Moynalvey Ladies went down to St. Ultans after extra time in the Final of the Kepak Junior A Championship played at a wet and windy Walterstown on Sunday afternoon October 9^th.

Moynalvey 3-4
St. Ultans 2-11

A stronger and more experienced St. Ultans side with many players having lined out at senior level only a few years ago had too much in hand over a Moynalvey side who were looking to make the jump to the Intermediate level just two years after winning the Junior B Championship.

Playing into a strong wind and heavy rain in the first half, Moynalvey found the conditions hard to handle as St. Ultans racked up 1-5 without reply in the opening 22 minutes.

Moynalvey eventually got their first and only score of the opening half when a Louise Donoghue free deceived the St. Ultans defence and found its way to the back of the net.

A further pair of St. Ultans points before Sean Gahan’s half time whistle left Moynalvey seven points adrift of their opponents at the break, 1-7 to 1-0.

Immediately after the restart Ultans extended their advantage to eight again, 1-8 to 1-0.

Just as in the first half the wind was dictating play and St. Ultans would fail to score again for 24 minutes, while in the same time Moynalvey hit 2-4 without reply to take a two point lead with three minutes of normal time remaining.

The first of the two goals was another fortuitous effort with the wind once again causing havoc and the ball deceiving Ultans ‘keeper Nuala O’Brien and her defence to find its way to the net. The second Moynalvey goal was an opportunistic finish from Jennifer McLoughlin from close range, while the four points were frees from Louise Donoghue (2) and Jennifer McLoughlin (2) to leave it 3-4 to 1-8 with 57 minutes played.

However, with many stoppages and substitutions there was still time for another ten minutes play, including seven additional minutes, which saw St. Ultans bring the game to extra time with points in the 33^rd and 37^th minutes of the half, leaving the score 3-4 to 1-10 at the end of normal playing time.

Both teams will feel they had their chance to win in normal time, but it was St. Ultans who kicked on to hit 1-1 without reply in extra time to deservedly run out four point winners to lift the cup and secure their intermediate status for 2023.

Best for the runners-up were Abbie Killalea, Aoife Weston and Louise Donoghue.

While Sunday’s result was obviously disappointing for the Moynalvey ladies, reaching the Junior Final and claiming Div. 4 League honours was still a good year for the players and the management team of Mick, Joe and Paul.

Moynalvey team & scorers:
Aoibheann Corcoran, Bridgie Brennan, Abbie Killalea, Mairead McCabe, Aoife Weston, Aideen Smith, Fia O’Brien, Louise Donoghue (1-2f), Cheyenne O’Brien, Sarah Kelly, Clodagh Murphy, Rachel Garrett, Rachel Pender, Jennifer McLoughlin (1-2, 2f), Roisin Murphy.
Subs: Ciara Donoghue for McLoughlin, Tara Smith for R. Murphy, Meabh Ahern for Kelly, Ciara Mulligan for Pender.