St Louis, Monaghan

St Louis, Monaghan 3-19 Colaiste na Sceilige 4-13
(aet)

A thrilling final of the U-19 All-Ireland Schools
between Kerry side Colaiste na Sceilige and Monaghan’s
St Louis in front of a crowd of close to 1,000
in Nenagh needed extra time to separate the teams.
In the end it was heartbreak for Colaiste na Sceilige
who led by a single point eight minutes into injury
time of regulation time, but a free from an acute
angle by St Louis star Ciara Connolly brought
the game into extra time. Showing great composure,
Connolly, still an U-16 player, slotted over the
all important score to leave the sides all square
at 3-12 apiece.

The game started brightly and St Louis raced into
an early lead courtesy of a strong breeze. At
half time, the Monaghan girls lead 1-7 to 0-4,
the goal coming from the penalty spot, scored
by Aine Mulligan. Five of the six St Louis forwards
got on the scoresheet, with young Ciara Connolly
particularly impressive with 0-3. Colaiste Na
Sceilige responded quickly after the break and
five minutes into the second half were 1-8 to
1-7 up, the goal coming from Linda Cronin. St
Louis hit back through a well taken Grace Mullin
goal and after 12 minutes another goal, this time
by Aine Mulligan, pushed the Monaghan team further
ahead by 3-9 to 1-9. With less than five minutes
remaining, the Kerry girls rallied and two goals
in two minutes by Bernie Cronin and Deirdre Corridon
left the sides 3-11 apiece with only seconds remaining.

Another Corridon point deep into injury time seemed
to be the winning score until Connolly slotted
over the last kick of the game and save the day
for St Louis. Buoyed by the great escape, St Louis
drove the advantage home and kicked five points
without reply in the first half of extra time
to effectively kill off the challenge of Colaiste
na Sceilige. A late consolation goal by Deirdre
Corridon from the penalty spot was the last score
of this thrilling encounter. Celebrations for
St Louis, despair for Colaiste na Sceilige.

Colaiste na Sceilige’s Deirdre Corridon will wonder
what more she has to do after scoring 2-7, but
player of the match was Ciara Connolly from St
Louis who was inspirational throughout.

Scorers: St Louis, Monaghan – A Mulligan
2-1 (1pen), C Connolly 0-6 (3f), B Fleming 0-5,
G Mullin 1-0, C McAnespie 0-3, C West 0-2, H Hughes
0-1, C Brady 0-1.
Colaiste na Sceilige, Kerry – D Corridon
2-7 (1pen, 4f), L Cronin 1-3, B Cronin 1-2, C
Young 0-1.