Minor ladies power into All-Ireland final

All-Ireland Minor A semi-final

Cavan 6-10

Kildare 0-9

Cavan minor ladies have qualified for the All-Ireland minor football final with a very comprehensive victory over Kildare on a scoreline of 6-10 to 0-9 in the Downs, Co Westmeath last Thursday evening.

In the process, the minors became the third Cavan ladies side to make the final this year, following on from the U14s, who lost their decider in extra time, and the U16s, who won the final on Saturday last. Gerry Charters and his management team had the girls well prepared after the long lay-off from the Ulster final as they restricted Kildare to a single goalscoring chance, with Katie Mai Reilly playing the sweeper role expertly.

The Cavan defenders worked exceptionally hard as a unit to keep out a Kildare side who were chasing back-to-back All-Ireland final appearances. This was no weak Kildare side as they won out the Leinster Championship, which had the U16 All-Ireland winners from 2022 Dublin in its ranks.

Cavan started the match strongly with a goal inside 40 seconds coming from corner-forward Kate Fegan. After the ball was won from the throw-in, Katie O’Meara dropped a shot into the Kildare goalmouth and Fegan was quickest to react to finish to the net.

Kildare replied with a point from Caoimhe Egan but Cavan again, less than a minute later, hit the net through Emma Tolan. Katie O'Meara brilliantly went round her marker along the end-line before squaring the ball to Tolan for the finish.

Cavan's Lauren Miney sent over a point after great approach play by Ballyhaise duo Ellie Brady and Alex Peters. Erin Healy replied with a free for the Lilywhites but then came the third Cavan goal from Ella Sheridan who side-stepped her marker to finish to the net. In the build-up to the goal, Fegan delivered a clever and accurate crossfield pass, finding Sheridan in a one v one situation.

Again, the Lilywhites hit a point through Ruth Dillon but O'Meara fisted one over after good work from Ellie Brady, the dominant Cavan captain. Another super run from Brady saw her cut in but her left-footed shot dropped the ball into the square and Irish international basketball player Tolan was on hand to palm home to make it 4-2 to 0-2.

Three successive Kildare points followed from the dangerous Aoife Murnane, Aisling Irhue and Caoimhe Egan but Cavan had the last say of the first half with a free from, Sheridan to make it 4-3 to 0-7 at the break.

Another free from Sheridan after Fegan was fouled increased the Breffniwomen's lead to nine points. Then Tolan completed her hat-trick after O'Meara had cut in and squared the ball to the Lurgan woman, who scored with the left foot from close range. Kildare were reduced to 14 players before the kick-out after Hannah Murphy was shown a yellow card for a high challenge that couldn’t halt O’Meara.

Cavan put the game to bed in the ensuing 10 minutes with points from Brady, O'Meara (two) and Tolan to make it 5-8 to 0-7 with 15 minutes left. Ella Sheridan, Sinéad Kelly, Lauren Miney and Kristina Grigorenko all played key roles in creating the scoring chances.

While Kildare weren’t creating a huge amount of chances, any they did create went wide under pressure and Cavan keeper Abbey McDermott’s restarts ensured the girls in blue won possession back straight away. Cavan introduced some subs; Kayla Bartley came off the bench and bagged a goal, cutting in from the left sideline before side-stepping the goalkeeper and placing the ball into the net from a tight angle.

Bartley then added a point on her trusted left foot before Kildare finally hit their first score of the second half with two minutes of the half remaining. A soft-looking free was awarded to Kildare and Erin Healy converted to make it 0-8 to 6-9 before Shercock’s Hannah McPhilips added a point for Cavan off the bench.

With the game beyond Kildare’s reach, they added another point from a Healy free three minutes into injury-time as a consolation. The Cavan backs were outstanding, Sinéad Kelly deserving special mention. Katie Mai Reilly played an intelligent game in a sweeper role also while the half-back line came out on top in the key battleground.

Cavan now march on to the All-Ireland final where they will face Kerry. The Munster champions beat the reigning All-Ireland champions Galway in the other semi-final on a 6-8 to 1-10 score line so there may be goals in store when they meet on Saturday July 27with a venue yet to be confirmed.

Cavan: Abby McDermott, Sinéad Kelly, Blanaid Smith, Kristina Grigerenko; Cora McDonnell, Alex Peters, Ailbhe Kennedy; Ellie Brady(0-1), Lauren Miney(0-1), Ella Sheridan(1-2f), Emma Tolan(3-1), Sarah Clarke; Kate Fegan(1-0), Katie O’Meara(0-3), Katie Mai Reilly

Subs used: Kayla Bartley(1-1), Muireann Daly, Hannah McPhilips(0-1), Katie Tierney, Holly McPhillips

Kildare: Sophie Knightly, Emma Earls, Casey Noone, Maisie Molloy; Niamh Kelly, Laura Dunlea, Hannah Murphy; Aisling Irhue(0-1), Erin Healy(0-3f), Aoife Murnane(0-1), Eimear Behan, Ryth Dillon(0-1), Amy Tyrell, Caoimhe Egan(0-3), Saoirse Mahon

Subs used: Katie Harney, Abi Whelan, Kate Kealy, Julie Brannigan, Leah Tyrell.