Brilliant Bennekerry/Tinryland crowned All-Ireland champions
The Bennekerry/Tinryland team celebrate Photo: ©INPHO/Leah Scholes
At the start of the year, winning an All-Ireland title at Croke Park would have been beyond the wildest dreams of even the most optimistic Bennekerry/Tinryland player or supporter but sometimes dreams do happen and today was their day.
The worry about a team coming to Croke Park for such a big game is that the players can be overawed by the occasion but the opposite was the case here and they took to the big stage like they had been there all their lives.
Lauren Dwyer has delivered the X-Factor all year when needed and she tormented the Annaghdown defence before finishing with four points from play. Clíodhna Ní Shé was another star on the day for her team. She was born to play in this kind of game for her club and when they was a late penalty awarded for a foul on the excellent Sinead Hayden, there is nobody else in the world that Bennekerry/Tinryland would have preferred to stand over it than Ní Shé, and she blasted it home in trademark style.
Aside from those scoring stars, Bennekerry/Tinryland dominated all over the field. They settled into the game early on and scored the first two points of the game through Ní Shé and Dwyer.
Annaghdown found the net midway through the half when Ciara McCarthy fired past Shannen Cotter but that was only a momentary lapse and Bennekerry/Tinryland were soon in the ascendency again.
Ní Shé scored from play after linking up with Elaine Ware in the 17th minute and things got even better two minutes later.
Dwyer was just too hot for Annaghdown to handle and every time she got on the ball it seemed like something happen. Nuala Mohen found her in the 19th minute and she quickly turned away from her marker and slipped the perfect pass to Ní Shé who clinically found the net.
Bennekerry/Tinryland led by 1-5 to 1-1 and probably didn’t want the first half and Annaghdown hoped they could find a way back into the game with an early Ciara Hegary point.
But there was no way that Bennekerry/Tinryland were going to allow this to be anything other than their day and they scored the next four points.
By the time that Ní Shé converted the 51st penalty Bennekerry/Tinryland were ten points ahead and heading for glory.
Annaghdown kept battling away and scored the last four points of the game but they were only consolation scores as Bennekerry/Tinryland were crowned All-Ireland champions.
In her acceptance speech, after saying what an honour it was to lead out such a brilliant group of players, Bennekerry/Tinryland captain Shannen Cotter mentioned Amanda Kinsella who is never far from this group’s thoughts and no doubt she was looking down at this club’s, at Carlow ladies football’s, finest moment.
Shannen Cotter; Marie Cranny, Leanne Corcoran, Nuala Mohan, Ruth Bermingham, Leah Mullins, Elizabeth Lowry; Elaine Ware, Clíodhna Ní Shé 2-4 (1-0pen, 3fs); Aoibhín Webb, Katie Bullen, Sinead Hayden 0-2, Orla Woods, Lauren Dwyer 0-4, Sarah Nolan. Subs: Maeve O’Neill for Bullen, 34; Deirdre Tomlinson for Nolan, 56.
Eleanor Lynch; Rebecca Fahy, Isabel Caffey, Martina Canavan, Chelsie Crowe, Chloe Crowe, Brónagh Quinn 0-1; Sarah O’Grady, Regina Naughton; Riona Quinn 0-1, Ciara Hegarty 0-5 (2fs), Jemma Burke, Emma Keane, Ciara McCarthy 1-0, Brendan Naughton. Subs: Isobel Killilea for Naughton, h/t; Caomihe O’Neill for Keane, 43.
Patrick Smith (Waterford)
