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EMYVALE

All-Ireland Ladies Football Final - V Cork

Sunday September 25th 2011  Page 1

It was a great place to be - Croke Park on Ladies Final Day. There were three great football games and very sporting games at that. The first two ended with a draw and at one time near the end Monaghan folk would have settled for a draw but it was not to be and Cork held out to go home with the Brendan Martin Cup. There was great support from Monaghan and, though the crowd was not all that big in comparison to men’s All-Ireland Day, those who were there created a fantastic atmosphere and sound, which reverberated around the stadium.
The sides were very evenly matched and it was going to be the team which made the fewer mistakes who would lift the cup and that is how it happened. Both teams displayed a serious level of fitness and skill and the speed of the game was tremendous. On that score we must pick out Therese McNally for her non-stop effort and commitment for the entire length of the game. There were other great performances for Monaghan and the McAnespie girls easily come to mind. Indeed the Cork defence was clearly watching Ciara as every time she got the ball she was surrounded by at least three Cork players. Caoimhe Mohan, Ellen McCarron and Niamh Kindlon were my pick of the forwards along with Ciara. In the Monaghan defence with Aoife, Nicola Fahy and Gráinne McNally were very strong and read the game well, while Sharon Courtney played a leaders role. All the others tried and gave everything they had but those mistakes were costly and with such a close game it was just too difficult to catch up.
However it was great to be in the All-Ireland final and we compliment the players and the management for that achievement.

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