Begley and Young star in excellent junior final success for St Jude’s

Hannah Begley and Ellie Young were in flying form at St Margaret’s GAA yesterday as St Jude’s claimed the Dublin LGFA Junior Championship title with an impressive 3-11 to 2-7 final victory over Clontarf ‘B’.

Supplementing the six-point haul of inside partner Young, corner-forward Begley bagged a hat-trick of goals to secure the silverware for the Templeogue club and – by extension – a spot in next year’s Intermediate Championship. Having lost out to Ballinteer St John’s in the 2020 decider at the same venue, this will come as a sweet success for St Jude’s.

Additionally, Begley and Young are amongst a contingent of 10 within the squad who helped the Wellington Lane outfit to secure top honours in the Dublin Senior One Camogie Championship just two weeks earlier.

Also amongst their dual performers are current inter-county small ball stars Hannah Hegarty (the Dublin captain for the past two seasons), Emily Browne and Cliodhna Nicoletti.

Roisin Connolly of St Jude’s in action against Edel Hyland of Clontarf

A gifted underage ladies footballer, Hegarty’s athleticism provided a real spark for Jude’s around the middle-third. Begley got the all-important goal off the bench for her club’s camogie side in their aforementioned 1-14 to 0-15 showpiece triumph over St Vincent’s and rattled the net in this encounter with just under eight minutes gone on the clock.

After a Young free dropped into the square, Begley was on hand to flick the ball into the back of the net.

‘Tarf rallied to trail by a single point on 21 minutes, before Begley claimed her second major with another close-range finish.

Although Young had a penalty turned away by ‘Tarf netminder Rachel Smyth, Jude’s held a substantial 2-6 to 0-5 lead at the interval.

St Jude’s players Leah Butler, left, and Aoife Walsh celebrate

Despite clocking up a series of wides, the southsiders remained in control thanks to additional points from captain Aoife Keyes and Young (two).

A Grace Smyth goal added renewed life to the ‘Tarf challenge on the third-quarter mark, but Jude’s subsequently reinforced their authority. Despite Young once again being denied from the penalty spot, Begley completed her hat-trick on 59 minutes to place the outcome beyond doubt.

After Ciara O’Connor fired home for their northside counterparts in stoppage-time, Jude’s custodian Aoife McAuliffe produced a superb penalty save of her own from Isobel Finnegan.

This was a fitting end to a memorable contest, with St Jude’s ultimately emerging as worthy seven-point victors.