Ladies Gaelic Football

ladiesgaelic.ie // 33 DIVISION 4 FINAL University College Dublin (3) 4-6 Mary Immaculate College (2) 2-11 Mary Immaculate College had a great start against the UCD thirds in the Division 4 Final. Galway's Caoimhe Ní Cheallaigh opened the scoring in the third minute – a sign of things to come from the Caltra Cuans attacker, who was Mary I's best player over the hour. Muireann Boyce quickly added a second point but despite all their good work, Richard Bowles charges soon found themselves on the back- foot, with Dublin's Diana Farrell taking a well-worked goal. UCD continued to press hard, while at the opposite end luck wasn't going Mary I's way. Muireann Boyce and Emily Corcoran both had efforts come off the post in the eighth minute, before Aisling Ryle levelled the tie. Ní Cheallaigh edged Mary I in front, but a Farrell score levelled the tie at 0-4 to 1-01 after 12 minutes. Mary Immaculate College responded in perfect fashion, scoring 2-1 unanswered in a 90-second spell. After 17 minutes Mary I were 2-0 to 1-01 ahead but UCD were kept in the game through another Farrell goal. Mary I finished the half ahead by 2-08 to 2-02. As the game was in the balance in the second half, both side made changes to try and gain the edge. Emer McNally introduced for Sadhbh Nic Uileagoid and Rose Mernagh replacing Grace Heffernan for UCD; while Roisin O'Driscoll replaced Keelie O'Connor for Mary I. With about 20 minutes to go Aisling Baumann scored a point to give Mary I a five point lead. They wouldn't register another score until injury time which allowed UCD to stage their comeback. The Dublin college kept chipping away at the opposition but it wasn't until Kildare's Roisín Forde scored a wonder goal from 30 metres in the first minute of injury-time to give UCD the lead for the first time since the eighth minute. DIVISION 5 FINAL Marino Institute of Education 5-04 Ulster University Magee 3-05 Marino Institute of Education had their strong start to thank for their final success in Kingspan Breffni Park in the Gourmet Food Parlour Ladies HEC Division 5 League Final. Despite having all the possession, Marino narrowly missed the target a number of times in the first quarter. After a penalty in the 20th minute which was converted by Orlaith Durcan they had a 2-02 to 0-02 lead. Magee fought back towards the end of the first half with Niamh Murray from the Clann Eireann club in Armagh bagging a goal in the 26th minute to leave it 2-02 to 1-03 at half time. Magee were aggressive in their attack after the restart with Murray leading the charge with another 2-01 to her name early in the second half. It was the 37th minute when Marino scored again. They used their bench to great effect, Shaunagh Maher making a significant impact when she came on, scoring a goal within two minutes of taking to the field. Although Magee kept the pressure on, Marino were able to dominate in the finishing stages through determined performances from Kate Fitzgibbon (Player of the Match), Eilish O'Dowd, Anna Murphy and Aine Ward. DIVISION 6 FINAL A strong first half display provided the basis for DIT's second team to capture Division 6 honours on home turf at DIT Grangegorman.DIT began this game in powerful fashion and led by 1-5 to 0-0 after nine minutes, with early points from Hanley, Shannon Rock (2), Kate Dwyer (2) and Catriona Crosby, before Dwyer found the net for the first goal of the game. St Pat's DCU offered a perfect response with their opening score a goal from Rebecca Conlon. Diuri McDonald added a second goal to cut the gap to two points. However, DIT were solid during the opening half and quickly had 1-7 unanswered before the break. DCU dominated the opening stages of the second half, but only added 1-1 during this spell. Meadhbh McBride registered their first point of the game in the 34th minute, before they found the net yet again, after a good passing move, with their captain Rachel Hogan finishing to the net. DIT responded with points from Whelan and Hanley, before Rebecca Conlon and Hannah Farrell notched a point each for DCU. Kate Dwyer completed her hat-trick in the 52nd minute, but DCU continued to press hard, and were rewarded with a Farrell goal on 58 minutes. Although DCU kept pressuring through the boot of Rebecca Conlon, they couldn't find a way to catch DIT in the closing stages of the game. After the game Ladies HEC PRO Cóilín Duffy presented DIT Captain Aisling Hanley with the Cup, while Christina Beirne received the Gourmet Food Parlour Player of the Match award. GOURMET FOOD PARLOUR HEC DIVISION 2-6 LEAGUE FINALS PEIL Winter | Issue No 4 | Volume 14 Division 3 Winners- DIT

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