Omagh Ladies Draw in All Ireland Final
Tesco All Ireland Junior Club Football Final:
Caltra Cuans (Galway) 0-7 St. Enda’s, Omagh (Tyrone) 0-7
St. Enda’s Omagh and Caltra Cuan’s will meet again next weekend after the sides drew 0-7 each in Mullahoran on Saturday. This game was played at the fourth time of asking and when the sides arrived at the Cavan venue there was severe fog however just before throw in the fog lifted and the teams served up an exciting if not tight encounter.
With the first attack of the game Caltra hit the crossbar through Niamh Kilkenny however as so often happens St. Enda’s cleared their lines, charged up field and forced a free which Cara Mc Crossan fired over. St. Enda’s should have extended their lead a few minutes later but Emma Collins sent a 13m free wide of the post. In the 9th minute Mc Crossan did doubled their lead when she sent over from a tight angle.
As the game progressed Caltra settled however solid defending from St. Enda’s prevented any scores until the 13th minute when half forward Niamh Kilkenny pointed. Four minutes later and full forward Orlaith Hannon levelled matters when sent over a free. Towards the end of the half Omagh really got going. Terri Mc Cullagh scored two nice points, the first from a free after she chased down a lost cause and was fouled and the second after some good work from the roving wing back Christianne Hunter. With just a few seconds left on the clock Cara Mc Crossan sent over her third point to leave the midway score 0-5 to 0-2 in favour of the Tyrone and Ulster champions St. Enda’s.
Caltra opened the second half scoring when Orlaith Hannon pounced on a rare St. Enda’s defensive mistake and fired over. Another score from Hannon in the 40th minute left just a single point between the sides. St. Enda’s now introduced the experienced Michaela O Neill however within 2 minutes of her introduction the Omagh side were reduced to fourteen players when Terri Mc Cullagh was sin binned. To make matters worse Mc Cullagh had barely left the field when Caltra substitute Theresa Loughnane fired over to equalise.
Omagh to their credit showed some fighting spirit and with just seven minute s left midfielder Coleen Mc Cullagh put them back in front as she pointed from thirty meters. The lead however didn’t last long as with the next attack Galway county player Sarah Noone blasted over to level the game for the third time. With two minutes of injury time gone Michaela O Neill was fouled and Omagh appeared to have a chance to win it. O Neill took the free herself but it drifted to the right and wide. This didn’t stop the veteran player as she drove forward again and forced another free. This time sixteen year old Cara Mc Crossan took the kick and slotted over for her fourth score but more importantly to put Omagh back in front. At that stage you would have put your mortgage on an Omagh win however Caltra launched one more attack and wing forward Emma Naughton who barely touched the ball all day popped up to send over an equalising point.
Speaking after the final whistle St. Enda’s manager Vinny Mc Cullagh felt the Galway side were lucky to get to draw. “To be quite honest Caltra Cuans got out of jail today. We had to play the last seventeen minutes with just fourteen players in heavy conditions. I’m eager for the girls to get back out next week. I will take plenty of positives from the game and no negatives”, said Mc Cullagh.
The replay will take place in Mullahoran at 2pm on Saturday 15th December.
