Monaleen Juvenile GAA Club

Limerick U14 Girls Novice Semi-Final

Monaleen 5-5 Pallasgreen 1-4

Monaleen girls gaelic football team qualified for the Limerick U14 Novices football final in their first year at the grade by accounting for a determined Pallasgreen challenge in the semi-final played on Monday evening at a well attended Pallasgreen home pitch.

Although the scoreline suggests an easy win for the Monaleen girls, this game was highly competitive with the result in doubt until the final ten minutes when Monaleen got the vital scores which saw them pull away, with their superior fitness telling on a very heavy pitch.

Playing with the aid of a slight breeze in the first half Monaleen took the early initiative with a classy goal from Caroline Crotty quickly followed by impressive point-taking from Leah Nolan(2) and Sarah Geraghty. Despite the aid of the breeze Monaleen had to withstand constant Pallasgreen pressure during the opening 30 minutes but the defence well marshalled by the excellent Aine Hegarty at full-back and aided by an impressive half-back line of Penny O Hehir, Emily McCarthy and Orlaith O Leary, repulsed everything that was thrown at them and the teams retired at the interval with Monaleen leading by a scoreline of 1-3 to 0-1.

Facing into a freshening breeze at the start of the 2nd half, the Monaleen support in the crowd wondered would a 5 point lead be sufficient. They need not have worried because as they have shown all year, this team really came into their own when the pressure came on, displaying remarkable fighting spirit and competing tigerishly for every ball. The defence, under pressure for most of the half, fought heroically with Aoife O Leary and Alison McDevitt particularly impressive and Megan Donegan in goal pulling off a number of excellent saves. Midfield is a critical area in most games and Monaleen are lucky to have 2 midfielders of the calibre of Leah Nolan and Danielle Costelloe who worked tirelessly all through, displaying amazing fitness levels and fighting a battle royale with the Pallasgreen pairing who were the strongest part of the Pallas team. Working off limited possession in this half, the Monaleen forwards were particularly impressive in taking maximum advantage of any ball that came their way with Megan O Meara’s performance at full-forward the main talking point with her 2 goals and her work-rate in closing down the Pallas defense. Indeed the work-rate of all the Monaleen forwards was a highlight of this game with Caoimhe Ryan and Karen Fabian in particular putting in a tremendous hours work. The classy Shannon Power at centre-forward was a constant thorn in the Pallas side and capped a magnificent display with 2 long-range points against the breeze in this half. Showing the value of a strong panel, Robyn Gleeson, Zoë Brophy and Emma Quilter each made significant contributions when introduced mid-way through the 2nd half as the heavy pitch began to take its toll on tiring limbs. Late goals from Caroline Crotty and Danielle Costelloe were the final nails in the Pallas coffin and when the final whistle blew, Monaleen had secured a well-deserved 10 point win and advanced to the final where it is expected they will meet a well-fancied St Patricks fifteen.

Getting to the final in their first year at this grade is a remarkable achievement for this team and their coaches, Colman & Liz O Leary, Colm (Sammy Lee) Donegan and Donal & Angie Geraghty. The final is down for decision on Friday May 29th. The team greatly appreciates the support they have received so far this year and deserve your support at the final this coming Friday as they strive to bring the cup back to Monaleen.

Team: Megan Donegan

Aoife OLeary Aine Hegarty Alison McDevitt

Penny O Hehir Emily McCarthy Orlaith OLeary

Leah Nolan Danielle Costelloe

Megan O Meara Shannon Power Sarah Geraghty

Caroline Crotty Karen Fabian Caoimhe Ryan

Subs: Robyn Gleeson, Zoe Brophy, Emma Quilter

Limerick U14 Girls Novice Final

Monaleen 4-4 St Patricks 2-7 (AET)

There were scenes of jubilation at Monaleen’s home pitch last Friday evening when their U14 girl’s team, in their inaugural year in the competition, won the Limerick U14 Girls Novice championship after a classic final against the favorites St Patrick, in a match played in ideal conditions in front of a large, appreciative crowd.

This was a classic contest between two evenly matched teams and a great advertisement for girl’s underage football with superb scores, near misses, incredible commitment and great sportsmanship on show. In the end it took 20 minutes of extra time to separate the teams with Monaleen’s greater fitness and never-say-die attitude just about getting them over the line at the final whistle.

Monaleen won the toss and elected to play with the aid of the strong breeze in the first half. This decision seemed justified when Megan O Meara playing at full-forward lashed the ball to the net in the first ten minutes after a nice piece of interplay with Caroline Crotty. This was quickly followed by a point from Crotty who along with O Meara and Caoimhe Ryan in the full-forward line was causing the St Pats defense no end of problems. However St Pats rallied with their two excellent midfielders beginning to exert their influence and two goals in quick succession followed by a brace of points saw them regain the lead with Monaleen’s only reply another point from O’Meara and a free from captain, Leah Nolan. The teams retired at half-time with StPats leading on a scoreline of 2-2 to 1-3.

Turning round to face the breeze and two points in arrears, Monaleens prospects did not look promising and the first ten minutes of the 2nd half was spent desperately defending their lines with Aine Hegarty a colossus at full-back ably supported by Aoife O Leary and Alison McDevitt in the full back line and the excellent Megan Donegan in goal. In this period, St Pats tacked on a couple of points to extend their lead with Monaleen staying in touch through a free from Leah Nolan. Slowly however the tide of the game began to turn with the Monaleen half-back line of Penny O Hehir, Emily McCarthy and Orlaith O Leary thundering into the game and with Leah Nolan and Shannon Power now getting on top at mid-field, Monaleen began to monopolise possession and when 2nd half substitute Robyn Gleeson scored a superb goal followed soon after by another from Megan O Meara, it looked like the cup was finally heading to Monaleen. But credit to St Pats who came back down the field and with practically the last kick of the game leveled the match with a superb point from all of 40 yards. Extra-time was played out in a whirl of excitement with Monaleen well on top at this stage but missing a host of chances through poor shooting and heroic defending. The Monaleen half-forward line of Karen Fabian, Danielle Costelloe and Sarah Geraghty was now launching wave after wave of attack but still the match-winning score would not come and just when it looked like this final would have to go to a replay, Caroline Crotty latched on to a loose ball in the St Pats goalmouth and finished to the net to send the home support into ecstasy. The referee blew the final whistle on the kick-out and Monaleen had prevailed on a final scoreline of Monaleen 4-4 St Pats 2-7.

This was a victory for heart, skill and a refusal to be beaten attitude that brought this panel through a tight semi-final and final in the same week. All 18 members of the panel played their part in this success and subs Zoe Brophy and Emma Quilter played very significant roles in the teams march to the final.

Team: Megan Donegan

Aoife OLeary Aine Hegarty Alison McDevitt

Penny O Hehir Emily McCarthy Orlaith OLeary

Leah Nolan Danielle Costelloe

Karen Fabian Shannon Power Sarah Geraghty

Caroline Crotty Megan O Meara Caoimhe Ryan

Subs: Robyn Gleeson, Zoe Brophy, Emma Quilter

U9 Hurling Boys

The U9 hurlers travelled to Clarina last Friday night for a friendly with Ballybrown. This was their first away fixture and it was a successful one. We won by 3-1 to 2-0 thanks to goals from Eoghan Feeney and Eoghan McCarthy and 1-1 from Harry Gleeson. Others to impress were Sean O’Kane and Cathal McCarthy.

Lotto

There was no winner of the club lotto draw on 28th May. The numbers drawn were 10, 14, 15, 23 Next week’s jackpot will be €19,500.

The lucky dip winners were

· Robert Nix C/O Tom Crosse

· Jack O Sullivan Fedamore

· Lukas Garbuk C/O Leo Morrisons

· Carmel O Halloran Gleanntán

Tickets for the lotto can be purchased in Monaleen Stores, Leo Morrison’s, The Black Swan, and The Hurlers Bar and in the club