Heartbreak for Loreto girls in All-Ireland final

St John The Baptist (Limerick) 0-14
Loreto College Cavan 2-6

Paul Fitzpatrick
at Birr

There was heartbreak for Loreto College, Cavan this afternoon as they lost out by two points in the U16 Schools All-Ireland A final.

The Cavan girls came into the game as underdogs against a very strong side from Hospital, Co Limerick, six of whom started on the winning side in the U20 final last week against Tyrone’s St Ciaran’s, Ballygawley.

Loreto, playing against the wind, opened their account through an Áine Reilly free but slipped 0-4 to 0-1 behind in the opening 10 minutes.

However, a goal from Reilly – who smashed a finish to the top corner after Muireann Cusack struck the crossbar – kickstarted the Ulster champions’ challenge and they added further scores from Reilly and impressive wing-forward Niamh Keenaghan.

However, the Munster ladies had lots of firepower and in Andrea O’Sullivan, they had a real star at full-forward. St John The Baptist went in leading by 0-10 to 1-3 but the Cavan girls, managed by Conor Maguire, battled throughout the second half.

Aisling Walls pointed for Loreto early in the second half and when Áine Reilly showed great strength and skill to bag her second goal with 19 minutes remaining, it was a one-point game.

However, despite further points from sub Ally Cahill and Muireann Cusack, Loreto couldn’t get any closer, with seven wides in the final 10 minutes proving costly.

 “The disappointment is just huge at the minute, the girls are absolutelty gutted, we had chances and just didn’t convert them,” said Loreto manager Maguire.

“But that’s finals and that’s the way it goes, these girls will come back and will be an awful lot stronger for it,” he added, pointing out that only five of the Loreto panel will be overage for next year’s campaign.

Meanwhile, St Patrick’s College are through to the Ulster Dalton Cup final after they beat Omagh CBS by 2-10 to 1-7.

See next week’s print issue for full report and reaction.