O’Neill goal seals Division 4 league crown for Carlow

Lidl National Football League Division 4 final

Carlow 1-7

 Limerick 0-6

 By Daire Walsh

Substitute Maeve O’Neill struck a 55th minute goal at Grant Heating St Brendan’s Park in Birr on Saturday to help Carlow towards a first ever Lidl National Football League Division 4 title.

 Thanks to the presence of Storm Kathleen on these shores, Limerick played with the aid of a gale-force breeze in the opening half of this contest. It took the Treaty women a little while to get up and running, but unanswered scores from wing-back Meadhbh MacNamara, dead-ball specialist Deborah Murphy and Iris Kennelly ultimately gave them a three-point lead on the first-quarter mark.

Although the likes of Aoife Carroll and skipper Ruth Bermingham were performing well in defence, Carlow were struggling to create attacking opportunities when playing against the elements.

Yet the Barrowsiders were able to keep Limerick on their toes with extended spells of possession football and they finally opened their account on 25 minutes as Bennekerry/Tinryland star Cliodhna Ni She split the posts off a close-range free.

This significantly boosted the spirits of their travelling supporters and having managed to keep their Munster counterparts scoreless for 18 minutes, Ed Burke’s side were just two points adrift at 0-3 to 0-1 at the interval.

A wind advantage now in their favour, Carlow levelled matters within three minutes of the restart thanks to a brace of successful frees by the dependable Ni She. Momentum now appeared to be with the Leinster outfit and even though Limerick attempted to batten down the hatches, Roisin Bailey and Rachel Sawyer knocked over quickfire points from play to give Carlow a 0-5 to 0-3 platform on the stroke of 40 minutes.

However, Limerick reduced the deficit to the bare minimum with a second point from Kennelly moments later and subsequently breathed a sigh of relief when Ni She had a goal disallowed from a long-distance free.

Limerick then restored parity through Monagea’s Murphy, only for Ni She’s latest place-ball point to edge Carlow back into the ascendancy in the 48th-minute.

After also scoring a crucial goal in their semi-final victory over Fermanagh, it was then left for the impactful O’Neill to roll a low shot to the net with five minutes remaining on the clock.

Caoimhe McGrath’s pointed free kept Limerick in the hunt, before Bermingham chipped over an excellent score at the death to seal a precious national crown for Carlow.

 Scorers – Carlow: C Ni She 0-4 (4f), M O’Neill 1-0, R Bermingham, R Bailey, R Sawyer 0-1 each. Limerick: D Murphy 0-2 (1f), I Kennelly 0-2, M MacNamara, C McGrath (f) 0-1 each.

 CARLOW: N Hanley; A Carroll, A Roche, S McCullagh; R Bermingham, N Murphy, N Forde; E Hayden, R Bailey; B Nolan, R Sawyer, S Doyle; E Molloy, E Coogan, C Ni She. Subs: S Hayden for McCullagh (h-t), M O’Neill for Coogan (47), T Lyons for Nolan (52), M Townsend for E Hayden (55), E Ware for S Hayden (59).

LIMERICK: C Bateman; J McGuire, Y Lee, F Bradshaw; G Lee, C Mee, M MacNamara; R Ambrose, L Ryan; K O’Leary, D Murphy, K Heelan; E Woulfe, A O’Sullivan, I Kennelly. Subs: G Mullane for Heelan, R Browne for McGuire (both h-t), C McGrath for O’Sullivan (47), K Kennedy for Ryan (55), M Kavanagh for Woulfe (59).

Referee: Declan Carolan (Armagh).