Three-in-a-row for Sacred Heart after grandstand finish

Connacht LGFA PPS Senior ‘A’ Championship – Final 

Sacred Heart, Westport 4-8 

Convent of Mercy, Roscommon 2-11 

Ivan Smyth at the Connacht CoE Air Dome 

Sacred Heart School, Westport secured a three-in-a-row of Connacht senior ‘A’ football titles last Thursday as they overcame a stubborn Convent of Mercy outfit.

This encounter exploded into life with the sides combining to score three goals from the 53rd to the 55th minute. The outfits were deadlocked at 2-7 to 1-10 just as the game hit the 53rd minute. Sacred Heart substitute Zara Fallon produced a determined surge as she withstood a tug back before offloading to midfielder Sarah Mulroy to expertly dispatch to the net.

From the resulting kickout, John Coyle’s side decided to place a full court press on Convent of Mercy. However, the booming restart deflected towards the Sacred Heart 45m line with Kaitlin Egan gathering possession for the Roscommon side. Suddenly, the Sacred Heart defence was left exposed as the centre-forward offloaded to Siofra Hession who calmly bagged a three pointer.

Moments later, in what was arguably the game’s defining moment, Aisling Shanagher slipped Convent of Mercy’s Alannah Sutton through on goal. Mae Murray rushed out of her goal and produced an excellent save to prevent the low effort from rattling the onion sack. Convent of Mercy enjoyed the momentum after Hession’s goal but that save from Murray noticeably lifted Sacred Heart.

Just over a minute after that Murray block, Sacred Heart attacked menacingly down the right hand flank. The ball was cut back to Aoife Meaney as her effort dropped into the arms of Christina MacEvilly who slotted a left footed finish between the legs of Convent ‘keeper Éabha Dowd.

This gave the Westport students a precious three points lead and even though Ciara Dowd’s free cut Convent’s deficit to two, Hannah Sheehy’s fifth point of the game helped Sacred Heart Westport hold on.

Convent of Mercy possessed big day experience after claiming the All-Ireland PPS senior ‘B’ title last year. They certainly showed they were not afraid of tackling the reigning Connacht senior ‘A’ champions early doors. Convent of Mercy’s Shauna Walsh curled over after 21 seconds while just as the clock hit the one minute mark, Walsh latched onto a Hession pass and fired low.

Sacred Heart corner-back Éabha Carney showed great instincts to track back and divert the low effort past the post in what proved to be a pivotal block. This spurred last season’s All-Ireland finalists into action as Larissa Kelly, Christina MacEvilly, Aoife Meaney and Hannah Sheehy all fired over.

Just as it appeared the Westport school were pulling away, Michelle Rogers cut through and although the crowd bayed for her to shoot and take her point, the wing-forward waited and unleashed a ferocious effort to the roof of the Sacred Heart net. Convent of Mercy tagged on two further scores, but Sacred Heart showed their mettle to swing the pendulum their way once more.

Convent of Mercy applied a full court press to the Mayo side’s kickout in the 25th minute. However, Sacred Heart won Murray’s long restart as Aoife Meaney raced through before exchanging passes with Chloe Chambers and rifling home.

One minute later, MacEvilly grabbed the first of her brace of goals as her left footed drive squirmed under Convent ‘keeper Éabha Dowd. This helped Sacred Heart lead 2-5 to 1-3 but Convent of Mercy kicked six points in-a-row, three of which came before the break with the remainder occurring in a tense third quarter.

This left Sacred Heart trailing by the minimum, but Hannah Sheehy slotted over a quickfire brace to help her side level the game before the Westport school survived a crazy finale to become the Queens of Connacht once more.

Scorers – Sacred Heart, Westport: Christina MacEvilly 2-1, Hannah Sheehy 0-5 (2f), Aoife Meaney 1-1, Sarah Mulroy 1-0, Larissa Kelly 0-1.

CoM Roscommon: Siofra Hession 1-3 (0-1f), Ciara Dowd 0-5 (3f), Michelle Rogers 1-0, Shauna Walsh 0-2, Niamh Walsh 0-1.

Sacred Heart, Westport: Mae Murray; Lisa Hastings, Alana McDonnell, Éabha Carney; Heidi O’Malley, Beth Hoban, Ellie Hyland; Ava Kelly, Sarah Mulroy; Larissa Kelly, Aoife Meaney, Hannah Sheehy; Chloe Chambers, Saoirse Byrne, Christina MacEvilly. Subs: Ria Cafferky (for O’Malley 24), Grace McDonnell (for Chambers 39), Méabh Tunney (for Hyland 56), Aoibheann Chambers (for Byrne 60+4).

CoM Roscommon: Éabha Dowd; Michaela Lohan, Jenny Flynn, Anna Hussey; Hannah Murray, Lilly Muray, Emma Hough; Hazel Kelly, Aisling Shanagher; Siofra Hession, Kaitlin Egan, Michelle Rogers; Niamh Walsh, Ciara Dowd, Shauna Walsh. Subs: Zara Fallon (for Hough 43), Alannah Sutton (for S Walsh 48).

REF: John Niland (Sligo)