Greenfields women make history in hockey decider
McGettigan’s goal helps city club capture Irish Trophy for first time
GREENFIELDS 1
OMAGH 0
DAIRE WALSH
IN BELFIELD
VICE-CAPTAIN Neasa McGettigan was the star of the show in Belfield on Sunday as her 57th minute strike from a penalty corner gave Greenfields an historic victory in the ESB Electric Ireland Women’s Irish Hockey Trophy decider over a dogged Omagh side.
This represented a first-ever success for a Connacht side in the competition, and though it appeared for large parts of the contest that extra-time would be required, McGettigan’s solitary goal was enough to secure the Galway City club’s place in the Irish Senior Cup for next season.
Greenfields ventured into this encounter with plenty of confidence having defeated Omagh’s Ulster rivals, Northern Ireland Civil Service, at the semi-final stage (they had also accounted for Old Lady’s, Terenure, as well as Ashton and Bandon of Cork in the previous rounds), but they would have been acutely aware of what Veronica Hawkes’ side had to offer, as they overcame Galway Hockey Club in their penultimate round encounter.
In one sense, Greenfields were at something of a disadvantage for their trip to the capital, as the province of Connacht does not have a water-based pitch like the one in Belfield. However, the squad prepared for this tie by training on a pitch similar to the one that UCD possess, and they also had the experience of playing at this stage of the competition in the past, as they lost out to Catholic Institute of Limerick in the 2010 showdown.
All of these factors meant that Greenfields were well prepared for the challenge of the Tyrone girls, and they looked very assured in possession during the opening moments of the game, when they were pressing Omagh high up the pitch in an effort to gain a stranglehold on the proceedings.
Indeed, Omagh netminder Gillian Adams had to be at her best five minutes in to deny Trish Garrett, who found herself in space just inside the area, but her final strike was swept away to safety by the feet of the Ulster outfit’s shot-stopper.
Greenfields were making an impression in the early stages, though and, in the form of Clodagh Grealy and Alison Ryan, they had two players who were posing real problems for the Omagh rearguard. The girls from the O’Neill County were defending extremely well, however, as they were closing down the space for the Greenfields attack whenever they approached their goal.
The Galway outfit did earn a couple of penalty corners in quick succession on 11 minutes, and though the routine between Aine Collins, Grealy and McGettigan was well-executed, the latter’s final strike was dealt with comfortably by Adams and her defence in the end.
Garrett did go close with a shot from the left-hand side on 20 minutes that flew just wide of the near post, but Omagh had a good chance of their own just two minutes later when a strike from the returning Anne Buchanan flew tantalisingly wide of the Greenfields goal.
Omagh were certainly coming into the game by this stage, and replacement Roslyn Graham had a narrow miss on 25 minutes following an intelligent pass by Buchanan, but Greenfields remained the dominant team, as McGettigan and Alice Meagher went close with attempts in the 27th and 34th minutes respectively.
Neither side was able to break the deadlock before the end of the opening period, though, and the game was still very much in the melting pot as the second half commenced.
Yet, Greenfields were still on top in the territorial areas upon the resumption, and were looking the more likely of the two teams to take the lead, as the minutes went by. Omagh started to come into their own as the game entered into the final half-hour, however, and Buchanan was unfortunate to see her shot from an Aimee Nethery pull-back deflected wide 46 minutes in.
This caused Greenfields to increase the tempo of their play, and they finally had the ball in the back of the net through Garrett three minutes later but, after consultation between umpires Gillian Garrett and Linda Coughlan, the goal was ultimately ruled out.
This was a sign of things to come for Omagh, and Adams was called into action once again with 14 minutes remaining when she had to turn away a brace of efforts just inside the area from Garrett and Mary Healy.
Her resistance, as well as that of Omagh, would then be broken just a minute later, when Greenfields finally got their penalty corner routine right – McGettigan finished brilliantly to the bottom left-hand corner of the net after Grealy had held up Aine Collins’ precise delivery.
This looked like being the catalyst for the Galway girls to push on for the win, but instead, they did start to sit back as the final ten minutes of play beckoned, a period which coincided with a significant increase in tempo by Omagh.
Greenfields defended staunchly during this period, however, as Aine Collins and captain Alma Whelan were showing great leadership when it mattered the most.
There were a few nervous moments for Greenfields in the closing few minutes, as Buchanan had shot past Sinead Collins on 67 minutes only for the play to be called back for a penalty corner, and though she also found the net from the subsequent set-piece, her shot to the roof of the net was also ruled invalid, much to the relief of the travelling Greenfields support.
This would prove to be Omagh’s best opportunities to bring the game into extra-time as, despite their best endeavours, they were unable to stop Greenfields from achieving a most-memorable triumph.
Having defeated teams from the provinces of Leinster, Munster and Ulster en route to securing the title, Greenfields have shown the quality that exists within their squad and, with star performers like McGettigan, Whelan, Garrett and Aine Collins, they have every reason to feel positive about their return to the Senior Cup.
GREENFIELDS: S. Collins, C. Moore, C. Grealy, A. Ryan, N. McGettigan, A. Collins, M. Healy, G. Heavey, A. Whelan, L. Tighe, T. Garrett. Replacements: C. Kennedy, R. Wyer, S. McDonald, A. Finnerty, A. Meagher.
OMAGH: G. Adams, R. Smith, E. Pinkerton, A. Nethery, K. Graham, J. Elkin, L. Pinkerton, K. McMaster, R. Beckett, S. J. McClurg, A. Buchanan. Replacements: R. Graham, S. Hemphill, N. Hawkes, I. Nelson.