Johnny Craig, Inish Times Sports Editor
February 1, 2011
Carndonagh Community School 2/7 Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny
For a second successive season Carndonagh Community School missed out on provincial glory to crack Letterkenny side Loreto in an entertaining final at Cockhill on Tuesday morning (February 1)
The Inishowen School are currently going through a transition period, with many young players being introduced to the squad: Although they produced a disciplined and battling display they were no match for a slick Loreto outfit for whom Geraldine McLaughlin, Lauren Harper and Captain Ciara Grant were just too hot to handle:
Indeed, McLaughlin helped herself to four goals while Harper also claimed a hat/trick as Loreto ran out convincing winners but Carndonagh’s spirited performance was deservedly rewarded with two late consolation goals:
The signs were ominous for Carndonagh from the outset as Amy Thompson got in behind their rearguard in the opening minute but her first time shot from Grant’s ball over the top was saved at full stretch by Eimear Lafferty in the Carndonagh goal:
The opening goal came on three minutes when Natalie Sweeney released Geraldine McLaughlin who neatly tucked the ball beyond the advancing Lafferty:
Carndonagh attempted the respond swiftly with Colleen Kearney slipping the ball into the path of Rebecca Gibbons but the alert Maria Carr slid in to deny her before she could shoot:
That tackle was to prove significant and Loreto swiftly worked the ball up the pitch to double their advantage as Geraldine McLaughlin turned provider to square for the unmarked Harper to slot home:
Carndonagh settled after their difficult start and began to press the Letterkeny side well but it was Loreto who looked the more incisive in attack and they added a third on 15 minutes when McLaughlin and Harper combined again for the latter to drill home her second goal after her initial shot was well blocked by Georgina Gordon:
The Inishowen girls refused to let their heads drop and with Kearney impressing upfront and Louise McLaughlin giving them penetration down the right they began to press higher up the pitch:
Lafferty was having a fine game in goal for Carndonagh as she twice denied Grant from well struck long range efforts but she could do little about Loreto’s fourth on the half hour when Grant released Harper whose well weighted through ball was rifled home by McLaughlin for her second:
As the half came to a close Kearney tested Mary O’Donnell in the Loreto goal with a sweetly struck in/swinging free from the left side while at the other end Grant clipped the cross bar with a trademark long range shot:
It was Loreto who enjoyed a four goal cushion at the interval:
Loreto ruthlessly pushed forward in the second half and McLaughlin completed her hat/trick ten minutes into the 40 minute half when she broke down the left before cutting inside and tucking the ball home at the near post:
Three minutes later Lauren Harper claimed her own hat/trick as she stole a yard on the Carndonagh back four to pick up a Grant through ball and neatly finish into the bottom left corner:
Carndonagh, to their credit, refused to lie down and although Geradine McLaughlin added her fourth and Loreto’s seventh with a brilliantly placed shot from the edge of the box on 64 minutes they continued to commit players forward in search of a consolation strike:
Kearney looked like Carndonagh’s most likely source of a goal and with 10 minutes remaining she charged down an O’Donnell clearance but her subsequent shot was well blocked by the impressive Maria Carr:
With 5 minutes remaining Kearney got the goal her attacking play deserved as Gordon broke down the right and squared for the striker who coolly rounded the ‘keeper before passing the ball into the empty net:
Buoyed by that strike Carndonagh continued to stream forward and Aisling McCallion, who has an outstanding game at right back, added another consolation goal with three minutes left when she latched onto a Kearney pass and drilled the ball home:
CARNDONAGH CS: Eimear Lafferty, Aisling McCallion, Kerry McDaid, Amy McCarron, Helen Kelly, Rosemary Doherty, Colleen Kearney, Georgina Gordon, Karen McLaughlin, Rebecca Gibbons, Louise McLaughlin:
SUBS: Simone McLaughlin
LORETO SS, LETTERKENNY: Mary O’Donnell, Emer Gallagher, Nadine Crawford, Maria Carr, Kaneshia McKinney, Ciara Grant, Amy Thompson, Lauren Harper, Marion Doherty, Geraldine McLaughlin, Natalie Sweeney:
SUBS: Dara Kelly, Sabhdha Medlar, Alice Diver, Niamh McMenamin, Rose Boyle, Hanna Carr
REFEREE: Liam Porter