All Ireland U\16 ‘B’ Final - Tipperary ‘V’ Louth

On Wednesday evening last the 27^th July Tipperary under 16s travelled to Edenderry to play Louth Ladies in this year’s under 16 ‘B’ All Ireland Football final. Very little was known regarding this Louth side, who were appearing in their first final whereas Tipperary had previously won the competition on two occasions, 2009 & 2014 and been runners up twice in 2011 & 2012. Louth had qualified on merit after a strong Leinster campaign and had defeated Tyrone in the semi final by six points. Tipperary had won Munster after seeing off a strong Waterford challenge by four points before accounting for Roscommon in their semi final. For this final Tipperary would be without influential forward Clonmel Commercials Ava Fennessy. 

Tipperary’s management team made some tactical moves directly from the throw in dropping Anna Rose Kennedy back in support of her defence and Angela McGuigan listed at number 13 playing a more outfield role. This appeared to unsettle the Louth side and McGuigan had Tipp’s first score, a pointed free immediately. Louth replied with a nice point from Lauren Boyle but from here on Tipperary were the dominant side playing some lovely composed football and constantly on the attack. Lattin-Cullen’s Katie Cunningham was winning her inside forward battles and she put Tipp ahead in the 4^th minute. There now followed an excellent passage of play with the defence moving the ball through midfielders Roisin Daly and Marie Creedon with half back Anna Carey continuing her run before firing home Tipp’s first goal in the seventh minute. Try as they might Louth simply could not make inroads in a tight Tipperary defence where Anna Rose Kennedy, Niamh Martin & Caitlin  Kennedy were impressive. Tipp midfielder, Creedon was mopping up too dropping back before passing lovely ball to her forward colleagues. Boherlahan’s Aine O’Dwyer at number ten was a powerhouse travelling up and down her wing at pace. Louth did manage two points in reply to the Tipp goal but McGuigan and full forward Sarah Delaney cancelled these out within a minute. McGuigan was now on song and added two more before midfielder Creedon also travelled forward to kick a fine point herself in the fifteenth minute. Even at this early stage it was beginning to look as if Tipp were fast becoming the dominant team. In the seventeenth minute Katie Cunningham, having made a clever run and getting in behind the Louth defence fired home Tipp’s second goal. This move was following a surge up the middle by Anna Rose Kennedy, Aine O’Dwyer and Anna Carey. Full forward Delaney scored a point from the kick out and Tipperary were quickly getting out of sight. Louth introduced a double substitution in an effort to stem the side. They scored their fourth point in the twentieth minute but then had three wides mainly due to the pressure from the Tipp defence where Lucy Spillane and Emma Cronin were making great blocks on the Louth attackers. Delaney added Tipp’s final first half score, a point in injury time to leave Tipp ahead at half time 3:10 to Louth’s :04.

Louth began the second half in determined fashion and for the first five minutes had most of the possession but only managed a point from play and two wides during this dominance. Tipp had made a goal line clearance during this period which further frustrated Louth Ladies. Tipp’s Ciara Halpin had replaced Katie Cunningham at half time and Tipp once more began to dominate and when full forward Sarah Delaney goaled again in the 5^th minute the contest was as good as over. Fethard’s Lauren Dowling replaced her club mate Lucy Spillane on 12 minutes as Tipp began to use their talented bench. Muireann O’Connell (0:2) and a Niamh Martin point put Tipperary further ahead. Louth continued to press and were rewarded in the twenty-third minute with a fine goal from full forward Hannah Carolan. Cahir’s Christina Delaney replaced Aine O’Dwyer who had given her all for the cause. The two teams now traded points but it was goals Louth now required. Another Tipp substitution saw Emma Ryan replace Angela McGuigan and Ellie Ryan on for Anna Carey. Louth finished the final minutes remaining with three unanswered points but by then Tipperary were too far ahead to be caught. When referee Jonathan Murphy blew the full time whistle Tipperary were worthy winners on a scoreline of 3:16 to 1:12.

Following the presentation of the cup to winning captain Roisin Daly, the player of the match award was announced. For her strength, determination and consistency throughout the match Tipperary’s midfielder Marie Creedon was announced as the recipient.

Congratulations to manager Ed Burke and his backroom team of Peter Creedon, Tony Smith, Biddy Ryan, Trish McElwee and Physio Ollie Griffin. This was a team well prepared and knowing the game plan which they applied throughout the contest. The team played with a confident maturity making almost no errors throughout which is impressive in any underage team.

With a good number of this team and panel still underage next year Tipperary look well placed to defend this title in 2017.

Tipperary : Nicola O’Dwyer, Lucy Spillane, Caitlin Kennedy, Emma Cronin, Niamh Martin (0:1), Rachel O’Donnell, Anna Carey (2:0), Roisin Daly Capt, Marie Creedon (0:1), Aine O’Dwyer, Anna Rose Kennedy, Muireann O’Connell (0:2), Angela McGuigan (0:6), Sarah Delaney (0:5), Katie Cunningham ( 1:01).

Panel: Linda Murphy, Lauren Dowling, Caoimhe Comeerford, Ciara Halpin, Saoirse O’Meara, Laura Stocksborough, Christina Delaney, Sadhbh Leahy, Caoimhe Ryan, Emma Ryan, Niamh Ryan, Aine Hahessy, Ellie Ryan, Niamh Keane, Aoibhinn Fanning, Lauren McCormack, Ava Fennessy

Declan OShea

Tipperary LGFA PRO