Dromintee u14 Girls took the Armagh LGFA Division 2 championship title after a pulsating contest with Crossmaglen that displayed all that is positive about the game. It was a match that either side could have edged but with the clock ticking down it was the Dromintee girls who finished strongest to come from behind and secure the title in the closing moments.
A blistering opening ten minutes – including goals from Sarah Conlon and Nicola Campbell – gave Dromintee a start that bred great confidence. However, Crossmaglen fought their way back into the game with goals of their own to trail by only two points – 4-04 to 4-02 – at half time.
Turning around to play with the breeze at their back, the Rangers took a stranglehold on possession around midfield early on and Dromintee struggled to get out of their own half. It was the quality of the Dromintee defending in this period – with every girl playing her part – that laid the foundations for victory later as brave blocking followed ferocious tackling to hold Crossmaglen out.
With the clock running down Dromintee came looking for the win, drawing level with only a couple of minutes of normal time remaining. The girls took over around midfield and in the key moments, Aoibhe Hoey and Mairead Martin mopped up any Crossmaglen clearances.
Top scorer Nicola Campbell fired 2-01 in the dying moments to bring her personal tally to 6-01 and bring the title to Dromintee on a scoreline of 8-09 to 7-05.
Championships are won collectively and the girls’ performance epitomised what a group effort looks like. Across a great league campaign and three knock out championship matches, all twenty one players contributed brilliantly to the u14s’ journey through what has been an unconventional summer.
Dromintee: Emma Murtagh, Grace Gallagher, Aoibh Murphy, Aoife Murphy, Mairead Martin, Aoibhe Hoey, Eimear Murphy, Gráinne O’Rourke (1-03), Sarah Conlon (1-00), Sadhbh McKeever, Rea Winters, Kerry Phillips, Alanna O’Neill (0-04), Caoimhe Byrne (0-01), Nicola Campbell (6-01). Skye Muldoon, Erin McCrink, Nathalia Mulkerns, Pauline Toale, Molly Morgan, Aislinn Byrne.
