Moate CS march on to first ever All-Ireland senior final

LGFA: Lidl All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Senior 'A' semi-final

Moate CS 5-11 Loretto School Cavan 3-7

Eamon A. Donoghue

Moate Community School are into the All-Ireland Senior ‘A’ final after beating Loreto College, Cavan in this semi-final at Lakepoint Park, Mullingar today (Wednesday).

An early goal from team captain Aine Gaynor helped the Moate girls into a 1-3 to 0-2 lead at the first water break.

Both sides had plenty of possession, but Moate made better use of theirs. Shannon Mulvihill scored Moate’s second goal, setting the Westmeath side up for a half-time lead of 2-5 to 0-6.

Inspirational centre half-back Chloe Moran played a key role in both of Moate’s first-half goals. The teams were testing each other's resolve, until Moran stepped up, taking the ball at pace and splitting the Loreto defence in attacks that led to the goals.

The Cavan school had bundles of possession in this game, but they often took a pass too many and their counter attacking was too slow.

Anna Sheerin and Kate Whyte added goals in the second half that put the game beyond Loreto College.

Loreto inhabited the Moate goalmouth for the last ten minutes of the game. They wasted numerous opportunities, rushing their shots and although they did score late goals from Tara McAnenna and a penalty from Gemma Beatty, they couldn’t breach the congested Moate goal enough times.

Gaynor then showed her leadership as, after a powerful run, she finished past Grainne Cahill in the Loreto goal to see out the win. It was fitting that Gaynor scored their first and last goals in the game, as the Westmeath senior player made a huge contribution to Moate’s win, in what was an excellent team effort.

Scorers - Moate CS: A Gaynor 2-1 (0-1f), S Mulvihill 1-5 (0-1f), K Whyte 1-3, A Sheerin 1-0, A Cornally 0-2. Loreto College: G Beatty, 1-4 (1-0pen, 0-3f), E Brady 1-1, T McAnenna 1-1, L Crowe 0-1.

Moate Community School: Emma Quigley; Joyce Conway, Amy Murphy, Cliona McCormack; Hannah Doolan, Chloe Moran, Holly Keenan; Megan Clinton, Anna Sheerin; Saoirse McGuinness, Aine Gaynor, Hazel Kelly; Ava Cornally, Katie Whyte, Shannon Mulvihill. Subs: Claire Conlon for Keenan (44 mins), Claire O’Donohoe for McGuinness (57), Laura Conlon for Whyte (60), Eliza Jane Sheerin for Sheerin (62).

Loreto College, Cavan: Grainne Cahill; Aine Smith, Emma Comiskey, Deirbhile Lynch; Hannah Smith, Laura Gilligan, Sinead Greene; Sarah Clarke, Caoimhe Maguire; Emma Delaney, Niamh Fitzpatrick, Gemma Beatty; Lucy Crowe, Tara McAnenna, Emma McIntyre. Subs: Maeve Young for McAnenna (30 mins), Ailbhe Kennedy for Crowe (60).

Referee: Aaron Clogher (Roscommon).