St Jude’s were crowned Feile Division 2 champions after victory over Lucan Sarsfields
Photos by John Kirwan
St Jude’s edge out Sarsfields in thriller
A second half Lalia Hurley goal proved decisive as St. Jude’s were crowned Dublin Ladies Football Féile Division 2 champions at a sunny Fingallians GAA Club on Sunday after they saw off Lucan Sarsfields 1-2 to 0-4, reports Cóilín Duffy.
Just a goal separated the sides when they met in the group stages the previous day, and in the final a ‘three-pointer’ again was crucial, though this time just a point was the difference at the full-time whistle.
This was a high-octane encounter, but was halted in the early stages after an injury to Katie Quigley, but thankfully the St. Jude’s midfielder was able to return to action midway through the second half, after a period of recovery.
It was Lucan who opened the scoring with a fine effort from play from Poppy Lyons Kennedy in the fifth minute, but her effort was quickly cancelled out with an excellent score from Sarah McDaid inside 90 seconds to level the contest.
Judes pushed hard to take the lead but kicked two wides in as many minutes, despite the efforts of McDaid and Laila Hurley.
Lucan also battled hard with some good defending from the likes of Alisha Akemulu, with Jude’s defence also coming to the fore, with Abi Massey putting in a fine block on a Lyons-Kennedy effort.
Judes took the lead through Sarah McDaid’s second point in the 14th minute, with Lucan pushing hard in injury-time for an equaliser, but chances for Lyons-Kennedy and Lucy O’Shea were snuffed out, as Judes held a 0-2 to 0-1 interval lead.
Lucan really dug in on the restart, with a trio of points inside six minutes of the restart.
Firstly Nicole O’Donnell claimed a fine score from play, and then Caoimhe Buckley put her side into a double score lead in the 21st minute with a brace of points, including one from a free.
With rolling subs, Buckley was given a chance for a breather soonafter, but the talented forward would make another appearance – however at this stage, Judes had registered the game’s only goal.
It came after good link play from Anna Kelly, Laila Hurley and Izzy Cowzer saw the latter win a free, which Hurley sent to the net with less than five minutes of normal time remaining.
Judes now led by a point, and despite the strong efforts of both sides neither produced a further score, as Judes held out for a slender victory to claim silverware.
