No festive joy for Carmen Minor girls

Carrickmore 1-6

Lurgan (Cavan) 3-11

THERE was no festive joy for Carrickmore Ladies at Kingspan Breffni Park in the run up to Christmas as they suffered an eleven point loss to Cavan side Lurgan in the Ulster Club Minor Final.

The Tyrone side can have little complaint as they sruggled to quell their opponents. Trailing by ten points at the break they just never really threatened.

Credit to Lurgan. Backboned by a steely defence they always held the upper hand and the quality of a free flowing attack underlined their dominance.

Carrickmore struggled to get anything from a first half that belonged to the Cavan side. With their main star Sorcha Gormley quelled (by fair means or foul at times) they scored just a single point and were under the cosh for much of the thirty minutes.

A quality Lurgan defence spearheaded by number six Sinead Kelly were in control and the Cavan girls also managed to dominate elsewhere with Niamh Tolan outstanding at midfield.

Carving out a hatful of goal chances they converted just one. Ciara Brady sent Eabha Hayes through and her looping effort easily beat Roise Kerr. The goal was always coming after an early Gormley effort was steered wide in the opening seconds. Hayes tagged on three points and by the sixth minute she had added another with Megan Brady on target with her side’s fifth.

Carrickmore struggled to halt the dominant Lurgan side. They continually ran at the champions, unlocking the defence and added that goal on twelve minutes. Gormley, the target of some deliberate attention, went close from a Clodagh Munroe ball but their chances were limited. Munroe, Aine Grimes and Gormley did their best to break the Lurgan defence but this proved more than difficult.

Tolan hit a Carmen post as Brady, Tara Kelly and Tolan added Lurgan points. A 25th minute free after another heavy hit on Gormley provided Carrickmore with their only score of the half although with Orlaith McElduff dropping back into defence, and the introduction of Meabh McCrystal, they had improved.

Needing a good start to the second half with the breeze at their backs Carrickmore were rocked back on their heels when Brady added a goal and point, her goal coming from an opportune free out on the left. A yellow card for Rionach McCallan compounded Carmen’s woes.

The game was put beyond Carrickmore with fifteen minutes left as Brady landed a point and Tolan rattled home a third goal to move her side eighteen points clear. Credit to Carrickmore they never dropped their heads. Clodagh Munroe got a second point and they finished the stronger as Niamh Tolan was
carded.

McCrystal tagged on a brace, Gormley dropped over a point, Aoibhinn Daly came through to add a late score and on the stroke of full time Munroe rattled in a goal but still it was all too little too late as the Cavan side proved just too good.