The Junior A final was played out last Sunday evening in Kilmihil between Kilrush and Coolmeen. In their respective semi-finals Kilrush had a thundering second half against Doora-Barefield while Coolmeen despatched Clooney-Quin with a flurry of goals towards the end of the game. The meeting between the two sides attracted an impressive and very vocal attendance.

While Kilrush started the proceedings with real intent, co-captain Aine Browne had pointed in the first few minutes and Ronya Baumann had taken an brilliant goal on fourteen minutes, it would be another fifteen minutes before they would register another score. A hardy Coolmeen defence cut everything out in their zone during the second quarter and went on to dominate the game completely. A committed performance from the Coolmeen backs Laura Vaughan, Sophie Devanney, Lisa Farrell, Eimear Greene, Fiona McMahon and the exceptional Emer O’Connor propelled Tara Kelly, Gillian Finnucane, Sarah McCann and Emma McMahon forward and they would dissect the Kilrush defence with a 1-07 spree in the second quarter, and sharpshooter Emma McMahon would take six of these point (two from frees). Niamh Markham added her own point in this period as did Tara Flynn to equalise on twenty one minutes but when Gillian Finnucane powered her way towards Kilrush keeper Aoife Griffin, she pushed her team into a four point lead over Kilrush with a superb goal, 1-06 to 1-02. McMahon added another top drawer point with four minutes left in the first half but a determined Aoife Carraig came forward to deliver two timely and important point interspersed by a Sally Glynn rasper that was palmed over the bar by Coolmeen captain Clodagh Murphy to bring the gap to two points in favour of Coolmeen. Referee Michael Fitzgerald awarded a free to Emma McMahon and she pointed again on the whistle to bring the score to 1-08 to 1-05. A very pacey game which saw the advantage swing from Kilrush to Coolmeen, leaving all to play for in the second half.

On the resumption, Tara Kelly extended the Coolmeen lead to four points but Jenny Ryan clawed that back with a fine point from play. 1-06 for Kilrush and 1-09 for their opponents. Coolmeen played some very fine possession football in the third quarter but Kilrush did run at their defence when given the chance. The dynamic stalemate ended with a point at the end of a Tara Kelly forty meter solo-run on nineteen minutes and team-mate Aoife Howard followed with one of her own to bring the Coolmeen tally to 1-11 and Kilrush five points behind. A couple of missed frees was followed by good play from the Shamrocks as Shauna O’Brien pointed from a free after being fouled herself and Aine Browne was back with another inspiration point to bring the score to 1-08 versus Coolmeen’s 1-11. At this stage, Kilrush had drawn a line at midfield and were concentrating all their firepower in the Coolmeen half, but with Gillian Finnucane being the only Coolmeen player in the Kilrush half, the congestion of players was impossible for the Green and White to breach. As the clock wound down one last superb passage of play involved Niamh Markham covering a large amount of ground at speed, a swift hand pass to Emer O’Connor was then relayed to Sarah McCann who slammed the door shut on Kilrush aspirations for 2015 with a well taken goal. When Michael Fitzgerald immediately called for the ball, Coolmeen had taken the Junior A county title with an impressive team performance.

Kilrush had really taken the battle to Coolmeen in this intensely contested game. Aoife Carrig, Aine Looney, Linda Kelleher, Shereena Clarke and Deirbhile Browne were extremely busy and played well for Kilrush in defence. Kilrush were denied the chance to score but the action was end to end but an impressive Coolmeen defence held the Kilrush attack scoreless for very long spells. Coolmeen took a three point lead into the second have and outscored Kilrush by a further three points in a much more hectic but low scoring second half. An abundance of Coolmeen firepower was the difference between the two sides with McMahon in the first half and Tara Kelly and Sarah McCann in the second half, starring for the champions.

Coolmeen: Clodagh Murphy, Laura Vaughan, Sophie Devanney, Lisa Farrell, Martina Hehir, Fiona McMahon, Tara Kelly (0-3), Emer O’Connor, Aoife Howard (0-1), Gillian Finnucane (1-0), Sarah McCann (1-0), Emma McMahon (0-6, 3f), Niamh Markham (0-1), Caroline Casey, Aoife McMahon, Brianne Murphy, Marie Haugh, Eimear Greene, Josephine Lucas, Ciara Finnucane, Grainne Howard, Laura O’Sullivan. Management: Kevin McMahon, Brian Markham.

Kilrush: Aoife Griffin, Shereena Clarke, Linda Kelleher (Co-Capt), Susie Williams, Aoife Carraig (0-2) , Aine Looney, Deirbhaile Browne, Jenny Ryan (0-1), Chantel Burke, Ronya Baumann (1-1), Aine Browne (Co-Capt) (0-2), Clodagh Larkin, Sarah Keating, Annmarie Callinan, Shauna O’Brien (0-1, f), Sally Glynn (0-1), Liz Murphy, Catriona Crowe, Susan Bermingham, Regina Fennessy, Mary Williams, Kayla Crowley, Anne-Marie Kelly, Mikayla Kelleher, Shauna Coughlan, , Megan Broderick. Management: Ger Geary, Sarah Cahill,