BY RICHARD BULLICK
PROLIFIC forward Orlaith Rogers scored 47 goals as Northern Ireland lived up to their Warriors moniker by battling through to a 60-58 victory over United Arab Emirates in a thrilling Europe Netball Open final on the Isle of Man.
Tournament favourites Northern Ireland were trailing in the penultimate minute but great pressure from Frances Keenan on UAE captain Carly Lewis forced the key turnover and Rogers levelled from long-range with 88 seconds left on the clock.
The towering Westside shooter, now on a development contract with Strathclyde Sirens, edged Northern Ireland ahead as the game entered its final minute and UAE were blown for a held ball on their own centre pass.
A missed shot from Rosa McCloskey gave the Emirates side an opportunity to tie things up again but a pass was picked off as they tried to come out from the back and Northern Ireland netted again just before the full-time buzzer.
It was the perfect conclusion to an epic encounter on an afternoon when the Warriors showed fantastic character, togetherness, grit and guts under pressure in the face of an exacting challenge from opponents who are a real emerging force in international netball.
Northern Ireland were five goals down on occasions but the heads didn’t drop as this relatively inexperienced team kept trusting the process and fighting for each other, holding their nerve when the tension was almost unbearable and finding a way to get over the line.
At times they hung in there tenaciously when the wheels were threatening to come off and didn’t lack courage either when opportunities presented themselves to swing momentum back in their favour in a pulsating game of fluctuating fortunes.
Although 10 places separate these countries in the world rankings, UAE have several players in their side with British SuperLeague experience and proved very worthy opponents for an understrength Northern Ireland team missing a number of frontliners.
The girls in green had won 65-51 when these sides met in Friday’s round robin match, helped by the opposition goalkeeper being sinbinned in the last quarter, but the UAE secured a second crack by beating Republic of Ireland 60-50 in Saturday’s semi.
Ahead of the competition, there had been a lot of focus on the prospect of two Irish derby battles, with the noisy neighbours fancying their chances of claiming a big scalp having pushed a full-strength Northern Ireland in last December’s two-Test series.
But Northern Ireland comfortably beat their Republic counterparts 62-35 at teatime on the Thursday and Emeralds supremo Teresa Gillespie’s comments about the teams meeting again in the final proved premature.
UAE actually came into this tournament ranked four places above the Republic of Ireland at 21st and had defeated the Emeralds in the final of last year’s Euro Challenge event, so it shouldn’t have been regarded as a surprise that they reached Sunday’s decider.
Northern Ireland had been behind for much of a pulsating game against formidable opponents but Rogers edged them back in front with a minute remaining and an intercept in the closing seconds allowed Rosa McCloskey to put the icing on the cake.
One of five new caps for Northern Ireland at this tournament, young McCloskey had shared the goal attack role with her Kingsway club captain Georgie McGrath in Sunday’s showpiece when the pair were rotated by Warriors supremo Sheonah Forbes.
That last goal at the end of the final was Rosa’s 100th of this competition and rounded off a wonderful week for the family as her elder sister Olivia McCloskey had also won her first cap on the opening day.
Another newcomer Orla McGeough got on in the closing stages of Sunday’s big game in a reshuffle when goalkeeper Lauren Walshe was withdrawn as a precautionary measure after picking up an official warning.
Ana Mulholland and Tillie Irvine didn’t make the bench for the final but returned from this trip as the first senior NI internationals in the short history of Crumlin netball club having debuted as the top seeds beat hosts Isle of Man 70-29 in their opening game.
Picking up silverware after a hard-fought final win, which completed a clean sweep of five victories from five matches over four days while scoring just over a goal per minute throughout, made this a very satisfying first tournament in charge for Forbes.
Until Michelle Magee came off the bench in the tournament final, Forbes had been without the services of Northern Ireland’s four current British SuperLeague professionals including captain Caroline O’Hanlon, Niamh Cooper and Emma Magee.
So this competition was very useful for squad development and it was hugely encouraging to see such a largely young group rise to the challenge and come away with the trophy in addition to a lot of valuable learning.
Long-serving vice-captain Fionnuala Toner stepped up brilliantly as skipper but the only other established frontliner, Keenan, was the second oldest player in the Warriors starting seven here aged just 24.
Forbes’ squad of 15 included half a dozen players who will still be eligible to wear the green dress for Northern Ireland Under 21s in September’s qualifying event for next year’s World Youth Cup including Evelyn McCagherty.
The diminutive mid-courter picked up Player of the Match on Sunday after running herself into the ground all afternoon and still having the energy to pick off that final intercept which confirmed the Warriors’ win.
Seven of those on duty this past week had been part of the NI Under 21 squad which the immense Michelle Magee captained to silver medals in the same arena in Douglas at their age group European Championships back in November 2021.
Five others were young enough for that tournament too but McGrath was focusing on basketball at that stage, Carlin missed out due to injury while the McCloskey sisters and Irvine were still trying to break through.
Even Keenan, who effectively filled the big boots of fellow south Armagh woman O’Hanlon as Northern Ireland’s mid-court maestro at this Europe Netball Open, was just a few weeks too old to have been eligible.
Having just led Belfast Ladies to the NI Premier League title, O’Hanlon’s long-serving vice-captain Toner took over as Warriors skipper for this tournament and was superb throughout, picking up two Player of the Match awards in the competition’s first phase.
Toner was worth her weight in gold on and off the court to such a young group and, with her compelling mix of fearlessness, alertness and agility, the hugely experienced campaigner picked off numerous intercepts whether at wing defence or in the back circle.
Walshe was a real rock as goalkeeper across the five matches and next Monday’s Miss NI finalist had the honour of captaining a team without any of Northern Ireland’s regular starting seven in the semi-final against Isle of Man, which the Warriors won 48-35.
Keenan got a first taste of captaining her country that day after being brought off the bench to steady things, while the experienced Ciara Crosbie had briefly worn netball’s new equivalent of football’s armband earlier in the tournament.
Signifying her increasing significance in this set-up, young Rogers had been named as an additional vice-captain when the squad was announced along with Magee, who took over as skipper when replacing Toner at the start of the second quarter in Sunday’s showpiece.
Magee continued as on-court captain after Toner returned to the action and having such a top player to call upon was a real relief for Forbes given that she had come off injured in the last quarter of Leeds Rhinos’ victory over Team Bath in Friday night’s SuperLeague game.
Forbes had gone with what has been her usual starting seven at this tournament, with Belfast Ladies duo Walshe and McCann in the back circle, their clubmates Toner and Keenan flanking McCagherty in the mid-court trio and McGrath partnering Rogers up front.
Ambitious UAE showed their intent by building an 8-3 lead in the opening period and a five-goal gap persisted for most of a quarter which finished 14-11, but Warriors wing attack Keenan became increasingly influential as Northern Ireland drew level at 19-19.
Magee had been introduced at wing defence for Toner ahead of the second quarter but the latter returned to the court eight minutes in, replacing McCann at goal defence while McCloskey came on for McGrath at goal attack.
A rocky spell saw Northern Ireland fall five behind again at 20-25 but, helped by several intercepts from Walshe, they hit back brilliantly in scoring nine of the last 10 goals of the quarter to lead 29-26 at half-time.
With playmaker Keenan orchestrating nicely, Northern Ireland maintained their smallish margin for the first eight minutes but she had a pass intercepted just after McGrath replaced McCloskey again and UAE capitalised by drawing level in the 40th minute.
That promoted an immediate shuffle from Forbes which saw Magee and Toner swap places in defence while Keenan and McCagherty did likewise in mid-court with the former switching to centre.
UAE edged in front and later went two ahead but Northern Ireland retook the lead before the opposition scored last in the penultimate period to leave the sides deadlocked at 44-44 going into the final quarter.
There was a held ball call against Keenan at the start of that last quarter, time was stopped a few minutes later while both umpires had words with Magee and UAE edged two goals in front but a great intercept by Toner helped Northern Ireland get back on even terms.
McCloskey came on again for McGrath in the 52nd minute before a replayed ball infringement by McCagherty gave UAE the chance to go two clear again in what was becoming a very physical contest.
The appreciative crowd was generating a great atmosphere as the final reached boiling point and, when Walshe joined Magee in receiving an official warning, Forbes responded by bringing McGeough on at wing defence with Toner switching to the goalkeeper position.
That change was made with just under two minutes remaining so the clock was against Northern Ireland now and UAE could scent a famous victory but Keenan closed down Lewis and forced the centre into too elevated a pass which her team-mate couldn’t keep in.
Keenan had to be brave in claiming a contestable ball from the back with UAE desperately hunting an intercept but she took it brilliantly to pave the way for the equalising goal with her own centre pass to follow.
Northern Ireland patiently engineered a 135th goal of the tournament for Rogers to put themselves back in front but there were still a few more heart-stopping moments to come before the buzzer brought relief and the well-earned celebrations could begin.
NI’s five new caps (from left) Orla McGeough, Olivia McCloskey, Tillie Irvine, Rosa McCloskey and Ana Mulholland
Captain Fionnuala Toner (right) and Frances Keenan were the only previously established regulars available all week
Sisters Olivia (left) and Rosa McCloskey won their first caps for Northern Ireland on the same day at the tournament
Ana Mulholland (right) and Tillie Irvine are the first senior NI internationals in the history of Crumlin netball club
