Clare’s dreams of reaching an All-Ireland minor final were effectively dashed in the space of 60 seconds shortly before half-time on Thursday night.
Sligo 2-11
Clare 1-4
Venue: Duggan Park, Ballinasloe
By Kevin Egan
Two goals from Sligo full forward Keeva Flynn undid the Banner girls’ sterling defensive effort up to that point and sealed the outcome in the All-Ireland minor b ladies football semi-final.
Even with the wind at their backs for the second half-hour, retrieving a 2-8 to 1-1 deficit was always going to be difficult, and Barry Donnelly’s side never looked like managing it, with their best attacking play invariably crowded out by a packed Sligo defence that could afford to just sit back and absorb the pressure.
When they reflect on this contest however, Clare players and supporters will know that there was never a stage in the game when they looked like the superior team. It took some solid play from goalkeeper Aoife Griffin and a heroic defensive effort from full back Aisling Kelly to repel the Sligo attack in the opening 25 minutes, with Kelly twice dispossessing rampaging Sligo attackers who had the goal at their mercy and Griffin making two close range saves to deny Sligo centre forward Rachel McGoldrick.
Sligo were comfortable in defence and assertive on the Clare kickout, winning seven out of the first ten restarts from Aoife Griffin in the Banner county goal. Strong running from deeper positions by players like Anna McDaniel, Rachel McGoldrick and Ellen Giblin opened up the Clare defence, but when the Sligo attackers did finally get a glimpse of the whites of Griffin’s eyes, then either Kelly, Griffin herself, or in one instance Serena Clancy, would come up with a despairing intervention that averted the danger.
Not too many questions had been asked of the Sligo defence up to that point, but when Clare did make two rare forays forward, they picked out enough space for Áine McNamara fire a lot shot to the Sligo net, with Hazel O’Shea then levelling the game with a tidy clip over the bar.
That meant that with nearly 20 minutes played, Sligo effectively had to start building a lead all over again, and given the strength of the breeze that was favouring them in the opening period, it was very much advantage Clare at that point.
Top scoring corner forward Ellen Giblin struck three points in quick succession to give the Connacht county something to hold onto, but a three point advantage looked inadequate, particularly given the help that the fresh breeze would have offered Clare, both in terms of adding distance to Griffin’s restarts and in increasing the scoring range for the Banner full forward line.
Then the game changed completely before half time. One of many long deliveries that was swept up by Sligo wing back Jade Gabbidon was sent back with interest, ending in a shot from Anna McDaniel that hit the post. Éimer Mitchell was the sharpest in pouncing on the rebound and while the Sligo wing back also hit the woodwork with her attempt, it was Flynn who claimed the loose ball this time, and she made no such error, crashing the ball to the net to double Sligo’s lead.
On the next attack a mishit shot from McGoldrick fell perfectly for Flynn to sidefoot the ball to the Clare net, and one more Giblin free later, the first half scoring was completed and the scoreboard made for very grim reading for the travelling Clare supportrs.
It wasn’t that the Munster champions didn’t have enough ball to eat into the lead in the second half; they absolutely did. Their problem was that Sligo had the cushion to sit back and defend goals, as well as the mental acuity to realise on the fly that this was the way to play out the tie.
Clare did have their good moments with Aisling Crowe and Hazel O’Shea kicking good points, but more often than not they were forced to try and make something more happen while playing into a big crowd and a packed defence, and that led to a much more pedestrian period of football, which suited the Connacht champions very nicely.
A couple of late breakaway points from Giblin arguably gave the scoreboard an even more lobsided look, perhaps more than Clare deserved after they raised a decent gallop in the second period in a lot of positions, but not even the most ardently one-eyed Banner supporter could say that the provincial champions from the south were anything other than a distant second best in what was a disappointing evening on the Galway-Roscommon border.
Sligo: Catherine Gallagher (St. Nathy’s); Hazel Redican (Eastern Harps), Leanne Galvin (Shamrock Gaels), Aoibheann Durcan (Curry); Éimer Mitchell (Eastern Harps), Ciara Walsh (Tourlestrane), Jade Gabbidon (Geevagh); Jasmine Dunleavy (Drumcliffe/Rosses Point), Anna McDaniel (Coolera-Strandhill); Cara King (CT Gaels), Rachel McGoldrick (St. John’s), Bláithín Lavin (St. Nathy’s); Jillian Monaghan (St. Mary’s), Keeva Flynn (Eoghan Rua), Ellen Giblin (Curry).
Subs: Tara Hastings (Eoghan Rua) for Mitchell (41), Orna Murphy (Coolera-Strandhill) for McGoldrick (41), Saoirse Corcoran (Eoghan Rua) for Monaghan (55), Aimee Keane (St. Mary’s) for Gabbidon (60), Gráinne Smith (Geevagh) for Lavin (60).
Clare: Aoife Griffin (Fergus Rovers); Abbie Cahill (Fergus Rovers), Aisling Kelly (Cooraclare), Catriona Byrne (Milltown Malbay); Emer Burke (Banner), Serena Clancy (West Clare Gaels), Eimear Burke (Fergus Rovers); Sophie Torpey (Doora Barefield), Aisling Crowe (Kilrush); Sophie Culleton (Fergus Rovers), Ellie Hanrahan (Kilmurry Ibrickane), Shauna Melican (Fergus Rovers); Áine McNamara (Kilmihil), Hazel O’Shea (Kilrush), Lucy Shanahan (Doonbeg).
Subs: Niamh Miller (Kilmurry Ibrickane) for Eimear Burke (half-time), Lucy Power (Doora Barefield) for Emer Burke (34), Ria Meaney (Fergus Rovers) for Torpey (37), Ella Nagle (West Clare Gaels) for Melican (51), Hazel Keating (Fergus Rovers) for McNamara (60).
Referee: Kevin Corcoran (Mayo).
