Kilkerrin-Clonberne (Galway) 2-08 St Ergnat's, Moneyglass (Antrim) 1-05
Chloe Miskell and Lynsey Noone grabbed goals in either half at Croke Park on Saturday evening as Kilkerrin-Clonberne defeated St Ergnat's, Moneyglass to earn their fifth AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Championship crown in succession.
With 14 of last year's starting line-up returning from the final win over Kilmacud Crokes, Kilkerrin-Clonberne initially found it difficult to break down a stern Moneyglass defence.
Olivia Divilly and Eva Noone eventually kicked a point apiece from frees in the ninth and 10th minutes respectively, before ex-Antrim stalwart Cathy Carey split the posts in fine style at the opposite end.
Team captain Louise Ward fired over an excellent point from play for the title holders after a later attack, but it wasn’t until the closing 10 minutes of the opening period that the game truly sparked into life.
While Moneyglass reduced the gap to a single point through Leah Stewart, Kilkerrin-Clonberne immediately responded with a clinically-taken goal from Chloe Miskell - following excellent approach work from Hannah Noone and Nicola Ward.
This looked like being a significant blow for St Ergnat’s, but they came roaring back into contention when Stewart palmed to the net in the 24th minute after a Carey shot for a point had hit the post.
Yet a second free from Olivia Divilly ensured Kilkerrin-Clonberne were two points in front (1-04 to 1-02) at the break and the westerners increased their advantage on the restart with back-to-back scores from midfielder Aisling Madden and Eva Noone.
Miskell added to her earlier goal with a point from close-range as Kilkerrin-Clonberne slowly asserted their authority on this showpiece affair.
First-time finalists St Ergnat’s had come into this game on the back of an outstanding semi-final victory against Kilmacud Crokes, but they found themselves eight points in arrears when Niamh Divilly fed Lynsey Noone inside for a 44th minute goal.
Another score courtesy of Noone’s sister Eva had Kilkerrin-Clonberne nine points ahead moving into the final-quarter, though St Ergnat’s finally interrupted this devastating blitz from their opponents with a fine effort by Maria O’Neill.
Stewart and substitute Bronagh Devlin also found the range for the industrious Ulster side, but Kilkerrin-Clonberne subsequently dominated possession in the closing moments to retain the Dolores Tyrrell Memorial Cup.
Kilkerrin-Clonberne: L Murphy; L Finnegan, S Gormally, K Mee; H Noone, N Ward, N Divilly; S Divilly, A Madden (0-01); O Divilly (0-02, 2f), L Ward (0-01), L Noone; E Noone (0-03, 1f), C Miskell (1-01), C Costello.
Subs: E Hynes for Finnegan (52'), A Shaughnessy for Miskell (57'), C Boyle for L Noone (60').
St Ergnat's, Moneyglass: A Devlin; C Graffin, N McIntosh, L Stewart (1-02); A Leahy, S O’Neill, R Bradley; A Kelly, EL McAreavey; C Griffin, M O’Neill (0-01), L McCann; N Neeson, C Carey (0-01), E Mallon.
Subs: A Griffin for Bradley (44'), B Devlin (0-01) for Kelly (45'), A Boyd for Leahy, J Darragh for Mallon (both 57'), R McErlain for McCann (60').
Referee: Ray McBride (Dublin).
