Carlow crowned Division 4 champions after pulsating final
Carlow captain Roisin Bailey leads the celebrations after the final whistle confirmed Carlow as LIDL National League Division 4 champions
It was another day to cherish for Carlow GAA as the ladies footballers eventually saw off Leitrim to win a hugely entertaining final in Birr by a single point after extra time.
Ed Burke’s team made it a Division 4 double for the county as they followed in the footsteps of the men’s team by clinching national silverware.
This win for the ladies had plenty of similarities to that famous Croke Park win for the men over Longford in their Division 4 Final.
Once again, the Carlow team was never behind in normal time but despite getting themselves into a match winning position on more than one occasion they just couldn’t shake off a dogged and determined opponent and extra time was needed.
Like the men, Carlow then started extra well and went clear but Leitrim fought back again to take the lead for the one and only time in the game.
In the end, it was a goal by Clíodhna Ní Shé in the second half that proved the decisive moment in the game as Carlow moved four points clear. Leitrim kept going right to the very end and scored their fourth goal of the game with the last kick but the clock ran out on them as Carlow lifted their second Division 4 title in three years.
Ed Burke’s team were confident in the opening exchanges on the back of eight successive wins in 2026 and they raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead inside the opening ten minutes.
Carlow were irresistible during the opening half and with the wonderful Ní Shé pulling the strings they extended that lead to 0-7 to 0-4 by the 25th minute. She was far from on her own though with Sara Doyle contributing superbly on the scoresheet and the remainder of the middle eight players covering acres of ground.
However, it would become a theme of the game that when Carlow were starting to look comfortable, Leitrim would come storming back into the game.
Leah Fox’s 26th minute goal got them right back in the game before Dearbháile Beirne tied the game. Leitrim could even have went into half time with an undeserved lead but Michelle Guckian’s free late in the half went wide.
Carlow made a flying start to the second half when straight from the throw, Ní Shé worked the ball forward to Doyle who showed good composure to score. That lead lasted barely a minute before Kate Gormley pointed at the far end.
There was a great chance of goal for Carlow in the 34th minute but Aibha Kiernan’s shot was straight at Marina Gallagher after being sent through on goal. Another chance arrived three minutes later when Caoimhe O’Neill fed Edel Hayden and she made no mistake with the finish.
To continue the similarities with the men’s team, Hayden was the Eoghan Ruth of this team. The most experienced player on the team, who admitted after the game that she thought about hanging up her boots after last season, was superb and put in a trojan shift.
However, Leitrim hit back five minutes later with an Anna Devaney goal to level the game again.
Doyle and Ní Shé pushed Carlow two clear and although Fox pulled a point back, when Doyle scored in the 56th minute to leave two in it that looked like being enough.
Fox scored to leave the minimum between the teams but the game looked up for Leitrim when Muireann Devaney’s shot went wide in the final minute.
Nicole Hanley’s last kick out in normal time was a good one and Carlow secured possession and just needed to keep the ball for another 20 seconds but Ruth Bermingham was swarmed around and Leitrim won it back. The last attack of the game ended with a soft looking foul on Devaney and she scored to send the game to extra time.
Once again, Carlow surged ahead when Ní Shé found Kiernan two minutes into extra and she finally scored the goal that she had been threatening all game when her shot was too powerful for Gallagher to keep out.
Unbelievably, within 90 seconds Carlow were behind for the first time in the game when a delightfully lobbed Laura O’Dowd goal was followed by Fox’s third point of the game.
Carlow didn’t drop their heads though and a determined run by Brónagh Nolan in the 67th minute led to a foul by Charlene Tyrrell that earned the Leitrim full back a yellow card.
The ten minutes that Leitrim spent down to 14 players proved key as Carlow scored 1-2 either side of the half time break.
Ní Shé showed her soccer skills with the crucial goal. Captain Fantastic Bailey sent the ball into her and when the ball broke loose and was on the ground Ní Shé found the power to beat Gallagher, the Leitrim goalkeeper perhaps deceived by Ní Shé electing to shoot early rather than lift the ball from the ground.
Carlow didn’t score in the final seven minutes of play and still needed some big defensive moments, one superb tackle by Niamh Forde stood out.
Leitrim did get their fourth goal through Muireann Devaney but it was too little too late as Carlow held on to win by the minimum after a pulsating final.
C Ní Shé 1-6 (3fs), S Doyle 0-5, E Hayden 1-0, A Kiernan 1-1, R Bermingham 0-1.
L Fox 1-3, M Devaney 1-2 (1-2fs), A Devaney 1-1, L O’Dowd 1-0, M Guckian 0-1f, D Beirne 0-1, K Gormley 0-1.
Nicole Hanley; Aoife Carroll, Anne Roche, Síofra O’Neill, Aoibhín Webb, Niamh Forde, Ruth Bermingham; Róisín Bailey, Caoimhe O’Neill; Edel Hayden, Clíodhna Ní Shé, Amy Hanley, Megan Townsend, Sara Doyle, Aibha Kiernan. Subs: Brónagh Nolan for Townsend (38), Beibhín Nolan for Hayden (67).
Martina Gallagher; Jasmine Maye, Charlene Tyrrell, Niamh Morahan, Dearbháile Beirne, Lauren Devaney, Sarah Reynolds; Niamh Tighe, Michelle Guckian; Laura O’Dowd, Leah Fox, Aoife Gilmartin, Anna Devaney, Muireann Devaney, Kate Gormley. Subs: Dearbhla Rooney for Tighe (ht), Aibhe Clancy for Gormley (41), Chloe Dolan for A Devaney (44), Vivienne Egan for Guckian (49), Emma Guckian for Gilmartin (68), Shaylyn Ward for Reynolds (77).
Conor McCarthy (Cork).
