Report: St Sylvester's come through thriller to book Dublin Senior Championship Final slot

Go Ahead Ireland Dublin LGFA Senior Club Championship Semi Final

St Sylvesters 3-18 Clontarf 2-17 aet

By Nigel McCarthy

A goal from Danielle Lawless six minutes into extra time proved crucial in booking St Sylvesters a place in the 2025 Go Ahead Ireland, Dublin LGFA Senior Club Championship Final after a thrilling semi-final clash against Clontarf in Abbotstown on Wednesday night.

In a high scoring affair the sides scored a total of five goals and thirty-five points between them in the high octane eighty minutes of non-stop action.

St Sylvesters started brightly and an excellent goal from Kate Sullivan in the eighteenth minute gave the Malahide side an eight-point advantage.

With the clock counting down to the half time break it looked like St Sylvesters would take a substantial lead with them into the dressing rooms, but Clontarf finally found their rhythm and hit a flurry of points late in the half to leave themselves just four adrift at the break with the score 1-09 to 0-08.

It was fairly even in the opening quarter of the second half with both sides tagging on a couple of points each. Then in the forty seventh minute Nicole Owens cut through the centre of Clontarf defence with a powerful run, offloaded to Sinead Aherne to the left of the goal and Aherne passed the ball across the goal and Owens who had continued her run, palmed the ball to the net.

With time running out St Sylvesters led by seven points and looked to have all but booked their place in the final for the second year running. But a brilliantly worked goal scored by Ciara O’Connor gave Clontarf a big shot in the arm and they pressed up and penned St Sylvesters in the own half.

A pointed free from Ellen Leddy Doyle left just a goal between the sides and with the last kick of the game Sarah McCaffrey was quickest to react when a shot from Timea Kovacs was saved and McCaffrey toe poked the ball to the net to force the game to extra-time with the full time score 2-14 apiece.

Clontarf failed to register a score in the first half of extra time. St Sylvesters once again put themselves in the box seat at the half time break in extra time thanks to a wonderful goal from Danielle Lawless to leave the score 3-16 to 2-14.

St Sylvesters added another two points to their tally in the second half of extra time and although the Malahide outfit received two yellow cards late in the half, Clontarf just couldn’t muster enough scores to turn the game around and St Sylvesters finished four point winners in the end on a scoreline of 3-18 to 2-17 and will now face Kilmacud Crokes in Parnell Park on Friday week in what will be a repeat of last year’s final.

Sinead Aherne opened the scoring in the first minute of the game with a well taken point. A pointed free from Ciara O’Connor brought the sides level three minutes later.

Nicole Owens put St Sylvesters back in front with a fine point and Owens was involved in the next attack, Nicole picked the ball up deep in her own half, powered forward past a couple of Clontarf players, hit a sublime pass with the outside of the foot to Sinead Aherne who hit a high ball to Kate Sullivan who was fouled in midair, after some treatment Sullivan dusted herself down and converted the free.

St Sylvesters were on top at this stage of the game, a pair of points each from Sinead Aherne and Kate Sullivan stretched the lead out to six points halfway through the first half.

Dora Gorman momentarily stopped the one-way scoring traffic with a well taken point. But with twelve minutes to go to the break Clontarf shot themselves in the foot, Kate Sullivan overturned the ball as Clontarf were trying to play out from the back, Sullivan offloaded to Angela McGuigan who popped a hand pass to Sinead Aherne and Aherne returned the ball to Kate Sullivan who blasted it to the net and the lead was now eight points.

Angela McGuigan slotted over a point to add further to the St Sylvesters tally in the twentieth minute and the game at this stage looked to be slipping away from Clontarf.

But Ciara O’Connor worked the ball down the left wing to Timea Kovacs and Kovacs switched the ball to the centre to Sarah McCaffrey who hit a fine effort over the bar.

Five minutes before the break Nicole Owens who impressed all evening grabbed her second point of the game and it looked likely at this stage that St Sylvesters would take a substantial nine-point lead into the dressing rooms at the break.

Clontarf though had other ideas and they hit a purple patch just before the short whistle and scored five unanswered points, three from Ellen Leddy Doyle, one from a free and two from play and two from the ever-lively Timea Kovacs to haul themselves back into the contest and at the break there was just four points between the teams with the score 1-09 to 0-08.

Points from Fiona Skelly and Timea Kovacs inside the opening three minutes of the second half reduced the deficit to two points and it was game on.

Two converted frees from Kate Sullivan restored St Sylvesters four-point advantage with twenty minutes remaining. But two points in as many minutes, the first an excellent point from Timea Kovacs and the second a well taken free from Ellen Leddy Doyle once again put two between the sides.

In the forty seventh minute Nicole Owens picked up the ball just outside the forty five metre line and powered forward through the centre of the Clontarf defence leaving a number of players in her wake, hit an accurate pass to Sinead Aherne to the left of the goal and Aherne hand passed the ball across the goal and Owens who had continued her run, palmed the ball to the net.

Owens stroked the ball over the bar moments later and with ten minutes remaining Nicole Owens took a quick free just inside the Clontarf half to Sinead Aherne who jinked past her marker and released Ciara O’Connor who pointed to give St Sylvesters a seven-point lead.

Timea Kovacs pointed for Clontarf but that was cancelled out with six minutes remaining by a Kate Sullivan converted free and it looked like the Malahide side had done enough to claim the win.

But in the final minutes Clontarf went for broke, Niamh Hetherton overturned the ball on the right-hand side, Clontarf patiently worked the ball across to the left to Ciara O’Connor in space and O’Connor hit a powerful shot to the net.

The pressure was now on and seconds later Clontarf were awarded a free which Ellen Leddy Doyle converted to leave just a goal between the sides.

And in the frantic final moments of the game Timea Kovacs cut in along the endline worked a little space for herself and let fly at goal, her well struck effort was brilliantly saved by St Sylvesters goalkeeper Siobhan Cassidy Fagan, but Sarah McCaffrey was quickest to react to the loose ball and toe poked it to the net to level the scores at 2-14 apiece and force the game into extra time.

St Sylvesters dominated the opening half of extra time. Kate Sullivan struck over two frees inside the opening three minutes of the extra time period to once again put Sylvesters in a positive position.

Three minutes later came the defining score of the game, Danielle Lawless picked up a loose ball about forty metres out from goal, powerfully ran through the centre of the Clontarf defence, hit a pass to the left to substitute Niamh McEvoy and McEvoy floated the ball across the goal and Lawless palmed it to the net to give St Sylvesters a five point lead at half-time of extra time on a scoreline of 3-16 to 2-14.

A Kate Sullivan point a minute into the second half extended the lead. A converted free from Ciara O’Connor left Clontarf five in arrears with seven minutes remaining.

St Sylvesters were then dealt a blow moments later when they were reduced to fourteen players after Niamh McEvoy was shown a yellow card.

Despite being a player light Sylvesters patiently held onto the ball in their next attack recycling the ball from right to left and back again till Nicole Owens found a pocket of space and split the posts.

Sylvesters were then reduced to thirteen players when Owens was also shown a yellow and had to watch the dying embers of the game from the sideline.

Clontarf gave it one last push to get the goals they needed to draw level again and although they were awarded two frees close to goal in the closing seconds, they could only come away with two pointed efforts from Ciara O’Connor and St Sylvesters held onto for a deserving four-point win and a place in the next weeks final.

ST SYLVESTERS SCORERS: Kate Sullivan 1-09 (7f), Nicole Owens 1-03, Danielle Lawless 1-00, Sinead Aherne 0-03, Angela McGuigan 0-01, Marian Hernon 0-01.

CLONTARF SCORERS: Ciara O’Connor 1-04 (4f), Ellen Leddy Doyle 0-05 (4f), Timea Kovacs 0-05, Sarah McCaffrey 1-01, Fiona Skelly 0-01, Dora Gorman 0-01.

ST SYLVESTERS: Siobhan Cassidy Fagan, Kim White, Cliona Fitzpatrick, Chloe Bryan, Caitlin Guiden, Danielle Lawless, Keeva Kenehan, Ellie Doyle, Nicole Owens, Clodagh Fox, Angela McGuigan, Kate O’Toole, Kate Sullivan, Sinead Aherne, Marian Hernon.

ST SYLVESTERS SUBS: Niamh McEvoy for Kate O’Toole (40), Louise Ryan for Ellie Doyle (49), Sarah Brennan for Angela McGuigan (53), Sinead Treacy for Cliona Fitzpatrick (68), Angela McGuigan for Clodagh Fox (73).

CLONTARF: Roisin O’Reilly, Ava McMahon, Tara Fitzgibbon, Kate Fitzgibbon, Hannah Leahy, Niamh Hetherton, Aisling Ahearne, Aine Walsh, Ellen Leddy Doyle, Fiona Skelly, Dora Gorman, Sarah McCaffrey, Timea Kovacs, Ailbhe Clancy, Ciara O’Connor.

CLONTARF SUBS: Maeve Walsh for Aisling Ahearne (44), Fionnuala Flanagan for Dora Gorman (54), Maria Conaty for Ava Cunningham (55), Laura Kealy for Ava McMahon (70), Eimear Mangan for Tara Fitzgibbon (75), Aimee Dundon for Fiona Skelly (75).

REFEREE: Ray McBride.