Sligo turn on the style to capture ZuCar All-Ireland U-18 B title

ZuCar All-Ireland U-18 B final

Sligo 1-13

Tyrone 0-7

By Liam Maloney

COMPOSED and effective Sligo made a brilliant breakthrough at national level in the U-18 age group thanks to a nine-point defeat of Tyrone in ZuCar All-Ireland U-18 B final at Enniskillen.

Led by Anna McDaniel and Cara King’s efforts, with 0-6 from free-taker Ellen Giblin, Sligo led throughout, with the icing on the cake coming when Rachel McGoldrick netted in the last 10 minutes.

Sligo were appearing in their second successive All-Ireland final at ‘B’ level, aiming to overcome last year’s defeat to Kerry,

This was a first-ever ‘B’ final for Tyrone, with the Ulster county already having made a name for themselves in the ‘A’ grade – they won the top tier in 2000 and also contested ‘A’ finals in 2001, 2008 and 2012.

In warm and sunny conditions, with Enniskillen’s Brewster Park looking splendid, it was Sligo who opened the scoring through Ellen Giblin’s converted free.

Sligo controlled possession early on and would have been more than happy with a 0-4 to 0-1 lead after 15 minutes, with Tyrone’s first score coming from star forward Sorcha Gormley.

Four players contributed Sligo’s scores at this stage, including tidy efforts from play by team captain Ciara Walsh and Keeva Flynn.

Tyrone captain Gormley carried the biggest attacking threat for the Ulster county and Sligo did well to restrict her to just one pointed free in the opening period.

Sligo were well worth their six-point interval lead, 0-7 to 0-1, even if, given the amount of possession they enjoyed, their advantage could have been greater.

Free-taker Giblin contributed three of the Connacht county’s seven first-half scores and their best point was an outside-of-the-boot effort by Keeva Flynn.

Sligo started the second-half well with a fine point by the impressive McDaniel but a superb brace from Gormley kick-started Tyrone’s title ambitions.

A big block on Tyrone substitute Catherine Moohan’s goalbound effort was a turning point as Sligo maintained a sizeable lead through free-taker Gibin’s accuracy.

Midway through the second-half Sligo corner-back Aoibheann Durcan raided upfield to score and then another quality point from McDaniel extended the gap to eight points, 0-12 to 0-4,

Gormley kicked a fine point to keep Tyrone’s hopes alive and only a great save from Tyrone goalkeeper Ella McCaffrey, who denied McGoldrick, prevented Sligo from gaining total control.

But McGoldrick wasn’t to be denied and her soccer-style finish from close-range with seven minutes of normal time left sealed the deal for an effective Sligo.

Sligo then had to cope without goalscorer McGoldrick who was sent to the sin-bin in the 57th minute.

The winners were denied a second goal in additional time when Blaithin Lavin was thwarted by Tyrone goalkeeper Ella McCaffrey and then the crossbar.

Scorers – Sligo: E Giblin 0-6 (5f), A McDaniel 0-3, R McGoldrick 1-0, K Flynn 0-2, C Walsh 0-1, A Durcan 0-1.

Tyrone: S Gormley 0-4 (1f), C Moohan 0-2 (2f), E Murphy (0-1).

SLIGO: C Gallagher; H Redican, L Galvin, A Durcan; E Mitchell, C Walsh, J Gabbidon; J Dunleavy, C King; A McDaniel, K Flynn, B Lavin; J Monaghan, R McGoldrick, E Giblin. Subs: T Hastings for E Mitchell (39), O Murphy for J Monaghan (59), S Corcoran for B Lavin (60+4).

TYRONE: E McCaffrey; T McMullan, E Conlon, A Marlow; C McCoubrey, E McCrossan, C Quinn; A Quinn, M Campbell; C Crozier, S Gormley, H Calvan; A Sheehy, N Donaghy, B McBride. Subs: C Moohan for N Donaghy (25), E Murphy for M Campbell (h-t), K Owens for  H Cavlan (h-t), C Hughes for C Quinn (41), N Quinn for A Quinn (55).

Referee: Ray McBride (Dublin).