Defeat for Castleisland in All-Ireland semi

30 November 2024; Amy Conroy of Kilmacud Crokes in action against Eilis Lynch of Castleisland Desmonds during the AIB LGFA All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final match between Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin and Castleisland Desmonds of Kerry at Páirc de Burca in Stillorgan, Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile *** NO REPRODUCTION FEE ***

30 November 2024; Dejected Castleisland Desmonds players, Caoimhe O’Mahoney, left, and Jennifer Drumm after the AIB LGFA All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final match between Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin and Castleisland Desmonds of Kerry at Páirc de Burca in Stillorgan, Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile *** NO REPRODUCTION FEE ***

30 November 2024; Amy Conroy of Kilmacud Crokes in action against Ciara O’Sullivan of Castleisland Desmonds during the AIB LGFA All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final match between Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin and Castleisland Desmonds of Kerry at Páirc de Burca in Stillorgan, Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile *** NO REPRODUCTION FEE ***

30 November 2024; Castleisland Desmonds manager Dan Kearney during the AIB LGFA All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final match between Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin and Castleisland Desmonds of Kerry at Páirc de Burca in Stillorgan, Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile *** NO REPRODUCTION FEE ***

Desmonds went down by 5-11 to 1-5.

Niamh Cotter struck an excellent haul of 2-4 at Pairc de Burca as Kilmacud Crokes reached their first senior decider with an impressive victory over Castleisland Desmonds.

Amy Conroy, Michelle Davoren and Mia Jennings were also amongst the goals on a day when Crokes overcame a brace of semi-final defeats in the past two seasons to face the winners of tomorrow’s clash between defending champions Kilkerrin-Clonberne and Clann Eireann in this year’s final at Croke Park on December 14.

Playing on their home patch, the Stillorgan club stormed five points clear in the early exchanges after inter-county stars Ailbhe Davoren (Galway) and Lauren Magee (Dublin) kicked points either side of corner-forward Conroy clinically bagged the first goal of the game in the eighth-minute.

This threw down the gauntlet to Castleisland – who were captained by former Ireland women’s rugby international Ciara O’Sullivan (née Griffin) – but the Kerry outfit finally came to life when full-forward Julia Curtin fired home an excellent goal on 10 minutes.

Although their Dublin counterparts responded to this effort with a well-worked point by Michelle Davoren, Leah Griffin was on hand to raise a white flag for two-time All-Ireland senior champions Castleisland at the opposite end.

Aisling Leonard also found the range for the visitors, but with Grace Kós and Cotter (two) firing over in the closing stages of the opening period, Crokes brought a 1-6 to 1-2 cushion into the interval.

Even though Castleisland made a bright start to the second half with a point from Andrea Murphy, Crokes turned on the style for the remainder of the third-quarter.

When the Metropolitan women were awarded a penalty on 34 minutes, Cotter stepped up to the spot and ruthlessly dispatched the ball past Castleisland netminder Jennifer Drumm. This created significant daylight between the teams once again and after she had joined Conroy in adding an extra point to their personal tallies, Cotter registered her second goal of the action on the third-quarter mark.

This stretched a relentless Crokes into a seemingly insurmountable 11-point lead, before Michelle Davoren and Jennings claimed fourth and fifth goals for the south Dubliners in the 48th and 51st minutes.

Kingdom veterans Lorraine Scanlon and Eilis Lynch did kick points for Castleisland in the closing moments, but Cotter and Magee also found the target as Kilmacud eased their way into next month’s showpiece.

Scorers – Kilmacud Crokes: N Cotter 2-4 (1-0 pen, 0-4f), A Conroy 1-2, M Davoren 1-1, M Jennings 1-0, L Magee 0-2, G Kós, A Davoren 0-1.
Castleisland Desmonds: J Curtin 1-0, L Scanlon 0-1 (f), E Lynch, A Murphy, A Leonard, L Griffin 0-1 each.

KILMACUD CROKES: D Gower; N Carr, E Sweeney, P Greene; A Kane, M Lamb, K Murray; G Kós, L Magee; N Cotter, A Davoren, M Jennings; A Conroy, M Davoren, É Rutledge. Subs: S O’Donoghue for Kós (45), C Regan for Greene (50), D Egan for Conroy, L Kane for Jennings (both 51), C Moran for M Davoren (55).

CASTLEISLAND DESMONDS: J Drumm; H Herlihy, E Lynch, H Bourke; G Kearney, K O’Connor, C Lynch; L Scanlon, C O’Sullivan; A Curtin, A Murphy, A Leonard; L Walmsley, J Curtin, L Griffin. Subs: N Walsh for Bourke (37), K O’Connor for Curtin, K O’Sullivan for Griffin (both 48), H Murphy for Herlihy (53), R Cronin for Murphy (54).

Referee: Brendan Rice (Down).

Compiled by John Fallon
Kilmacud Crokes manager Paddy O’Donoghue said it is a huge boost to the club to reach their first AIB All-Ireland Ladies Senior Club final when they will take on reigning champions Kilkerrin-Clonberne in the decider at Croke Park.
Kilmacud Crokes booked their place in the final when Niamh Cotter scored 2-4 on their way to a 5-11 to 1-5 home win over Castleisland Desmonds.
“It’s great to be at this level of football," said O'Donoghue. "The women have been huge in the club the last couple of years. We’ve over a thousand players now. I think we’re second biggest to the men’s football and obviously the last couple of years we’ve got a bit of success. You can’t beat going to Croke Park in an All-Ireland final, that will have the whole club buzzing for the next couple of weeks. We’re thrilled, absolutely thrilled.”
He was impressed with the way they dealt with the challenge of the Kerry champions but feels they have work to do.
“I think the scoreline flattered us a bit in the end,” he added. “The first half was very tight. We probably missed a few chances, they missed definitely a very good goal chance up at the top. We just said at half-time just for the girls, have a bit more belief and go at them a bit more aggressively in the second half. I think once we got the penalty then, we got the breathing space and we relaxed after that. We played some great football in the second half. Very happy with that.”
Kilkerrin-Clonberne, chasing a fourth title in a row, saw off Armagh’s Clann Eireann by 2-11 to 1-9 with first half goals from Aisling Madden and Ailish Morrissey in Lurgan sending them on their way back to the decider.
“We got a fair test,” said Kilkerrin-Clonberne manager Willie Ward. “Clann Eireann stuck at it all the time. We got two golden goals in the first half which were huge for us in the context of going in at half-time. Even though they came at us hard in the second half, we had enough built up. There was always the chance they'd get a goal and they did. But we had enough built up that we could take the goal. We're really happy. Any time you travel away in an All-Ireland semi-final and come back with a win, you're doing well because semi-finals are tough to win always.”
But he knows they are going to face a huge task against Kilmacud Crokes in the final on Saturday, December 14, at Croke Park (Live on TG4).
“They've improved and they've got a few players back, so they'll be better than last year,” added Ward. “We're going to have to find another level ourselves from today. But we're there, it's Croke Park and it's a different day.”
Meanwhile, at intermediate level, Carlow champions Bennekerry/Tinryland saw off Mullahoran by 4-6 to 1-12, with Sinead Hayden shooting 2-1 to see them advance.
They will meet Annaghdown in the final, also at Croke Park on December 14, after the Galway champions saw off the challenge of O’Donovan Rossa, with a goal from wing-back Bronagh Quinn proving decisive in a 1-12 to 1-9 victory.
Donegal’s Na Dúnaigh scored a 1-7 to 0-7 home win over Kilcock to book their place in the AIB All-Ireland Ladies Junior Club final, with Sinead McBride getting the only goal of the match.
They will play Limerick champions Mungret St Paul’s in the final, which will take place at Parnell Park on Sunday, December 15. Mungret St Paul’s edged out Coolera/Strandhill by 0-11 to 1-6 to advance to the decider.

Results:

AIB All-Ireland Ladies Senior Club Championship semi-finals:
Kilkerrin-Clonberne 2-11 Clann Eireann 1-9
Kilmacud Crokes 5-11 Castleisland Desmonds 1-5

AIB All-Ireland Ladies Intermediate Club Championship semi-finals:
Bennekerry/Tinryland 4-6 Mullahoran 1-12
Annaghdown 1-12 O’Donovan Rossa 1-9

AIB All-Ireland Ladies Junior Club Championship semi-finals:
Mungret St Paul’s 0-11 Coolera/Strandhill 1-6
Na Dúnaibh 1-7 Kilcock 0-7

Fixtures:

Saturday, 14 December:
2024 AIB All-Ireland Ladies Senior Club Championship final
Kilkerrin-Clonberne (Galway) v Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin); Croke Park, 5pm — Live on TG4

2024 AIB All-Ireland Ladies Intermediate Club Championship final
Annaghdown (Galway) v Bennekerry/Tinryland (Carlow); Croke Park, 3pm — Live on TG4

Sunday, 15 December:
2024 AIB All-Ireland Ladies Junior Club Championship final
Mungret St Paul’s (Limerick) v Na Dúnaibh (Donegal); Parnell Park, 2pm