Clarecastle win first adult football title

Clarecastle  8-17

Parteen St Nicholas  0-1

Unbeaten Clarecastle cruised to their first adult ladies’ football title after a clinical demolition of rank outsiders Parteen St Nicholas in Miltown on Sunday.

Munster U-14 doubles champion Doireann Murphy came off the bench early in the second half to put the game beyond St Nicholas’ reach with three well-taken goals.
In spite of finishing with 3-1, Doireann still didn’t manage to collect the player of the game award, which was deservedly won by another talented Magpies ladies’ footballer, Lauren Tuohy.
Still U-15, Tuohy excelled throughout with great workrate and intensity as well as some excellent point taking. These are just two of the promising young Magpies footballers who captured their first underage trophy by defeating Miltown in the Division Four Championship final.
Overall, Clarecastle were just too strong in virtually every position of the field for the gallant Parteen, who tried hard to keep up with their superior opponents.
Trailing by 2-6 to 0-1 at the interval, despite playing with the breeze, Parteen needed early scores after the change of ends to make the scoreline look a little more respectable. However, the South-East Clare side was unable to add to the solitary point from Vanessa Radcliffe.
The Parteen defence was under tremendous pressure throughout, as Clarecastle kept attacking in waves. With Gráinne Lynch, Jane Scanlon and Niamh Daly dominant in the Clarecastle defence and Marie Lynch impressive at midfield, the Clarecastle attack was provided with plenty of possession and didn’t disappoint, with some clinical finishing.
Lauren Tuohy tormented the Parteen defence with her tireless running and support play while Charlene Reynolds, who scored two goals, and Sharon Quinn also caught the eye. Despite conceding seven goals, Parteen keeper Kirsty Cahill did produce a string of good saves, including three point-blank blocks in the 13th, 24th and 29th minutes to prevent the winners from adding to their first-half tally.
Parteen captain Jessica O’Keeffe played well when introduced as a substitute, while their over-worked full-back line of Niamh Nash, Colleen Meyer and Claire O’Shea tried hard.
Under the management of Eoin Brennan, Dave Mullen, Mary Torpey and Declan Clohessy, Clarecastle Ladies Football Club, which was reformed last year after a lengthy absence of about 15 years, have enjoyed a meteoric rise to success.
Last year, their adult side captured the Junior B Championship Shield last November and built on this success by remaining unbeaten in all their group games before clinching the title in impressive fashion.
Next year, the women in black and white should be very competitive, at least when they join the junior A ranks, and could easily surprise some of the big guns in the championship. 
Parteen St Nicholas Ladies’ Football Club was founded in early 2011 and managed to register their first historic win over Meelick in this year’s championship in the sixth round and went on to repeat this feat in the play-off to qualify for the decider.
Clarecastle: Sinéad Reidy; Niamh Keogh, Gráinne Lynch (captain), Sinéad Frawley; Maria Lyons, Jane Scanlon, Niamh Daly; Zelma Power, Marie Lynch; Lauren Tuohy, Catherine Curran, Ruth O’Gorman; Elaine Lyons, Charlene Reynolds, Sharon Quinn.
Subs: Helen McAuliffe, (half-time) for Maria Lyons, Doireann Murphy (35 mins) for Elaine Lyons, Catriona Reynolds (40 mins) for Charlene Reynolds, Ciara Lynch (45 mins) for Ruth O’Gorman, Michelle Kelly (47 mins) for Sinéad Frawley.
Scorers: Doireann Murphy (3-1), Charlene Reynolds (2-0), Lauren Tuohy, (0-6, 2f), Sharon Quinn (1-3), Gráinne Lynch (1-0) Ruth O’Gorman (1-1), Jane Scanlon (0-2, 1f), Niamh Keogh (0-1), Catherine Curran (0-1), Catriona Reynolds (0-1), Elaine Lyons (0-1).
Parteen St Nicolas: Kirsty Cahill; Niamh Nash, Colleen Meyer, Kiara Killbridge; Rachel Tobin, Simone Clogan, Amy O’Connor; Sarah Hastings, Emma Hastings; Sarah Collery, Regina Pierce, Rebecca O’Shea; Vanessa Radcliffe, Lizan Chiu, Shauna Keogh.
Subs: Jessica O’Keeffe (20 mins) for Emma Hastings, injured; Claire O’Shea (50 mins) for Kiara Killbridge; Claire O’Brien (50 mins) for Lizan Chu; Aisling Reale (60 mins) for Rebecca O’Shea; Rachel McCormack (60 mins) for Niamh Nash.
Scorer: Vanessa Radcliffe (0-1).
Player of the Game: Lauren Tuohy, Clarecastle
Referee: Sean Ryan, Kilrush Shamrocks.