Greenfields women make history on the hockey field

Date Published: 05-Apr-2012

GREENFIELDS 1

OMAGH 0

Dáire Walsh in Belfield

VICE-Captain Neasa McGettigan was the star of the show in Belfield on Sunday as her 57th minute strike from a penalty corner gave Greenfields an historic victory in the ESB Electric Ireland Women’s Irish Hockey Trophy decider over a dogged Omagh side.

This represented a first-ever success for a Connacht team in the competition, and though it appeared for large parts of the contest that extra-time would be required, McGettigan’s solitary goal was enough to secure the Galway City club’s place in the Irish Senior Cup for next season.

Greenfields ventured into this encounter with plenty of confidence having defeated Omagh’s Ulster rivals, Northern Ireland Civil Service, at the semi-final stage (they had also accounted for Old Lady’s, Terenure, as well as Ashton and Bandon of Cork in the previous rounds), but they would have been acutely aware of what Veronica Hawkes’ side had to offer, as they overcame Galway Hockey Club in their penultimate round encounter.

In one sense, Greenfields were at something of a disadvantage for their trip to the capital, as the province of Connacht does not have a water-based pitch like the one in Belfield. However, the squad prepared for this tie by training on a pitch similar to the one that UCD posssess, and they also had the experience of playing at this stage of the competition in the past, having lost out to Catholic Institute of Limerick in the 2010 showdown.

All of these factors meant that Greenfields were well prepared for the challenge of the Tyrone girls, and they looked very assured in possession during the opening moments of the game, when they were pressing Omagh high up the pitch in an effort to gain a stranglehold on the proceedings.

Indeed, Omagh netminder Gillian Adams had to be at her best five minutes in to deny Trish Garrett, who found herself in space just inside the area, but her final strike was swept away to safety by the feet of the Ulster outfit’s shot-stopper.

Greenfields were making an impression in the early stages, though, and in the form of Clodagh Grealy and Alison Ryan, they had two players who were posing real problems for the Omagh rearguard. The girls from the O’Neill County were defending extremely well, however, as they were closing down the space for the Greenfields attack whenever they approached their goal.

The Galway outfit did earn a couple of penalty corners in quick succession on 11 minutes, and though the routine between Áine Collins, Grealy and McGettigan was well-executed, the latter’s final strike was dealt with comfortably by Adams and her defence in the end.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.