Jude’s ladies leave Ballin-tears after epic battle
ST JUDE’S were forced to battle every step of the way before finally seeing off Ballinteer St John’s 5-8 to 3-16 after extra time in the Adult Ladies Football Division Three Cup Final at Ballinteer CS last week.
The victory served to bridge an eight-year gap since the Templeogue side last raised the prize with Caoimhe O’Brien and their other captain Aoife Rockett the only survivors from that panel.
St Jude’s players, management and supporters celebrate the team’s victory in a thrilling Adult Ladies Football Division Three Cup Final against Ballinteer St John’s last week.
Trailing their hosts by two points after the open-ing 15 minutes, Jude’s, under the management team of Jeff Kane, Trevor Dunworth and Mick Nerney, crept ahead when Laura Martina’s long high ball dipped into the net.
Yet Ballinteer hit back by firing over another four points to head in at the break with the narrowest of advantages, 1-5 to 1-4.
The match was tied 11 minutes into the second half before relentless work in midfield between Aoife Keyes and Deirdre O’Shea resulted in another point on the score board.
Yet Jude’s suffered a setback when a sin-binning saw them reduced to 14 players and Ballinteer duly capitalised when Niamh Sweeney rattled the net following a great team move.
Yet, despite their numerical inferiority, Jude’s dug deep and served up three unanswered points to again restore parity.
Grace Dent rifled home a fourth goal for Ballinteer to propel them two up yet Caoimhe Bowles, Aoife Walsh and the Doherty sisters worked tirelessly to keep the homeside’s scoring chances to a minimum as they drew level 4-6 to 1-15 by the full time whistle.
Limiting Ballinteer to a point in the first half of extra time, Jude’s chalked up a goal and point during this period before extend-ing their advantage to six early in the second.
Yet the match was far from done as Ballinteer were awarded two penalties in quick succession, the first being superbly saved by goalkeeper Kate Hegarty while the second was converted.
That score together with a late point saw Ballinteer reduce their arrears to two, but time was not on their side and Jude’s held out for the victory and their first piece of silverware since 2013 when they captured the Junior B Championship.
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