Carrickmore Minor Ladies make Ulster Final

Clann Eireann 2-5

Carrickmore 3-7

Carrickmore Ladies  grip on the Ulster Minor title remains intact as they booked their place in this month’s final with a five point win over Clann Eireann at Lurgan.

The Tyrone champions now face Lurgan of Cavan in the final but worryingly they only scored two second half points as a rejuvenated Clann, who trailed by 12 at the break, came back strong, closing the gap to three points. They also took full advantage of a second half yellow card for full back Aoibhinn Daly.

This was a disciplined display from Carrickmore though and they were impressive at times, solid at the back and they always carried a threat in attack. However, after a dominant first half they did find the going tough at times. The full back line of Daly, Maire Kerr and Caoimhe Coyle were assured whilst Cloda Mc Namee was excellent at midfield and Sorcha Gormley, who hit 1-5, was a constant source of quality in attack.

Carrickmore had led by 12 points at the break, aided by the wind and a pronounced slope on the pitch but the first half wasn’t without incident as Sorcha Gormley became a focus for some cynical challenges over 30 minutes. Also, Seamus McCallan was dismissed from the sideline midway through the half.

Clann Eireann opened the scoring within a minute as Maeve McConaghy tagged on a free. Gormley replied though, when a long range free dropped in over the head of goalkeeper Etain Devlin and into the net. From that goal Carrickmore pulled away, with the impressive Lauren McMahon adding a point. And, as the Tyrone back line stood firm, they nullified any threat that came their way and enjoyed plenty of ball.

Gormley hit a brace of points as Aoibheann Donahue was yellow carded; there were several indifferent calls from the Derry official but time and again Gormley opened up the Armagh defence.

As McCallan was sent over the fence Gormley teed up Siofra Loughran for a second goal. Grimes and Gormley tagged on points before Loughran was on hand again to slide the ball into the Clann net to leave them well in control. McConaghy added a late point for Clann on the break.

Clann got out off the blocks early after the restart, Chloe Galbraith on hand to steer in an early goal with Cassie Henderson delivering a fine long range point as Daly was carded. The loss of their influential full back was a setback for Carmen and they conceded 1-2 in her absence. Henderson initially lost control of a through ball but managed to poke the ball into the net.

McConaghy landed a fine point from close range and the gap was down to four with less than ten minutes left. When Gormley’s goal bound effort was blocked down Clann pressed on, Mc Conaghy hitting the up right before leaving a score between the sides with her fourth point. An illusive third goal was not to come their way as Gormley set up a move and finished it with a point before dropping over her fifth point from a free at the death.

Carrickmore claimed the win but found the going tough at times in that second half but they are through to another final in a fortnight and they will certainly look for some improvement.