Minor Ladies Division 1 Championship Final:
St Lomans Mullingar 5-09 Garrycastle 3-05
With just over three weeks left of 2025, the final game of the year came last Sunday afternoon in Caulry and with it came our first championship title of the season. For the fourth year running our minor ladies added another notch of silverware to their belts in style. The blues were heavily fancied from the beginning of the tournament with four starters from the senior ladies’ team featuring against a youthful but nevertheless spirited Garrycastle side.
The saints raced into an early lead which in the end was the winning of the match. Evie Kilmurray netted in the first minute with a stunning finish, only For Jane Charles to net in the third after a strong run. Katie Kilmurray opened her account with two points either side of the second goal. Amelie Henson got the Shannon-siders off the mark only for Katie Kilmurray to cancel out the score at the far end. Garrycastle added a couple of scores to reduce the arrears only for Shannon Breslin to open her account at the far end.
The beginning of the second quarter saw a crucial moment, Aoibhe Hogan’s last ditch tackle stopped an almost certain goal, only for the Mullingar side to go straight up the other end and net a third goal courtesy of a brilliant finish by Breslin, the six-point swing was a sickener for Garrycastle who looked to be finding their feet. Henson added a score from a free but once again the Blues set off on a lightning fast counterattack spearheaded by Katie Kilmurray who duly found the net to give her side a twelve-point lead.
The underdogs got a lifeline on the stroke of half time when Isabelle Kearney netted. The impressive Hazel Donegan then pointed for the Castle to leave just eight points between the sides at the interval. The lead in truth could have been bigger had it not been for the heroics of Garrycastle Goalkeeper Siobhan Ni Chluaid who stopped a couple of certain goals.
Garrycastle certainly started the second half stronger and netted through Henson to bring the gap back to five points and suddenly it looked as though the comeback was on. Crucially though, the defending champions managed to stem the tide with a well-taken point from Evie Kilmurray and a double from Jayne Charles. The game all but ended as a contest when Katie Kilmurray stole a short kickout and showed excellent balance, managing to get an angle for the shot and find the net for her second and Lomans final goal of the game.
Kilmurray added a further point before a late Donegan goal reduced the deficit, but Jayne Charles had the final say with another super score to give her team a double-digit victory. The game turned a tad nasty in the last ten minutes with both sides visibly riled up. This culminated in a scuffle, where Garrycastle full back Aoife McHugh was given her marching orders for a kick out on Evie Kilmuarray while the latter was on the floor. An unsavory end to what was a great game of football was between two sides who gave their all.
On the day there were some outstanding individual performances from a Lomans perspective. Norah Garry, Ava Cummins, Aoibhe Hogan and Eve Scally stood out at the back. Their contributions were needed after Lomans lost full-back Eimear Doonan to injury after ten minutes, we wish Eimear a speedy recovery. Just recently back from long term injury herself, Jayne Charles was outstanding in midfield, aided by Shannon Breslin and Eleanor Corcoran who won some crucial possessions.
Up front though it was the Kilmurray cousins Evie and Katie who did the damage on the scoreline. The former linked up well and was a threat all day. However, it was the latter who stood up for her side when they were slightly under the cosh. Not just her two goals but her work rate was superb from the first whistle, and she added another player of the match to her long list of accolades.
Commiserations to Garrycastle who performed well and no doubt this young team will be even stronger in 2026. However, the day belonged to this brilliant Lomans team who continue to dominate Westmeath football, many of whom will be no doubt in contention for the senior team next season.
Well done to all the players for their hard efforts but massive thanks to the management team of Stephanie Kilmurray, Ciara Blundell and FLO Therese Hogan for their devotion to the team this year. All that was left was for Westmeath LGFA secretary Paula Finan to present the cup to the Lomans Captains, Aoibhe Hogan and Eve Scally.
Team; Asha McCormack, Anna Sheehy, Eimear Doonan, Ava Cummins, Norah Garry, Aoibhe Hogan, Eve Scally, Jayne Charles (1.03), Eleanor Corcoran, Maddie Mulderry, Katie Kilmurray (2.04, 0.01f), Kate McDonell, Shannon Breslin (1.01), Evie Kilmurray (1.01), Grainne Cleary. Subs used; Megan Charles, Katie McDonnell. Rest of panel; Rihanna Shaw Norris, Ruby Higgins, Eva Dowdall, Lucy Kilmurray, Aishling Kilmurray, Evelyn Casey and Maisie Daly.
