Springfield ladies secure cup title after victory over St Brigid’s

ST MARKS finished their 2024 season with a 3-11 to 3-04 victory over St Brigid’s in the Division 12 Cup Final, reports James Ffrench.

The Championship success will be all the more sweeter for Mark’s after an agonising one point league final defeat against Cuala last week.

Mark’s came into the game having topped the southside group while Brigid’s had topped the north side section.

As expected, the opening half was tense with Mark’s behind by two at half time.

Brigid’s started the better and scored two quickfire goals within the opening seven minutes of the game.

Zara Quirke took the first half by storm as she stood out in the half forward line, scoring all six Mark’s points in the first half as they struggled to create chances in the final third.

St Mark’s girls celebrate their cup final win over St Brigid’s

A change of system to a two-woman full forward line opened the game up for Mark’s, who outscored their opponents 3-05 to 1-02 in the second half.

Nicola and Ava Sherwood formed the mother and daughter full forward line, with Nicola’s second half goal opening the floodgates for Mark’s.

Tori Harte and Aimee Noonan McGeever were key in doing in the middle of the park, as Harte linked the play from midfield to attack excellently while McGeever cleaned up any breaking ball.

However, it would be Quirke who would kill the game for Mark’s in the second half, who at just 16 years of age scored her second goal out of a tally of 2-8 in a remarkable performance.

Ciara McDonald, Caitlin McCarthy and Maria Berezhnaya all made key contributions off the bench as Mark’s ran out seven-point winners.

The success is made all the more impressive considering this year is the first in 15 that Mark’s have fielded a ladies football team.

Manager Hayden Moore hopes the success can be a launchpad for the continued fielding of a team in the club.

“Win aside, this year was a massive success as it was the first proper ladies team we’ve had in 15 years, we had 35 active players this year,” Moore said.

“Being Championship winners and getting to a league final we hope that it can spur the girls on to keep coming back and attract new players too.”