A YEAR that began for The Harps ladies with aspirations of a first Laois county title ended with them annexing the All Ireland Junior Camogie title in Moore Park on Sunday last.
All Ireland Junior Camogie Final
Rain fails to dampen Harps fire
The Harps..................1-7
Keady (Armagh).........0-5
THE HARPS: Louise Mahony 0-5 (four frees), Elaine Mahony 1-0, Angela Hanlon and Erinne Dunne 0-1 each
KEADY: Claire Kinse
lla (One free), Colleen Conway, Helena Murray, Michelle Murray and Michelle Murphy 0-1 each
Under the guiding hand of Offaly man Aidan Franks, they created their own bit of history with a phenomenal display of grit and determination and a will to win which finally wore down their dogged Armagh opponents. The fickleness of the Irish weather had put paid to any chance of us witnessing a classic but it was still a pulsating game to watch.
On what was the dreariest of winters days, one star shone brighter than the rest, that of the mercurial Louise Mahony. A couple of missed frees early on aside, she was superb, hitting five points whilst funneling back to aid her colleagues in defence as well as setting up the game's decisive score for sister Elaine.
The Harps goalkeeper Áine Mahony gave a Donal "g Cusack-esque display of composure between the posts and her backline, particularly in the second half, snuffed out a number of impending attacks from the Keady forward line.
Captain Denise Quigley was stationed in midfield when Aoife Donohue was forced off early through injury and she put her shoulder to the wheel for the second half, hassling and harrying to great effect. The Harps forward sextet got the scores when needed and made life difficult for their direct opponents. In truth this was the very essence of a team effort, where from one to 15 and both subs, they dug deep and battled their way to victory, where a team on the cusp of creating history, to a woman, gave it their all.
The game was only three minutes old when Claire Kinsella fired over a 14-yard free to put Keady ahead and The Harps opening score followed three minutes later when a Keady puckout traveled only 30 yards in the strong breeze. Wing forward Angela Hanlon fastened on to the loose ball and levelled the game with a drive from 20 yards. Louise Mahony opened her account from a free on ten minutes but Keady's Colleen Conway cancelled it out with a free of her own two minutes later.
Erinne Dunne took advantage of a fluffed Keady clearance to fire over from 21 yards to restore The Harps lead on 14 mintues. We had to wait a further 13 minutes for the next score, a spell which saw midfielder Aoife Donohue depart the scene, having taken a heavy knock early on, but it only spurred on her teammates.
Louise Mahony fired over two frees from the 30 yard mark inside a minute to put three between the sides with the break approaching. Keady's Helena Murray did her bit for the cause with an inspirational score winning the sliothar in midfield before driving forward purposefully and firing over from 50 yards.
Two minutes into added time it was again Louise Mahony, this team taking an Erinne Dunne handpass and splitting the posts from 50 yards leaving The Harps three points to the good at half time on a scoreline of 0-6 to 0-3.
Michelle Murray angled over Keady's first score of the second half after three minutes to reduce the deficit to two. Once again it was Louise Mahony adding her fourth on seven minutes with a brilliantly struck free from under the stand into the teeth of the stinging breeze to restore The Harps three point advantage.
Substitute Michelle Murphy looked to rally her Keady teammates with an inspirational score having somehow forged a shooting opportunity amongst a ruck of Harps' players. Her colleague Claire Kinsella then saw one of the game's best goal chances go a begging a minute later when she couldn't control the sliothar six yards from goals with only the goalie to beat.
From the resultant clearance The Harps worked the ball forward and Louise Mahony under severe pressure found her sister Elaine behind the Keady cover. She was coolness personified and gave Keady keeper Eileen McCrory no chance with her drive from six yards.
The half was still only ten minutes old but amazingly it would the last flag raised for the remainder of the hour. It was the classic case of stalemate with The Harps soaking up everything that was thrown at them without ever looking like scoring themselves.
Although Keady definitely had the territorial advantage for the remainder of the hour, they found it nigh on impossible to forge an opening. With the game entering injury time and five points separating the teams, Keady full forward Collette McKeever got her first unobstructed sight of goals and she let fly from 14 yards. Goalkeeper Áine Mahony, more accustomed to her forward berth, showed exactly why she was between the posts with an excellent reflex save and clearance. The game carried on for a further four minutes with The Harps girls continuing to frustrate their opponents before referee Oliver Webb saw fit to blow full time. It was the signal for jubilant scenes from The Harps contingent as they celebrated one of the club's finest hours and on this evidence it could one of many such days.
THE HARPS: Aine Mahony; Joan Dollard, Michelle Fitzpatrick, Laura Mahony; Denise Quigley, Catriona Phelan, Catriona Phelan; Aoife Donohue, Louise Mahony; Angela Hanlon, Erinne Dunne, Elaine Cuddy; Elaine Mahony, Aisling Phelan, Teresa Bennett. Subs: Patricia Dunphy for Aoife Donohue (injured - 18 mins), Joanne Prior for Teresa Bennett (62 mins)
KEADY: Eileen McCrory; Brenda McQuade, Catherine Doyle, Patrice Murphy; Colleen Comiskey, Katrina Kinsella, Roisin Murray; Helena Murray, Colleen Conway; Kelly Ann Hughes, Annie O'Farrell, Patricia McCabe; Claire Kinsella, Collette McKeever, Michelle Murray. Subs: Michelle Murphy for Annie O'Farrell (24 mins)
Referee: Oliver Webb (Cork)
