Sparkling Galtee Gaels display wins Limerick Junior A Ladies Football final against Ahane

GALTEE Gaels were crowed 3Dental Limerick Junior A Ladies Football champions this Sunday afternoon.

The south Limerick side defied the wet conditions to produce a sparkling display of football in a 4-13 to 2-6 final win over Ahane.

It made it a weekend double for the Anglesboro and Kilbehenny who won the county novice title 24-hours previous with a final win over Old Mill.

In this JAFC final, the side in maroon raced from the starting blocks to lay a firm foundation for victory. They were 1-6 to 1-0 ahead at the end of the opening quarter.

By half time all six of their starting forwards had scored from play and they were 3-10 to 1-2 clear.

Ahane will look back on the final with some regrets - they had 10 wides which was double that of the winners - but overall there was no denying Galtee Gaels were most deserving champions.

Breda Martin and Roisin Breedy had early points and then in just the second minute Breedy crashed home their first goal.

Ahane soon had a goal of their own - Rachel Donnellan finding the net.

But when Leah Quane and Grainne Cronin added points, Galtee Gaels were six points clear.

Aine Reynolds had two pointed frees for Ahane but the goal was to be their own score from play in the opening half.

At the other end of the field, Galtee moved the ball impressively into space and kicked 12 scores from play in the opening half.

Their second goal came in the 24th minute from Leah Geary after quick thinking from Chole Lyons to move a free over the defensive cover for the full forward to score.

As the stopwatch entered the final seconds of the opening half, Breedy scored her second goal to ensure a commanding half time lead for the eventual champions.

Ahane needed a solid start to the second half and that's exactly what they got when Niamh Brennan found the net inside a minute of the restart.

Alas, there wasn't to be any sustaining comeback as Galtee Gaels proved dominant throughout the second half.

Leah Geary replied to the goal with two points and then in the fourth minute of the second half, Roisin Breedy completed her hat-trick of goals to move Galtee Gaels into a 4-12 to 2-2 lead.

They only scored one point in the remaining 25-minutes of action but had all the hard work done.

Aine Reynolds (frees), Molly Hussey and Donnellan had points for Ahane but there was no way back against a most impressive Galtee Gaels outfit.