10 November 2009 All-Ireland Nenior Club Semi-Final Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! All-Ireland Nenior Club Semi-Final. Carnacon Shoot themselves———- in the foot By Fr Liam Kelleher Donoughmore 2-6 Carnacon 1-8. How Carnacon, contrived to lose this game, will ever remain a mystery. Apart from their own supporters who travelled in numbers, even the most partisan home followers in the huge crowd, must have felt sorry for them, as they were left to travel back the long journey to Mayo with nothing. They had lost their Senior All-Ireland crown as well, losing a game they never should have lost. Despite the previous days rain, the conditions in Donoughmore on Sunday, were reasonable, the ground indeed was sticky and that sapped the energy of both teams and may have contributed a little to the demise of Carnacon who let a 2 goal lead slip in the closing 6 minutes. Mistakes can play a vital role, in any game and 2 defensive mistakes cost the Mayo girls dearly. Indeed such was their dominance throughout the hour or should we say 55 minutes, they should never have been in danger. Spare a thought for unfortunate keeper Caroline Brennan who left a speculative shot from Rena Buckley, squirm form her hands and roll into the net. Keepers can make mistakes even the top professional soccer keepers, but Caroline must not be the scapegoat of this reverse, the game should have been firmly out of Donoughmore’s reach long before then. The goal a few minutes earlier, was of the gift variety as well with a floated free from Juliet Murphy being finished to the net by Louise Murphy.Stunning goal Cora Staunton with a stunning goal in the 54th minute looked to have sealed the deal and with Patrice Kearney sinbinned, the result looked a foregone conclusion. But sport has the ability to throw up the unexpected and it surely did here. But credit Donoughmore who looked to be on the rack for the first 20 minutes for not capitulating. Carncon playing with the slight elements were quickly into their stride and with their enigmatic Cora Staunton causing havoc they raced into a 5 point lead. They were surprisingly, having he better of the midfield exchanges, through the industry of Claire Egan and Martha Carter, despite the presence of Cork stars Rena Buckley and Juliet Murphy. It took Donoughmore almost 20 minutes to get off the mark with a Juliet Murphy free. Rena Buckley added another and they could have closed the margin to a point with the last play of the half when a speculative lob from under 14 player Orla Healy, was not capably dealt with and Juliet Murphy got a touch, but steered the ball to the wrong side of the upright. There must have been some harsh words in the Donoughmore dressing room at the interval from Mossy Barrett.. They did up the ante during the opening period of the 2nd half but found scores difficult to come by with staunch defending from Caroline McGing, Noelle Tierney, Sharon McGing and Aoife Loftus. Points from Juliet Murphy and Aisling O’Connor was answered by another from Staunton and when the Mayo girl rifled the net late on the inevitable looked on. Then fate took over and the rest is history. Donoughmore had got out of jail fortuitously one may add, but they never threw in the towel. Carnacon saw their dream of three in a row shattered and no doubt they will reflect on pieces of good fortune during their last 2 successful campaigns and in the finals against, Cork’s Inch Rovers. One in particular in last years final when Inch were dominating they grabbed a fortuitous goal after another keeper blunder, which set them up for victory. They have a terrific squad and while the Gods were not with them on Sunday, that is the cruel uncertainty of Sport. Referee Keith Tighe controlled the game with his usual efficency which was played for the most part in an exemplary sporting fmanner by both teams intent on playing football Carnaon.Caroline Brennean, Nicola Hurst, Caroline McGing, Noelle Tierney, Marie Corbett, Aoife Loftus, Sharon McGing, Claire Egan, Martha Carter, Fiona McHale, 0-1 Michelle McGing, Natasha Beegan, Joan Hallinan, Cora Staunton capt 1-7 Aoife Brennan Donoughmore Cartiona O’Connell, Eimear Walsh, Linda Barrett Rosie O’Mahony Orla Healy Aisling Barrett, 0-1 Regina Curtin 0-1 Juliet Murphy capt 0-2 Rena Buckley, 1-1, Ann Marie O’Shea, Yvonne Twomey, Patrice Kearney, Rachel Barrett, Louise Murphy 1-0 Aisling O’Connor. 0-1 Junior Semi-Final Clonakilty make it a Cork Double. Clonakilty 4-8 Corduff Monaghan 2-7. Clonakilty made history on 2 counts, on Saturday, when they reached their first All-Ireland final at their lst attempt at Junior level, when they had a comprehensive win over Ulster champions Corduff. They also had the honour of playing on their brand new state of the art facility at Ahamilla. Clonakilty are a very talented team, whose trademark play is fast open football, but the game on Saturday descended into a free ridden battle, with 89 frees awarded in all, by an over fussy official, and that must be something of a record. The Munster champions were quickly off the mark and first half goals from Sharon Whelton in the 7th minute and Erica Jennings, 6 minutes before half time gave them a 2-4 to 0-2 interval cushion, the points coming from Aoife Deasy, Juanita Brennan and Aine O’Leary. The 2nd half was not pretty either and the Monaghan girls gave themselves a lifeline, with a converted penalty in the 38th minute, for an apparent foot block. But elusive centre forward Marie O’Donovan, sealed the issue with 2 goals, with the Monaghan girls putting a better look on the scoreboard with another goal in the last minute. Again Clonakilty’s strong defense with, Claire O’Mahony, Beulah McManus the capt and Sinead O’Brien particularly effective. The O’Leary sisters Aine and Claire dominated midfield and the forwards did the rest. Clonakilty play the Connaught Champions Drunmcliffe/Rosses from Sligo in the final. Share this Article 0 0