BY RICHARD BULLICK
CAPTAIN Caroline O’Hanlon lifted the Margaret Shaw shield for the seventh time as Larkfield secured their first silverware in five years by beating favourites Kingsway 47-39 in netball’s NI Senior Cup final.
Northern Ireland’s domestic showpiece had to be rearranged as the original game was abandoned the first Friday night in May when a fire alarm forced the evacuation of Blair Mayne Leisure Complex in Newtownards.
That was unfortunate for Larkfield, who had built a healthy lead against new NI Premier League champions Kingsway when the final was interrupted, but Denise Prue’s side duly delivered again second time round.
The refixed final eventually took place in the middle of June in its traditional venue of Lisburn Racquets and it was Larkfield who came away with the trophy after what must surely have been the latest-ever finish to a season.
After claiming the first Premier League title in their history, Kingsway had their sights set on completing the domestic double but Larkfield led 12-10 after the opening period and were 23-22 in front at half-time despite being edged in the second quarter.
Larkfield extended their advantage to 35-32 at the final interval before finishing strongly, taking the last quarter 12-7 as they pulled away to record a deserved victory over the holders, who had won the Senior Cup for the first time last season.
Incomparable Bessbrook sportswoman O’Hanlon, who had former Armagh gaelic county team-mate Meabh McCambridge as her opposite number at centre, produced a dominant display, typically pulling the strings to good effect for Larkfield.
Had there been an official Player of the Match award, it would likely have gone to Larkfield’s long-serving skipper for how she ran the show but both of their circle defenders were also influential figures in this deserved victory.
Powerful former internationals Deborah McCarthy and Jenna Bowman did a great job at the back, containing the threat of Kingsway’s two current Warriors shooters, Rosa McCloskey and Georgie McGrath.
At the other end, prolific legend Lisa Bowman kept the scoreboard ticking despite the ex-Northern Ireland star having a tough tussle with Kingsway goalkeeper Shannon Scott and was initially partnered by Helen Monaghan in the shooting circle.
But when Monaghan hurt her knee, Prue turned to 15-year-old Alice Richardson and the only sub used by Larkfield in the decider repaid the gaffer’s faith by really rising to the occasion in by far the biggest game of her embryonic career.
Rachel Tubridy had a good game at wing attack while experienced campaigner Julie Whitten, sister of former Ulster and Exeter Chiefs rugby player Ian Whitten, was at wing defence up against the third full international in the Kingsway side, Olivia McCloskey.
Very much the Alex Ferguson of netball having been in charge of Larkfield for over three decades, Prue switched her circle defenders round during the game, with Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games shooter Jenna Bowman moving to goalkeeper.
It can certainly be said that Larkfield have had unmatched continuity of leadership, with Prue’s marathon tenure as head coach and O’Hanlon being team captain since the late noughties having joined the club back in 2001 as a schoolgirl.
So O’Hanlon was leading Larkfield before Richardson was even born, which happened midway through the season that the Lisburn-based club made their big breakthrough by achieving the domestic double.
Back then, Larkfield were trying to challenge a duopoly of Belfast Ladies and the now-defunct Graduates, and after going another three seasons without silverware, they won both the NI Premier League and Senior Cup again in 2014.
That sparked a period of real Larkfield dominance in the second half of last decade, winning the Premier League and Senior Cup five times each in a six-year period despite doctor O’Hanlon also having British SuperLeague and Armagh gaelic commitments.
Larkfield secured their sixth Premier League title in seven seasons the weekend before the first coronavirus shutdown but that was their most recent trophy triumph until this week, with Belfast Ladies the top team after the pandemic and Kingsway an emerging force.
Kingsway won the Senior Cup final for the first time last season against a Belfast Ladies side who had gone through their Premier League campaign with a 100 percent record and were hot favourites to complete a second consecutive domestic double.
However, with Belfast Ladies being without veteran Northern Ireland legends Noleen Lennon and Hannah Willis up front and Dublin-based playmaker Frances Keenan not always available, the women in black haven’t been so formidable this season.
Larkfield’s Warriors skipper O’Hanlon also missed the first half of the domestic campaign, along with the Nations Cup for Northern Ireland, due to the calf tear which curtailed her during Armagh’s gallant All Ireland bid last summer.
A hungry Kingsway side topped the table, which would have been enough to take the title in previous seasons, but the Kukri Premier League has introduced a top four play-offs format for the first time.
Unfortunately, the postponement of fixtures due to Storm Eowyn followed by wrangling over acceptable dates meant the Premier League season ended in shambolic fashion with no final taking place and Kingsway given the trophy by default due to Larkfield’s refusal to field.
The fact Kingsway had been first in the standings after the regular season meant the outcome didn’t fly in the face of natural justice but the title being decided off court was an unsatisfactory finish for all concerned including both clubs and new title sponsors Kukri.
When the Senior Cup final fell foul of unlucky circumstances with that evacuation of the venue in Newtownards last month, it felt like this domestic campaign must simply be jinxed but a date was finally found to replay the showpiece 45 days later.
It proved well worth the wait for jubilant Larkfield and, despite the notable absence of Netball NI’s top brass on the night, nothing could detract from the joy of getting their hands on a trophy for the first time since early March 2020, which feels like a long time ago.
Larkfield had been beaten twice by neighbours Kingsway in this season’s Premier League and this revenge victory was sweet for the women in navy and blue, and their overjoyed supremo Prue for whom it was the perfect finish to her 32nd season at the helm.
“I’m just so proud of these girls and how they persevered. It was such a tight game for the first three quarters but they held their nerve and got the reward. We haven’t won this trophy for a good few years now so it’s great to get our hands on the Shield again,” she enthused.
“There were a few challenges but everyone stepped up on the night, including Alice (Richardson) who just turned 15 last December. She’d got some court-time for the Firsts in recent months but this was such a big game.
“Caroline controlled things as usual and played very well, but I’d also highlight the job which Jenna and Deborah did up against two current international shooters, and obviously we can count on Lisa up the other end to nail the goals.
“Julie Whitten has become a real stalwart for us, Rachel Tubridy played really well and, although Helen Monaghan got a knock, we’d Alice to slot in from the bench, where we had a mix of youth and then experience in Rebecca Hillis.
“I’m just so delighted for my girls,” declared the passionate Prue, who has wonderful loyalty from long-serving stalwarts like O’Hanlon and the Bowman sisters despite their long commutes to Lisburn from south Armagh and Magherafelt respectively.
O’Hanlon’s attention now returns to the latest All Ireland bid in the record-extending 24th season of her Orchard career – Armagh host Kildare in a crunch clash at the Athletic Grounds this Saturday – while Lisa Bowman will be NI Under 21 assistant coach for September’s Netball World Youth Cup.
Prue was head coach when NI Under 21s finished a superb sixth at the corresponding event in Florida in 2005 with O’Hanlon as co-captain and again in the Cook Islands four years later when the girls in green finished an excellent eighth with the towering Bowman as skipper.
This season’s Senior Cup competition actually began with a group phase, which predictably led to the Premier League’s top four teams making the semi-finals, in which Larkfield beat Belfast Ladies 62-36 and Kingsway overcame Crumlin 63-48 way back at the start of April.
LARKFIELD: Deborah McCarthy, Jenna Bowman, Julie Whitten, Caroline O’Hanlon (capt), Rachel Tubridy, Helen Monaghan, Lisa Bowman. Sub used: Alice Richardson for Monaghan. Unused subs: Rebecca Hillis, Katie-Jane Haughey, Katie Baxter.
