(CDSL Women’s Shield Final)
Tulla Utd 6-1 Corofin Harps
On Sunday the culmination of the Women’s soccer season took place in Frank Healy Park with both the Shield and the Cup final. The opening act of a huge day for Ladies Soccer saw current league champions Tulla United complete a double of sorts when adding the shield to their trophy cabinet. It may not have been the Cup they would have hoped for but it has been a massively successful year for Colm Perill’s girls.
Their opponents in the final Corofin Harps definitely played their part and the final scoreline of 6-1 certainly doesn’t reflect their spirited efforts. Perill’s girls did dominate possession but that would have been expected considering their recent title success. Tulla found it difficult to break down a resolute Corofin defence and the Harps did use the counter attack to good effect when creating some early opportunities and indeed forced Tulla keeper Ava O’Donovan into a series of decent saves.
After the settling down period Tulla upped the ante and took the lead when a clever through ball from Eleanor Stafford found Karen Galvin who made no mistake with a clinical finish. The lead was doubled shortly afterwards when a Corofin defender was unfortunate to turn the ball into their own net. Tulla kept applying the pressure and forced Corofin net minder Molly Cox into a series of saves.
The Harps number one couldn’t do anything about the third as a Siomha Perill rocket from the edge of the area effectively sealed the deal for Tulla. Two more goals followed before the half ended with Emma Deegan finding the net and another unfortunate own goal. Corofin bravely battled for…
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CDSL Women’s Cup Final
Hermitage 1-2 Moher Celtic
The second act of the day saw a thrilling Cup final and a come from behind victory as defending champions Hermitage took on a Moher Celtic club celebrating their twenty five year anniversary. It turned out to be a fairytale first foray into female football for the North Clare club with Aoife Fitzpatrick grabbing the all important winner. Fitzpatrick’s ambitious strike from out on the right wing caused consternation in the Tage box as the ball nestled perfectly into the far top corner of Kayla Hickey’s net. It was the decisive moment in an already dramatic final between the masters from the town club Hermitage and the apprentices from North Clare.
As if penned by a Hollywood scriptwriter there was an own goal for either side and a missed penalty in a pulsating rip roaring encounter. Played in the bright sunshine alongside a stiff wind that engulfed Frank Healy Park Hermitage settled better which isn’t a surprise giving their big game experience. Crucially though for Dave Commane and Cobhan Philpson’s charges they were rock solid at the back and indeed the longer the game went on the more the North Clare club grew into the contest.
Soaking up early first half pressure Moher had a golden opportunity to take the lead when they were awarded a spot kick after Shannon Cagney was unceremoniously bundled to the floor giving referee Darius Mostovy no choice but to award the penalty. Unfortunately the…