Castleisland Desmonds land first AIB Munster Senior club title since 1986

AIB Munster Ladies Senior Club Final 

Castleisland Desmonds (Kerry) 3-8 Comeragh Rangers (Waterford) 1-10

Three early goals helped Castleisland Desmonds overcome Comeragh Rangers in the AIB Munster LGFA senior final at Mallow on Sunday afternoon.

A first Munster Senior A provincial title win since 1986 was forged during a devastating opening spell.

Castleisland Desmonds stormed out of the traps to lead 3-3 to 0-2 with barely 11 minutes on the clock. Comeragh Rangers could have folded at that juncture but fought back impressively to trail by six at the short whistle.

In the second period, Castleisland kept their opponents at arm’s length and ran out merited winners.

In front of a huge attendance, Comeragh were on the scoreboard inside the first minute. Emma Murray gathered possession from the throw-in, raced clear and split the posts.

That is about as good as it got for the Waterford champions however, as their opponents assumed complete control.

Andrea Murphy got on the end of a flowing move and found the back of the net after 3 minutes. No sooner had that green flag been raised when the umpire was stretching for it again. Amy Curtin billowed the net to make it 2-0 to 0-1.

A stunned Rangers looked to rebound when Aoife Murray fired over their second point. Castleisland continued to dominate and Lorraine Scanlon kicked two consecutive points before Andrea Murphy added another.

Comeragh’s hopes looked dashed once the Kerry senior champions sliced through for Amy Curtin to net her second goal and make it 3-3 to 0-2.

Creditably, the Waterford side finally settled and their defence got to grips with Desmonds’ imposing forward line.

Aoibhe Shankey landed a free and then Ava Connolly leapt high to beat goalkeeper Jennifer Drumm, palming the ball into the net. Julia Curtin and Ava Connolly swapped points to end the half with Castleisland comfortably six points ahead.

The second period saw Comeragh Rangers enjoy plenty of possession but get little change out of a Castleisland defence superbly marshalled by Ciara O’Sullivan.

Julia Curtin (free) extended the Kerry side’s advantage as chances became harder to come by with both defences tightening up. Katie Murray (free) responded for Comeragh who were handed an additional boost when Aishling Leonard was sin-binned for 10 minutes.

Aoife Murray scored and it was 3-6 to 1-6 with less than quarter of an hour to go as Lorraine Scanlon kicked her third.

Áine Power and Kate Murray (two frees) swapped scores with Desmonds’ Julia Curtin during a frantic finale.

Yet, as they had done all afternoon, Castleisland Desmonds’ defence stood firm and ensured the Munster title headed to Kerry.

Scorers for Castleisland Desmonds: A Curtin 2-0, A Murphy 1-1, J Curtin 0-4 (4f), L Scanlon 0-3.

Scorers for Comeragh Rangers: A Connolly 1-1, K Murray 0-3 (3f), A Murray, Á Power 0-2 each, E Murray, A Shankey (1f) 0-1 each.

CASTLEISLAND DESMONDS: J Drumm; S Murphy, E Lynch, C O’Sullivan (captain); G Kearney, K O’Connor, C Lynch; L Scanlon, A Curtin; A Leonard, A Murphy, L Griffin; J Curtin, L Walmsley, K O’Connor.

Subs: H Herlihy for S Murphy (ht), H Bourke for H Herlihy (51), R Cronin for K O’Connor (60).

COMERAGH RANGERS: A Norris, N Dunphy, T Kelly, O Kennedy; C Hassett, C Murray, A Murray; E Murray (captain), K Corbett Barry; Á Power, K Murray, M Power; S Shankey, E Power, A Connolly.

Subs: S Dunphy for A Shankey (ht), E Bolger for C Hassett (44), C Power for M Power (51).

Referee: Conor McCarthy (Cork).