Goal touch deserts Tipperary school in All-Ireland ladies football final

Ballinrobe Community School 2-9 St Anne’s Secondary School 0-4

The goal-den touch that carried St Anne’s Secondary School through their All-Ireland semi-final win over Loreto Swords deserted them when they needed it most in Glenamaddy, where they were unable to follow in the footsteps of Loreto Clonmel (2011) and Presentation Thurles (2017) in the All-Ireland Senior C ladies football final. 

Not alone did the Tipperary town students fail to raise a green flag on the day, they never really threatened to do so either, and in general it was their inability to create a sufficient amount of scoring chances that was their undoing. 

To say that preparations were less than ideal was an understatement. Heavy rain around the midlands meant that the original venue (St Rynagh’s in Banagher) was deemed unplayable, and both teams spent some time with the team bus parked up in the midlands, unsure of where the game would eventually take place. 

Glenamaddy in north-east Galway was the eventual destination as a game that was supposed to start at 1pm on grass eventually got underway at 2.35pm on astroturf, but any idea that this switch of surface would lead to a free-scoring encounter was quickly dismissed as the two sides played with decent tempo and intent, but where defences at both ends of the field were on top. Therese Ryan and Lily Maher at one end as well as Sari Vahey and Lola Tiernan at the other were the standout figures in the first 20 minutes of the game, all defenders in a contest where it was 0-2 to 0-1 in favour of the Mayo school at that stage in proceedings. 

The most impressive attacker was Ballinrobe wing-forward Rachel McGrath, and that was much more for her industry and endeavour on and off the ball than for any artistry when in possession. 

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One of several impressive runs out of defence from Ryan set up Róisín Carew for the St Anne’s point but the chances just weren’t coming their way, as was the case throughout a game where the Munster champions finished up with four points, three wides and one shot dropped short. 

In some cases it was handling mistakes that were their undoing, but in others it was simply controlled, disciplined defending from Ballinrobe, who held a good defensive line and didn’t commit fouls, on a day when the old rules of LGFA games still applied, and referee Angela Gallagher made it patently clear that she was going to enforce them rigidly, with little or no room for incidental contact. Add in a very tricky lateral breeze, and for all the running ability and natural athleticism of players like Molly Crowe, Isabel Heuston and Chloe O’Neill, breaking the line to get a clean look at the posts proved incredibly difficult. 

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After two pointed frees in quick succession, the latter a particularly harsh call against Ryan, another handling error was ruthlessly punished to really put St Anne’s on the back foot. 

A turnover in the half-back line gave Maura Hughes, a powerful full-forward, the chance to drive at the St Anne’s defence and feed a lateral ball across the large square, slammed to the net by midfielder and Mayo senior panellist Kate Brennan. 

In the five minutes before half-time, St Anne’s had their best spell of the game to bring themselves back into contention. Chloe O’Neill engineered a point in heavy traffic, then it looked as if the livewire Cappawhite attacker had won her side a penalty when she was brought to ground close to goal, only for the referee to award a 13m free instead. 

Carew tapped the ball over the bar to make it 1-4 to 0-3 at half-time and had the margin been similar to that at the end, St Anne’s might have been entitled to feel a little aggrieved at the lack of a penalty call, or even look back with regret about some of the individual errors that led to the two Ballinrobe goals. 

Instead, however, there was no masking the superiority of the eventual winners in the second half. When it came to the war in the trenches across midfield and the half-lines, they went on complete lockdown, starving the St Anne’s inside forwards of any possession whatsoever. Manager Brian Fox opted to switch midfielder Molly Crowe in closer to goal to try and earn some possession in that sector but the Galtee Rovers player was still forced to come out to the middle third to get her hands on the couple of possessions she did win. 

It took a while for Ballinrobe to start adding on scores of their own, with 11 minutes of the second half passing before either side raised a flag, but once they did, they pushed on well. Maura Hughes continued to play the role of direct ball target to perfection, Chloe Stagg – still a Junior Cert student – defied her youth to show incredible composure on the frees and while it would be hard to fault the St Anne’s defence either, particularly the full-back line which held out well in difficult circumstances, the utter lack of penetration at the other end of the field meant that their dreams of All-Ireland glory had petered out long before the final whistle. 

BALLINAROBE CS: Kayla Hughes; Ella Shaughnessy, Sari Vahey, Lola Tiernan; Rachael Gallagher, Ali Hughes, Sophia McHale; Kate Brennan (1-1), Róise Burke; Emily Jennings, Molly O’Donnell, Rachel McGrath; Aoibhin Reilly, Maura Hughes (0-2), Chloe Stagg (0-5f). 

Subs: Tara Fitzpatrick (0-1) for Reilly (11), Ursula Shaughnessy (1-0) for Jennings (53), Amy Wade for S McHale (58), Laura O’Connor for McGrath (58).

ST. ANNE’S SS: Caoilinn Grogan; Claire Gubbins, Therese Ryan, Rebecca Crosse; Jessie Nugent, Lily Maher, Odharnait Crowe; Molly Crowe, Isabel Heuston; Sophia O’Grady, Róisín Carew (0-3, 0-2f), Lauren O’Dwyer; Chloe O’Neill (0-1), Eliza Gleeson, Áine Crowe. 

Subs: Anna Butler for Gleeson (41), Ava O’Connor for O’Dwyer (56), Laura Kennedy for Á Crowe (60+3).

REFEREE: Angela Gallagher (Meath).