Carnacon’s finest hour

SHARING THE MOMENT?Carnacon captain Marie Corbett celebrates with the Dolores Tyrrell Memorial Cup and her team-mates after Sunday’s TESCO HomeGrown All-Ireland Senior Club Final at Carrick-on-Shannon.?Pic: Sportsfile

Carnacon’s finest hour


Final
Carnacon 1-6
Donaghmoyne 0-8

Mike Finnerty
Carrick-on-Shannon

THE sight of the entire Carnacon team defending en masse, protecting their own goal, preserving their lead in the dying seconds of last Sunday’s All-Ireland club final is an image that will stand the test of time for their loyal supporters.
It was a powerful snapshot of what has made this remarkable group of women so successful over the last fifteen seasons. All for one, and one for all.
They hassled, harried, tackled, blocked, chased and ran themselves into the ground in pursuit of victory, shutting Donaghmoyne out for the last fifteen minutes to snatch a famous victory that was as hard-fought as it was deserved.
Carnacon won the Dolores Tyrell Cup for the fifth time last weekend because they worked together, backed each other up, and refused to give in, even when swimming against the tide in the first half, in particular.
Donaghmoyne, the team that stripped the Mayo champions of their title last year, threatened to over-run their old foes in the first period but failed abysmally to convert territory and possession into scores, and paid the ultimate price.
The Monaghan ladies, a fine side in their own right, will have huge regrets this week, and their thirteen wides in the first half will haunt them in the months ahead.
In contrast, Carnacon were ruthlessly efficient and, crucially, they struck for the only goal of the day five minutes into the second half when Cora Staunton smacked home a penalty.
The score rejuvenated both the player and her team, and they were much more formidable opponents from there on.
The sides were level at the end of an absorbing, yet disjointed, first half (0-3 apiece) as Carnacon hung on grimly in the face of relentless pressure and wave after wave of Donaghmoyne attacks.
The ‘full-court press’ approach of the Monaghan ladies caused Carnacon huge problems in terms of winning possession from their own kick-outs, but a litany of wides and missed opportunities meant that they were unable to pull away.
They led on three occasions in that opening half, but each time Cora Staunton hit the target (including twice from frees) to reel the holders back in.
Carnacon were out-of-sorts, overall, but hanging on in there.
By the interval an arm wrestle was in prospect.
Cathriona McConnell (who was well contained by the excellent Caroline McGing) converted a free after the restart to nudge Donaghmoyne ahead, but the fun was only starting.
There were five minutes on the clock when the lively Aoife Brennan was brought down in the square, and Cora stepped up to drill a penalty down the middle of Linda Martin’s goal.
Carnacon were ahead for the first time, against the head.
Their two-point lead lasted only three minutes as Rosemary Courtney and Majella Woods nailed quickfire scores to level the match for the fourth time.
Carnacon’s policy of running at the heart of Donaghmoyne’s defence was starting to pay off though, and Staunton lost both her ‘shadow’ Sharon Courtney and friends, to break through and fire over the lead score again.
Inside four minutes, the Ulster champions were ahead once more after Cathriona McConnell kicked a couple of frees in quick succession. It seemed that Carnacon had met their match.
The winners saved their best football though for the last fifteen minutes as, all over the field, they upped their game.
Goalkeeper Michelle Higgins marshalled her troops impressively, while the full-back line of Caroline McGing, Noelle Tierney and Sharon McGing shut up shop, and Marie Corbett led by example in the half-back line.
Claire Egan, Doireann Hughes and Martha Carter also got a grip around the middle while Michelle McGing rolled back the years on the ‘forty’. Around them, Fiona McHale and Cora went to work again too.
The tireless Michelle McGing levelled the match for the sixth and final time on 47 minutes and Cora swung over what turned out to be the winning score less than sixty seconds later.
The last quarter of an hour saw Carnacon under siege but they refused to surrender. They got what they deserved.

CARNACON
M Higgins; S McGing, N Tierney, C McGing; M Corbett, E Flannery, A Loftus; C Egan, M Carter; D Hughes, M McGing (0-1), F McHale; A Brennan, C Staunton (1-5, 1-0 pen, 2fs), M Corbett.

DONAGHMOYNE
L Martin; J Geoghegan, F Courtney, H Kingham; L Kingham, S Courtney, J Courtney; A Casey, C Courtney; E McElroy, F Lafferty, R Courtney (0-1); C McConnell (0-4, 4fs), M Woods (0-2), N Callan (0-1).
Subs used: S McConnell for J Courtney.

Referee: P Kehoe (Carlow)