All-Ireland Ladies Club JFC: Na Dúnaibh hold off Kilcock
December 01, 2024
Shannon McGroddy of Na Dunaibh gathers possession. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
By Frank Craig
Na Dúnaibh (Donegal) 1-7
Kilcock (Kildare) 0-7
Na Dúnaibh are through to the AIB All-Ireland JFC final after a battling effort on home soil just about held off the challenge of Kilcock.
In the end, it was captain Sinead McBride’s golden goal at the midpoint of the first-half that ultimately settled matters.
And Barney Curran’s side also owes a real debt of gratitude to goalkeeper Charlie Shevlin who twice denied the Kildare outfit with stunning blocks.
Matters were deadlocked at the break at 1-3 to 0-6 but with Kilcock only scoring once after the restart, Na Dúnaibh’s extra guile and know-how was enough to see them through.
The visitors were off the mark first through the prolific Grace White (free) inside the opening seconds but the hosts hit back as Lauren McBride notched a pair of frees to give Na Dúnaibh the lead for the first time on six minutes.
The Kildare outfit then grabbed a brace of their own as White was again on the mark, one from a free and one from a play, as the pendulum continued to swing early on.
On the quarter-hour mark, Na Dúnaibh stole a real march when Sinead McBride arrowed brilliantly to the corner of the net.
Still, Kilcock recovered admirably to rattle off the next three scores through Aisling O’Connor, twice, and White as Kilcock went from two down to one in front at 0-6 to 1-2.
In a tight contest, McBride grabbed her third to square it and, just before the break, a brilliant save from home stopper Charlie Shevlin denied White and Kilcock a green flag of their own.
The second-half scoring didn’t get going until the 36th minute but when it did Amy McLaughlin scored a brilliant set of points for Na Dúnaibh as they moved 1-5 to 0-6 ahead.
With the game creeping into the last quarter, White again halved the deficit for the visitors as Joseph Kennedy’s side really started to turn the screw.
And with O’Connor getting through the middle, it took another superb save from Shevlin to keep Na Dúnaibh’s lead intact.
Na Dúnaibh survived that spell and at the other end Denise Doherty did well to win a free that allowed McBride to once again nudge the hosts two clear.
In added time substitute Danni Shevlin relieved even more pressure as the gap widened to three and they survived five minutes of added time to reach the final.
Na Dúnaibh scorers: L McBride 0-4 (0-3f); S McBride 1-0; A McLaughlin 0-2; D Shevlin 0-1.
Kilcock scorers: G White 0-5 (0-4)f; A O’Connor 0-2.
Na Dúnaibh: C Shevlin; J Roberts, C Hay, M Doherty; A O’Connell, E Trearty, M Wilkin; J Trearty, C McLaughlin; A McLaughlin, M T Boyce, S McBride; D Doherty, S McGroddy, L McBride. Subs: N Gallagher for O’Connell (23), D Shevlin for Boyce (53), Aobha Pasoma for D Doherty (60).
Kilcock: E Kelly; L Gibbons, A McGrath, A Morrow; R Cribbin, E Maguire, T McGonagle; S Byrne, S O’Sullivan; E Robinson, A O’Connor, S Lavin; E Powderly, G White, S Nolan. Sub: J Dalton for Robinson (56).
Referee: G Canny (Mayo).
