It was a case of déjà vu as Wolfe Tones of Shannon met Banner Ladies for the second time in six days, this time to play for a coveted place in the Junior B final. The game had many similarities to the previous outing played in Shannon last week with the most important similarity being the score-line which put the Tones emphatically into the final where they await either Clarecastle or Fergus Rovers who still have to play each other in their semi-final.

The Banner started with purpose and had amassed 1-3 in the first quarter thanks to Sonya Maher who first pointed from a foul on Chloe MacNamara and then the former Irish soccer international goaled with a well placed ground shot when she was set up by MacNamara. Coming up to the end of the first quarter Maher placed a lovely point between the posts and a Rachel Grogan rasper was deflected over the bar for a point. The dynamic Lyndsey Hayes opened her tally with a sylish point to get the Shannon-siders on the board for the first time on eighteen minutes. Saffron and Blue Grogan extracted a great save from Wolfe Tones custodian Danielle Markham who palmed over a certain goal, a point for the Banner Ladies 1-4 to 0-1 for Wolfe Tones on twenty minutes but for the next ten minutes the Green and White  imposed themselves across the board. From the rear, full-back Ciara Loftus flanked by Edel Reidy and Leah Kelly were staunch in their defence as was Aoibhinn Bannon , Orla Reidy and Shelly Goggin on the half back line. It started when Claire O’Brien set up Zoe McInerney for a cracking goal on 22 minutes and the insatiable Hayes added another goal to draw 2-1 to Banners 1-4 on twenty three minutes.  Tracey Byrnes then tacked on two points, the first at the end of a marvellous run and the second with after a tenacious spell of marking from her. With a minute to go to the break, Aoife Cavanagh pointed a lovely effort to bring the Banner back to the minimum gap but Byrne restored a two point margin over the Banner Ladies with half time score of 2-4 to 1-5 in favour of Wolfe Tones.

When Michael FitzGerald restarted the game, the Saffron and Blues had a determined attack and pushed forward by Laoise Ryan and Erona Aliu from the centre, Aoife Cavanagh, Rachel Grogan and Chloe MacNamara were very industrious, as was Nicole Talty and Siobhan Mahony as they forced two frees from the Tones defence. Sonya Maher deftly converted these scores and a point from play by Maher pushed the Ennis based side into the lead for the second time in the game.  When it looked like the Banner would recover the game and push on, Lyndsey Hayes stopped the Banner advance in it’s tracks with her second point and second goal in quick succession to bring the score to 3-5 to 1-8. Then, confident points from the Banner’s Aoife Cavanagh and Chloe MacNamara brought the Banner back to within a point of the Wolfe Tones but digging deep a green mist descended on the Banner half for the remaining ten minutes as Wolfe Tones took four points all provided courtesy of the indefatigable Ciara Hannon who deflated the Banner’s Junior teams aspirations for the year. The game ended 3-9 for Wolfe Tones and 1-10 for the Banner Ladies.

Two evenly matched teams in a very fast-paced and sporting game saw very good performance all round. For the Banner, Siobhan McMahon, Leah Sullivan, Olivia Tuohy, Emma Neylon and Roisin Martin as well as returning campaigners Clare Walsh and Sonya Maher. For Wolfe Tones, Aisling Quinlivan, Claire O’Brien, Chloe O’Donoghue and Tara Mulcahy . Exceptional performaces from Danah King, Tracey Byrne, Ciara Hannon and Lyndsey Hayes was the difference between the two teams in their last quarter dash for the much desired win.

Banner : Michaela Roughan, Siobhan McMahon, Leah Sullivan, Clare Walsh, Olivia Tuohy, Emma Neylon, Roisin Martin, Laoise Ryan, Erona Aliu, Aoife Cavanagh (0-2), Rachel Grogan (0-2), Chloe McNamara (0-1) , Emma Kavanagh, Sonya Maher (1-5, 3f), Siobhan Mahony, Nicole Talty, Roisin Clancy, Allanah McNamara, Sinead Hallissey, Lana Browne, Nicole Roche, Eabha Keane, Tara McInerney, Clodagh Leonard, Siobhan Mahony.

Wolfe Tones: Danielle Markham, Edel Reidy, Leah Kelly, Ciara Loftus, Aoibhinn Bannon, Orla Reidy,  Aishling Quinlivan, Shelley Goggin, Zoe McInerney (1-0), Claire O’Brien , Chloe O’Donoghue, Danah King, Tara Mulcahy, Lyndsey Hayes (2-2), Tracey Byrnes (0-3), Ciara Hannon (0-4), Emily Hayes, Michelle Rolan, Kate Johnson, Hazel Meaney, Jade O’Rourke, Hayley Nolan, Edel Reidy,