Louth 0-13
Antrim 1-8
BY DAIRE WALSH
ANTRIM joint manager Chris Scullion lamented missed second half chances by his side as opponents Louth recovered from a poor start to bounce back from losing last year’s decider to Fermanagh by capturing the TG4 All-Ireland junior football championship title at Croke Park for a record fourth time.
Antrim, also bidding to become the first county to win the TG4 All-Ireland junior title four times, didn’t build on their superb start and joint manager Scullion rued not taking those chances in the second half.
“There was a couple of opportunities presented to ourselves in the second half. It just didn’t fall our way today,” he said.
“It seemed to be mistake after mistake sometimes and we were constantly trying to regroup the girls to go again, go again. It maybe took a toll on them, but I’m not taking anything away from Louth who were brilliant.
“They set up defensively, kept their same structure and were able to break out and it caused us problems. They were able to work the ball around and get their scores. Fair play to them.
“Whenever they attacked, we tried to block them out the same way they were doing to us. It’s just unfortunate we just couldn’t get the final ball, the final pass to ourselves to break through. Maybe get our chance.
“It did present itself right there at the end, but we were trying to get that instruction onto the field five, 10 minutes earlier to press up and push up on their kick-outs. To try and get the turnovers because we were still chasing the game. It’s just unfortunate it just didn’t go our way.”
Louth manager Kevin Larkin hailed his charges, enthusing: “What a group to work with. All of Ireland has seen it there. Penalty, four points down and the girls just kept going, kept going and we went in a point up.
“There was 20 seconds on the clock before the break and we didn’t stop. We didn’t try and slow it down. We could have slowed it down and gone in with a draw. It wasn’t good for us, but again, the players called that on the pitch themselves. They’re just a brilliant group.
“I’ve been saying it to the girls, their mental strength and their resilience is their biggest weapon. They’re just fantastic and even the control on the ball. Eimear Murray put in a tackle there. I thought Lara Dahunsi was through and I was like ‘ah, no’ and Eimear gets a hand in. Rachel Beirth did not give anyone an inch.
“It’s all over the pitch. I know obviously the forwards will probably get the headlines, but everywhere over the pitch we were just fantastic,” said Larkin.
It was the Ulster side who initially hit the ground running with team skipper Bronagh Devlin superbly drilling a third-minute penalty into the roof of the Louth net after Theresa Mellon was adjudged to have been fouled inside the square off a Maria O’Neill free that dropped short.
Mellon followed up the goal with a fine point for the Saffrons and even though Louth eventually opened their account through Aoife Russell, Omolara Dahunsi reinforced Antrim’s early authority by splitting the posts at the opposite end.
Dahunsi also found the range in response to back-to-back points from Louth corner-forwards Russell and Ceire Nolan, but in the temporary absence of Bronagh Devlin for a yellow card offence, the Wee County cut their deficit to the bare minimum with impressive contributions from Flood and Shannen McLaughlin.
Although Antrim sharpshooter O’Neill was on target not long after Devlin’s return, unanswered points by captain Aine Breen and the ever-dependable Flood (two) ensured Louth brought a 0-8 to 1-4 cushion into the interval.
Antrim were still very much in the reckoning, however, and the team jointly-managed by Scullion and Michael Devlin were back on level terms with a second point from O’Neill three minutes into the second period but centre-forward Eimear Byrne was on hand to restore Louth’s slender lead on 38 minutes.
An outstanding score from the increasingly-influential Kate Flood left Louth two points to the good moving into the final-quarter and they were a step closer to another junior crown when Breen and substitute Mia Duffy added points in the 47th and 49th minutes respectively.
Lucy White subsequently increased Louth’s cushion and even though a late surge from Antrim produced three points on the bounce by Ana Mulholland, Mellon and O’Neill (a goal-bound effort that was deflected over the bar), the Wee County ultimately prevailed in the end.
Scorers – Louth: K Flood 0-4, A Breen, A Russell 0-2 each, S McLaughlin, L White, E Byrne, C Nolan, M Duffy 0-1 each.
Antrim: M O’Neill 0-3 (1f), B Devlin 1-0 (pen), T Mellon, O Dahunsi 0-2 each, A Mulholland 0-1.
LOUTH: R Lambe Fagan; R Beirth, E Hand, E Murray; H Lambe Sally, S McLaughlin, L Byrne; A Breen, A Halligan; L White, E Byrne, S Matthews; A Russell, K Flood, C Nolan. Subs: M Duffy for Matthews (42), L Collins for Russell (56), G McCrave for Lambe Sally, Z Sweeney for White (both 59).
ANTRIM: A Devlin; N McIntosh, M Blaney, M Mulholland; S O’Neill, C Brown, C McKenna; A Mulholland, A Tubridy; T Mellon, M O’Neill, Aoife Kelly; B Devlin, O Dahunsi, L Agnew. Subs: A Turley for Tubridy, A Monaghan for Kelly (both 39), B Nic Cathail for Agnew (47), N Jones for B Devlin, Aine Kelly for McKenna (both 56).
Referee: Kevin Corcoran (Mayo).
