Fuĺl Time: Dromahill 5-13 Crossmaglen 2-05

Drumahill Senior Ladies 5:13 Crossmaglen 2:5

Drumahill senior ladies added to their successful year when they captured the senior ladies shield competition at Silverbridge on Sunday morning when they overcame the spirited resistance from Crossmaglen and finished well ahead over the division 1 outfit. Conditions were wet underfoot and the heavy rain particularly in the second half couldn’t dampen the celebrations as the Shield Cup was added to their Second Division trophy added earlier in the season.

Dromahill started briskly and an early point by Aoife Mc Coy was followed by major scores from Sarah King & Aoibh O’Neill. Crossmaglen countered and had goals of their own when speculative high balls into the Dromahill defence found their way into the nets and teams were level with 15 mins gone.

Further points by Emma king (free) Shauna & Aoife Mc Coy was responded to by Crossmaglen. The Sheridan ‘ at midfield for Dromahill provided a constant supply of fast ball into the forward  line and it was fitting that Lauren was able to burst through the Cross rearguard and tag on 1:1 to open up a bit of a gap just before halftime. Dromahill had enjoyed the majority of the possession in the first half and their lead at halftime was well deserved.

Any danger of a comeback was hastily extinquished when Lauren Sheridan repeated her first half scoring bonanza when she again fired home her second goal and Dromahill’s fourth goal to open a sizeable lead in the early stages of the second half. Crossmaglen would now need goals to claw their way back into the game and to their credit Crossmaglen never threw in the towel and took the game bravely to Dromahill. Defensively Dromahill were solid and any gaps that appeared were quickly snuffed out by a determined Dromahill rearguard. Indeed it was Dromahill who looked to have the spare players as they broke forward with good interplay passing their way through the overworked Cross rearguard to fire over some fine points.

As the rain came pelting down in second half Dromahill were able to run their bench to give as many of the players game time as possible. Holly Morgan a second half substitute fired over two excellent points while Erin Douglas got on the scoreboard with a couple of good points also.

Defensively Dromahill were strong with Aoife Kirk having an excellent game at cornerback ably assisted by Philomena Tiernan and Collette Mc Crink. The engine of the team stemmed from the work of the Sheridan sisters ably assisted by Emma & Sarah King. Grainne O’Rourke & Sarah Conlon both U16 players can be happy with their performances as they broke up and kept their shape through disciplined tackling. Upfront our County Players Aoife Mc Coy & Shauna Grey showed their worth interlinking and driving forward on every opportunity and taking some crucial scores. Often both dropped back to provide additional cover but still were able to significantly contribute to the Dromahill attack.  Aoife O’Neill had a very good game in the corner linking up effectively with the forwards.

The result capped a fine season for the Dromintee/ Forkhill amalgamation and much credit goes to the Senior Ladies management of Stephen Mooney, Conor walker & Ronan Mc Coy who have guided the team to both the league and shield successes. Next year the girls will rightly take their place in the senior league and hope to give a good account of themselves against the other senior teams in the County and challenge for honours in league and championship. The player of the match award went to Lauren Sheridan who was real worker on the day and who has been a fine player all season. Nicole Mc Kenna was presented with the cup by Own Reel (deputising for Sinead) and Owen Reel spoke with pride  about the progress being made in Ladies Football in Armaghand the amount of people all over the county following it with particular reference to the crowd present today at this final. Silverbridge Harps are to be commended on making their facilities available on the day in such poor weather conditions.