Claregalway ladies on brink of glory

Claregalway 5-13

Boherbue 0-12

The Claregalway ladies footballers registered an historic victory and are now just one step from All-Ireland glory following their ruthless demolition of Cork and Munster champions Boherbue in the Intermediate club semi-final played at Tuam Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Boherbue had gone one step further than Claregalway in last year’s junior competition, losing out to Dublin’s Thomas Davis in the decider, but they were simply no match for a hungrier, fitter, more clinical Claregalway side who recovered from a shaky start to dominate the contest.

Ciara Newell and Charlotte Cooney were stars in their own right after firing in a brace of goals apiece, but it was Deirdre Brennan’s powerhouse display from full forward that sparked the Claregalway onslaught into life. Aside from adding 1-1 to her side’s impressive tally, she was at the heart of so many of her side’s attacks and ended the tie with six assists to her credit.

This victory, however, had its foundations in a well-drilled defence which gradually came to terms with the potent early threat of Boherbue’s Louise Dennehy and Shauna Kelly, and by the end were maintaining a clean sheet with the minimum of fuss. Captain Fabienne Cooney and her defensive colleagues deserve great credit for knuckling down to the task against a side with proven scoring potential.

On a horrible afternoon where incessant drizzle fell from early in the day, the standard in general was a credit to both side. The game almost began in disastrous fashion for Claregalway when Shauna Kelly bore down on goal in the first minute, but goalkeeper Hannah Coen did well to stand tall and crucially blocked the shot with her legs.

Claregalway were struggling to cope with Boherbue’s powerful runs from deep and by the eight minute mark they were 0-4 to 0-1 behind as Dennehy (two frees) and Kelly (two) had the Cork side in front. Michelle Dunleavy got Claregalway off the mark with a free, but the early signs were far from encouraging for the Connacht champions.

Gradually, though, they began to find their feet and once their inside forward line got on the ball and Claregalway began to pin Boherbue back in their own half, the tide quickly turned in their favour. Newell converted a free before setting up Brennan for her first score, and the trend continued as Dunleavy (a free) and Ciara Burke both pointed. 

Claregalway manufactured their first goal on 22 minutes when Brennan handpassed to the in-rushing Cooney and she blasted a shot high to the net for a tonic score. A flowing move three minutes later demonstrated Claregalway’s growing confidence as Burke popped over, before Boherbue finally responded through a Dennehy point.

Claregalway’s greater desire to win the hard ball was now evident, though, and good forward pressure led to Dunleavy adding another free before a long ball fell invitingly for Brennan and she goalled from close range to give Claregalway a healthy seven point half-time advantage after Dennehy sent over a late free for Boherbue.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.