Match Report on Carnacon's 7 in a Row

Carnacon 3-15

St. Brigid’s, Kiltoom 2-9

 

CARNACON won their seventh consecutive Connacht ladies senior club Gaelic football championship title when beating Roscommon champions St. Brigid’s Kiltoom in Tuam Stadium on Saturday.

This was the third meeting in as many years of these two teams in the final. Like the previous two, Carnacon proved too strong for the Roscommon side and ran out convincing winners.

In the opening half Brigid’s put it up to Carnacon and they were still in with every chance at half time. However, the reigning Connacht and All-Ireland champions took complete control after the break and ran out the easy winners in the end.

 

Carnacon, who have now won 14 out of the last 16 provincial finals, will meet the Munster champions in the All-Ireland semi-final. For this game, they will have home advantage and it is likely to be played on Sunday two weeks.

 

Once again Cora Staunton was the star of the show. Throughout the hour she treated the fairly large crowd to some wonderful score taking. In the end, as so often in the past, she was the real difference between the two teams.

But there were plenty of other stars in the Carnacon team and it was a very good all-round performance by the Mayo side, who showed a lot of improvement from their last outing against Corofin.

It was a brilliant opening half with the scores coming thick and fast at both ends of the field. Carnacon started off in whirlwind fashion. Cora Staunton set them on their way with a fine point in the second minute. This was followed by a fantastic goal from Natasha Beegan after some great work by several of the Carnacon players.

It got better for Carnacon in the sixth minute when Staunton crashed home the first of her two goals.

Although stunned by this massive start, St. Brigid’s fought back brilliantly. A point from Cliodhna McHugh was followed by two goals from Sinead Taylor and when Jenny Conlon added a point many began to wonder was this the end of the Carnacon reign.

They didn’t have to wait long to find out the answer as Carnacon hit back in style with a succession of points, three from Staunton and a fine effort from Doireann Hughes.

Although Brigid’s replied with points from Aine Kelly and Taylor they were hit another body blow in the 25th minute when Staunton crashed home her second goal of the afternoon. She followed with a fine point before Brigid’s kept in touch with points from Taylor and Nicole Nestor.

At half time Carnacon held a deserved four-point lead, 3-7 to 2-6. However, Brigid’s showed enough in the half that they were dangerous on the break and would make Carnacon pay for any slackness in the backs.

The second half was a totally different story. With Claire Egan and Martha Carter dominating the midfield area, Carnacon took complete control and by the end of the third quarter it was game over as they put over five points without reply to lead by nine points. Staunton scored three with the other two coming from Aoife Brennan.

In fairness to Brigid’s, they never gave up and battled all the way to the final whistle. They did manage to score three points in the final quarter, two from Conlon and one from Taylor. However, it only helped put a better look on the final scoreline.

It was a comfortable victory for Carnacon in the end but most importantly, the victory was achieved by an improved performance. They are on the right track again and are now just two wins away from winning the All-Ireland title.

Joint team manager Jimmy Corbett said after the game they were delighted to have won another Connacht title and looked forward to contesting another All-Ireland semi-final.

He said: “We were delighted with the improved performance by the girls and to win another Connacht title. But we will again have to up the ante in the semi-final if we hope to qualify for another final.

“I am confident we can as down through the years this team has improved with every outing.”

 

Scorers for Carnacon: C. Staunton 2-8, N. Beegan 1-2, A. Brennan 0-3, F. McHale, D. Hughes 0-1 each.

Scorers for St. Brigid’s: S. Taylor 2-3, J. Conlon 0-3, A. Kelly, N. Nestor, C. McHugh 0-1 each.

Carnacon: M. Higgins, N. Hurst, N. Tierney, S. McGing, M. Corbett, C. McGing, A. Loftus, C. Egan, M. Carter, M. McGing, F. McHale, D. Hughes, N. Beegan, C. Staunton, A. Brennan.

Sub used: S. Finnerty.

St. Brigid’s: S. Finnerty, M. Kelly, F. Gavin, K. O’Boyle, C. O’Malley, L. Harrison, E. Kelly, M. Walsh, C. Grehan, A. Kelly, N. Nestor, A. O’Brien, J. Conlon, C. McHugh, S. Taylor.

 

Referee: P.J. Rabbitte (Galway).

 

Aiden Henry Connaught Telegraph.

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