net after a lay-off from Troy. She finished coolly but was left in a bit of space, with tiredness possibly afflicting some members of the Banner rearguard.
That brought it back to just a point and indeed the Gaels could have tied it up but for an effort that dropped short. Then in the last minute of normal time, Niamh O’Dea showed her class again with an excellent and very valuable point.
In injury time Deirdre Troy was sin-binned but the Gaels had one last chance to take the title, when Katie Geoghegan stepped up to a close-in free with a goal required. However, her blasting effort wasn’t successful, as the ball went over the bar and the final whistle sounded afterwards.
Banner Ladies were deserving winners and at times it looked as if it might be a bit more comfortable. They were well served by Louise Henchy, Niamh Keane and Niamh O’Dea. West Clare Gaels fought gamely but struggled to win their own kick-outs and ended up under pressure consequently. They also failed to rein in Niamh O’Dea, who did much harm to their prospects. On the day the Gaels were well served by Brid Troy, Niamh Lardner and Katie Geoghegan.

Banner Ladies: Emma O’Driscoll; Rebecca Culligan, Clare Walsh, Laurie Ryan; Louise Woods, Katie Cahill, Sinéad O’Keeffe; Shónagh Enright, Louise Henchy; Aoife Martin, Naomi Carroll, Niamh Keane; Sonya Maher, Niamh O’Dea, Mary Tierney.
Subs: Eva O’Dea for Sonya Maher, Orlaith Lynch for Mary Tierney and Grainne Nolan for Orlaith Lynch.
Scorers: Niamh O’Dea (1-7), Louise Henchy (0-3, 2f), Niamh Keane (0-2), Rebecca Culligan (0-1), Eva O’Dea (0-1).
Frees for: 31; wides: 8
Yellow cards: Clare Walsh and Niamh Keane.
“When we got six or seven points up we should have driven on from there but they came back at us and they weren’t All-Ireland champions for nothing.” Joe Reidy, manager

West Clare Gaels: Megan McGrath; Suzie O’Gorman, Shauna Harvey, Kathleen Foley; Marie Foran, Deirdre Troy, Gráinne Harvey; Michelle Downes, Leanne Lynch; Rita Boland, Denise Geaney, Katie Geoghegan; Niamh Lardner, Bríd Troy, Maria Kelly.
Subs: Ciara Harvey for Suzie O’Gorman and Lauren McMahon for Leanne Lynch. 
Scorers: Bríd Troy (0-6, 5f), Niamh Lardner (0-3f), Maria Kelly (1-0), Katie Geoghegan (0-2, 1f), Denise Geaney and Rita Boland (0-1) each.
Frees for: 34; wides: 7
Yellow cards: Deirdre Troy
“We let them get a lead and they’re a good team but I’m very proud of the girls. They put in a great performance.” Michael O’Shea, manager

Referee: Michael Talty, Kilmurry Ibrickane.