UCC triumph in WSCAI Kelly Cup
It has been an excellent campaign for intervarsity football and sport overall in UCC with the Women’s success adding to the Collingwood Cup, Sigerson Cup and Fitzgibbon Cup victories.
With Storm Gareth playing havoc with the weather conditions, both teams struggled to create chances throughout the game with fatigue showing from their semi-final exertions the previous day.
Sophie Lenehan was called into action early on in the second half when she prevented Emilie Mesec tapping in Christina Dring’s cross at point-blank range.
The game looked like to be ebbing towards extra time before a long ball from captain Ciara McNamara left the Maynooth defence flat footed and Player of the Match Dring stole in behind to lift the ball over Lenehan with only three minutes of normal time remaining.
Seeing their chance to complete the League and Cup double slipping away, Maynooth equalised in extraordinary circumstances almost immediately after. With Kate Connors giving away a free kick just inside her own half, Maynooth piled the bodies forward hoping to flick on Sarah McKevitt’s free kick. An extra touch wasn’t required as the ball was allowed to bounce in the UCC box and with gale force winds behind it, the ball spun into the top corner to force extra time.
Both teams found it difficult to create chances in the additional periods and a shoot-out was necessary to settle matters. Both teams scored their first four attempts before McKevitt’s day turned upside down when Clodagh Walsh kept out her spotkick. It was left to Vanessa Ogbonna to take the crucial kick and she nonchalantly sent Lenehan the wrong way to seal a sixth cup success for Cork.
UCC: Walsh, Coffey, Connors, McNamara, Looby, Brady, Mesec (Aherne 108), Bourke, Dring, Moore, Ogbonna.
Maynooth University: Lenehan, Lafferty, Berry (Keeler 89), Carroll, Byrne, McKevitt, Kealy, Dunne, Kelly, Walsh, Flatley (Owens 61)