Village Barn Ladies Senior Championship Final:
St Lomans Mullingar 3-07 Milltown 1-10
Last Saturday saw the curtain close on the 2024 Westmeath Senior ladies’ championship. It all came down to the final two top dogs, St Lomans Mullingar and Milltown. Both sides were chasing a four in a row of some description. The Rathconrath outfit were chasing a fourth successive senior championship, while the Mullingar side were looking to defeat their opponents for a fourth time this year. Thankfully conditions stayed mostly dry and the large support for both sides were treated to an enthralling sixty minutes of football.
It was a nervy first quarter with both sides somewhat jittery in possession and particularly in front of the posts. Vicky Carr opened the scoring with a well-taken score, Milltown responded with Sarah Dillon and Leanne Slevin opening their accounts, before a pair of Katie Kilmurray free’s saw the blues’ back in front. Another couple of points in reply for Milltown saw them retake the lead, Slevin and Dillon were once again on target.
The moment of the half came in after twenty-seven minutes, when Lucy McCartan pounced on a loose pass. McCartan purposely ran at the defence, beating several defenders with a mazy run before finding Shannon Breslin. Breslin took the ball in her stride and cooly bided her time before finding the net for the first of four goals of the day. McCartan after being provider moments earlier, opened her account with the final score of the half, with a wonderfully struck effort to see the saints lead by three at the interval.
The defending champions were quicker out of the blocks in the second half with three unanswered points, Slevin pointing either side of Sarah Dillon’s effort to abolish the lead. The League champions were then dealt a further blow having been reduced to fourteen after a yellow card was brandished. Remarkably though, the blues were the better side in the ten minutes with a player less. Katie Kilmurray responded with two ice cool placed balls before a super score from play to reestablish the three-point lead.
However, just before Lomans returned to the full compliment they were punished by a wonderful solo goal from Sarah Dillon who sped through on goal and finished expertly. Katie Dunne did brilliantly to limit the damage of the best player in the county, but sometimes there’s little a defender can do when a forward is as clinical as Dillon. Clodagh Dillon and Grainne Byrne pointed for their team’s a crucial lead coming into the final ten minutes of play.
You could have been forgiven for thinking it wasn’t to be Lomans’ day. Especially having hit the upright twice earlier that day, Ciara Blundell rattled the crossbar, before Lucy McCartan’s second effort also managed to clip the post. However, on this occasion a blue jersey was first to the loose ball and it was Vicky Carr who managed to squeeze her low shot through a small gap to put her side in front at a crucial juncture. Carr wasn’t finished there, moments later after one of her trademark powerful runs she expertly found the top-corner of the net for the final goal of the game, which turned out to be the decisive score.
Sarah Dillon reduced the deficit at the far end with a placed ball. The final five minutes saw Lomans do their utmost to hang on but the drama was far from over. First Dillon had a free from the twenty-one-metre line where she was forced to go for goal to tie the match but it was thankfully kept out by the blue wall. Another goalmouth scramble saw Milltown try to force an equaliser, but a combination of Jane McKenna and Lara McCartan refused to let the ball cross the line. After what felt like an eternity the final whistle was blown and the saints were three-point victors.
A fully deserving win for Ciaran Kilmurray’s side who were just about the better side and certainly the fitter side. A word of commiserations to Milltown who have been a brilliant side and have given their parish some fantastic days, they also fought until the bitter end and died with their boots on, as great champions do. However it was a wonderful performance from entirety of the Lomans contingent. Not a single one of the eighteen players who featured underperformed and each player put in a gargantuan effort.
In terms of individuals, Lara McCartan was outstanding at half-back, as was her teammate on the opposite flank, Ellen Kilmurray. Muireann Scally was a rock at centre-half back. Caoimhe Kilmurray was superb. The young guns up front Shannon Breslin and Katie Kilmurray showed maturity well beyond their years to contribute 1-05 between them, a phenomenal performance from two sixteen-year-olds. Lucy McCartan was excellent at centre-half forward, not just in possession but out of possession too and is unlucky not to receive player of the match.
However, Vicky Carr was the best player on the pitch, as usual she covered every blade of grass and came up with the two deciding moments with her two brilliantly taken goals. A special mention also to Julie McLoughlin who made a wonderful impact off the bench. In the preview beforehand, some so called “experts” bizarrely questioned that Carr had not had her best season. Carr had the perfect answer with a player of the match performance. It was also thought by some that Milltown would win the game in midfield, but it turned out to be the opposite as Carr and Kilmurray were superb at midfield.
A special mention to Sarah Dillon and Leanne Slevin who were both outstanding for their side and showed their excellence even in defeat. The day belongs to the Blues though who are deserved champions. Ciaran Kilmurray’s young side with a sprinkle of experience have been brilliant and progressed exponentially over the last two seasons. This is a product of our ever strengthening underage, with Lomans vying for four consecutive under sixteen titles and three consecutive minor titles, most of whom contributed to a panel of fifty on the day.
Congratulations to every player who togged out. Well, done and a massive thank you to Ciaran Kilmurray and his management team of Timmy Murphy, Gary Devine, Brian Tyrrell, Andrea Martin, Alan Bracken, Niall Scally and Stephanie Kilmurray. Thanks to physio Mark Scally and Donal Kilmurray for videoing the games for analysis over the year. Final thank you to Chairman Ted Cronin, without whom none of this would be possible as he has been the driving force behind Ladies football in Lakepoint for more than a decade.
All the players are to be lauded but a special mention must go to Aileen Martin. The veteran defender began a champion in 2004 at just eighteen years old as she featured in the first three in a row-winning side. Two decades later she claims her sixth winners medal and is a true role model for any budding female footballers. The word legend is often loosely banded about, but on this occasion no other word can do her justice.
Our season does not end yet as we begin our Leinster campaign in two weeks’ time against Longford Slashers. Date, time and venue will be confirmed in the coming days. A finally thank you to the brilliant support we received yesterday in Cusack Park who made their voice heard and were instrumental in getting the team over the line.
Team; Jane McKenna, Aileen Martin, Megan Ennis, Katie Dunne, Lara McCartan, Muireann Scally, Ellen Kilmurray, Caoimhe Kilmurray, Vicky Carr (2.01), Laura Murphy, Lucy McCartan (0.01), Ciara Blundell, Sandra McGrath, Shannon Breslin (1.00), Katie Kilmurray (0.05, 0.04f). Subs used; Julie McLoughlin, Meabh O’Hara and Keelie Mulderry.
