All-Ireland U16 A Ladies Football Final
Galway 7-16 Meath 3-10
report from Jackie Cahill in Banagher
ELLEN Power sparkled at
midfield and claimed the player of the match award as Galway claimed a third
successive All-Ireland U16 A title. The Westerners produced
an impressive display to win a fifth crown in all in this grade – as 2018 Final
Player of the Match Chellene Trill lifted the silverware as skipper in
Banagher.
Meath were spirited in
defeat and before the game, they sported tee-shirts in solidarity with
colleague Aoife Hughes, who is battling cancer. The Royals had 1-3 from
both Ciara Smyth and Nicole Smith but Galway’s scores came from eight sources,
including both midfielders and five of the starting forwards. Kate Slevin, player of
the match against Kerry in the 2018 Final win, Caoimhe Cleary and Laura Kelly
all finished with 2-1, as Verona Crowley starred from centre forward, adding
0-6.
In front of a huge crowd,
and with the aid of the breeze, Galway were off to a flier within two minutes
as Cleary rattled the Meath net. They roared into a 1-6 to
0-2 lead but Ciara Smyth hauled Meath back into contention with a goal in the
13th minute, and a point from the Skryne player had the Leinster
champions within three. But when Slevin was
fouled midway through the half, Laura Kelly stepped up and made no mistake, as
Galway moved six clear again.
As half-time approached,
Power bombed through from midfield to score a crucial third goal for Galway, a
score that helped them to lead by 3-10 to 1-6 at the break. That goal seemed to knock
the wind out of Meath before the interval and more green flags would follow for
Galway, four in the second half. Cleary grabbed her second
five minutes into the second half, Lara O’Neil responded in kind for Meath, but
Slevin killed the game stone dead with a quickfire brace. Goal number seven arrived
with as many minutes remaining, as Laura Kelly collected her second. Galway closed the game
out with three further points to put the seal on a comfortable win.
Scorers:
Galway: K Slevin,
L Kelly (1-0 pen) & C Cleary 2-1 each, V Crowley 0-6 (2f), E Power 1-2, E
Noone 0-2 (1f), S Brennan, M Glynn & É NicDhonnacha 0-1 each.
Meath: C Smyth
(0-1f) & N Smith 1-3 each, L O’Neill 1-1, E Brodigan, A McNulty & A
O’Dowd 0-1 each.
Galway: A Griffin; S Fahy, E Madden,
S Brennan; K Kearney, C Trill, E O’Connor; E Power, M Glynn; I Davoren, V
Crowley, C Cleary; L Kelly, E Noone, K Slevin.
Subs: T Kinneavy for O’Connor (38), É NicDhonnacha for Cleary (42), M
Banek for Fahy (44), C Boyle for Davoren (51), L Hynes for Crowley (55).
Meath: A Corcoran; K Kealy, E.J. McKeon, E
Regan; Z Matthews, L McEnery, M Clarke; E Brodigan, T Foster-Carroll; A
McNulty, A O’Dowd, C Smyth; N Smith, L O’Neil, R O’Byrne.
Subs: N McEntee for O’Byrne (36), A Martyn for McEnery (46), A Muldoon
for Brodigan (46), C Lawlor for McNulty (53), K Lenehan for O’Dowd (53).
Referee: K Phelan (Laois)
