Keane strikes late to send St Ailbe's into LGFA senior final
Georgia Keane kicked the winning score late on as St Ailbe’s hopes of a third title in a row continued
REIGNING champions St Ailbe’s kept their hopes of making it three senior ladies football titles on the trot by squeezing out Monagea on a 1-10 to 1-9 scoreline in their semi-final at Clarina.
In a game that swung 180 degrees from one period of dominance to the next, the east Limerick team recovered from being overrun in the opening quarter to steal ahead just on the stroke of half-time
They then had to repeat the dramatics in the late stages when former county star Georgia Keane pounced for their last gasp winner.
St Ailbe’s extracted early advantage from the conditions as Keane sent over a free and then followed up with another before Monagea got their first sustained possession in the opposing half.
Ellie Woulfe got them off the mark and then Kate Geary added a second with a classy kick after a devastating run.
The siege continued up to the quarter mark when Karen O'Leary's mazy solo stretched the Ailbe’s cover and opened the hole for Deborah Murphy to blast to the net.
Aoife Corbett followed with a point and then Murphy stretched out the gap to five as Monagea took a firm hand on the contest.
Keane countered with a pair of frees and then produced a turnover and found Kate Kennedy in space and she fired to the net to level the game.
Alex Russell then popped over a score for the reigning champions to give them a 1-5 to 1-4 advantage over a stunned Monagea outfit.
Murphy broke the deadlock with an equalising free in the second half but Hickey’s response and two successive scores from Orla Ryan moved the control back in Ailbe’s favour. A Keane free then stretched the lead to three.
Monagea sub Caitríona Davis pulled back a point just after her introduction from the bench but they were unable to find a three-pointer to swing the game in their favour.
Aoife Corbett’s powerful shot was stopped on the line but a Liz Carmody point brought the advantage back to the minimum heading down the stretch.
Kennedy eased the pressure on Ailbes with a shot on the turn down at the other end of the field but Davis converted a free to bring the advantage back to one.
Monagea had the chance to carry off the smash-and-grab when O'Leary laid off to Grace Mullane's but her shot for goal sailed just over the crossbar for an equalising point.
However, there was one more dramatic turn in the game with Keane providing the winner just before the full time whistle to send Ailbe’s to another decider.
SCORERS - ST AILBE’S: Georgia Keane 0-5 (3f), Kate Kennedy 1-1, Orla Ryan 0-2, Caroline Hickey, Alex Russell 0-1 each; MONAGEA: Deborah Murphy 1-2 (1f), Caitríona Davis 0-2 (1f), Ellie Woulfe (1f), Kate Geary, Aoife Corbett, Grace Mullane, Liz Carmody 0-1 each.
ST AILBE’S: Bríd Madigan; Martha Stanley, Ciara Ryan, Aoife Dalton; Maedhbh McNamara, Shona Hickey, Katie Heelan; Caroline Hickey, Alex Russell; Sinéad McNamara, Orla Ryan, Niamh Ryan; Eimear Ryan, Kate Kennedy, Georgia Keane; Subs: Laura Nash for Stanley (h-t), Mairéad Kavanagh for E Ryan (h-t).
MONAGEA: Ciara O'Grady; Shauna Tobin, Yvonne Lee, Emma Hogan; Liz Carmody, Kate Geary, Kate O'Gorman; Brigid Cahill, Deborah Murphy; Karen O'Leary, Ella Whelan, Ellie Woulfe; Aisling Enright, Aoife Corbett, Grace Mullane; Subs: Caitríona Davis for Ella Whelan (46 minutes), Kate Donovan for Kate Geary (46 minutes), Éabha Collins for Aisling Enright (46 minutes), Ciara Lanigan for Aoife Corbett (53 minutes).
Referee: Colman O'Flaherty (St Senan's).