The Munster junior A Pat the Baker Post Primary final

A sincere thanks to the club and its officials as when pitches around the Province were withdrawn or unavailable, Knocknagoshel in north Kerry ensured this fixture proceeded.

Loretto S.S Fermoy, Cork 3-11 Colaiste Na Sceilge 4-07

Conditions were not perfect for Gaelic football however neither school read the script as they produced one of the most entertaining competitive games over the hour.

Loretto were first to score courtesy of Jenny Sheehan who over the duration of the game caused huge problems for her opponents and further points followed from frees which were converted by Emma O Hagan 0-02, before Colaiste had a point from Sandra Dillon to keep in touch. The game ebbed from end to end with further points for Loreto before the South Kerry girls took the imitative with the first goal of the day from Karen O Neill quickly followed by Leanne Curran and this pushed a wake up button for Loretto to raise their first green flag through hat trick heroine Sinead Walsh to have her school ahead at the interval 1-07 to 2-02.
The second half Colaiste were first to open their account through Jenny O Mahony when her shot screamed over the cross bar this leaving the minimum between the schools. Colaiste Na Sceilge had a number of wasted opportunities before Sandra Dillon had the schools level for the first time in the final. Leanne Curran pushed the South Kerry girls to the front with a point before Loretto upped the ante after superb defending from Laura Barry who in turn fed Fiona Cotter who chased through the middle to find Jenny Sheehan who lost her marker and was continually causing all sorts of problems for the Kerry girls, to feed the ball through for Sinead Walsh to slam her second goal to the net. Both Schools traded scores before Leanne Curran had a gem of a goal for Colaiste. It was the economical finishing of Loretto who finished at the death with a one point winning margin to claim their first ever Munster junior A title despite Colaiste having the opportunity on at least four occasions to push home.

Loretto Secondary School, Fermoy Co. Cork for the first time competed in a junior A final, previous to this they failed to get beyond the quarter finals. Credit to Colaiste Na Sceilge who have been the Post Primary schools standard bearers for the past decade in the Province. Credit both schools and their teachers for the fantastic game served to the few hardy souls that attended Knocknagoshel.

A delighted Loretto captain Clare Gleeson was presented with the junior A Munster Pat the Baker trophy by Dan O Mahony Munster Post Primary Chairman and the Pat the Baker player of the final was a delighted Sinead Walsh Loretto.

Scorers:
Loretto, Sinead Walsh 3-03, Emma O Hagan 0-04, Jenny Sheehan 0-03, Finola Neville 0-01
Colaiste Na Sceilge, Sandra Dillon 2-03, Leanne Curran 1-02, Jenny O Mahony & Megan O Connell 0-01 each

Schools
Loretto: Annie Butler, Laura Barry, Deirdre O Mahoney, Amy Mansell, Jenny Barry, Clare Gleeson, Helen Dinan, Joanne O Brien, Fiona Cotter, Katie Coughlan, Emma O Hagan, Aoife O Sullivan, Jenny Sheehan, Finola Neville, Sinead Walsh, Niamh O Donovan, Claire Hutchings, Mairead Kennedy, Grace Sheedy, Chantal Mahon, Laura Mulcahy, Andrea McGrath, Ciara Howard, Jennifer Cahill

Colaiste Na Sceilge: Sharon O Sullivan, Bronagh O Sullivan, Sinead Sheehan, Sarah Kelly, Laura O Sullivan, Katie O Connell, Paula O Sullivan, Megan O Connell, Selina O Connell, Aisling O Sullivan, Danni Sheehan, Jenny O Mahony, Leanne Curran, Karen O Neill, Sandra Dillon, Karina Curran, Mary Kelly, Karen Curran, Orla O Donovan, Kerri Dowlong, Elaine O Sullivan, Amy Fitzgerald, Roisin Kissane, Sinead Keating, Bridget Dennehy