Donaghmoyne grind down gallant Moneyglass

By Paul Swift

Donaghmoyne 1-11 Moneyglass 1-7

Donaghmoyne had to dig deep to lift their 14th Ulster senior title against a gallant Moneyglass side.

Playing against a stiff breeze the reigning champions rushed into an early lead with points from Cathriona McConnell and Rosemary Courtney, before Orlaith Prenter then hit three in a row to edge Moneyglass ahead.

In the 13th minute Donaghmoyne suffered a major blow when wing back Hazel Kingham was red carded.

Eileen McElroy and Prenter then traded points before Donaghmoyne hit three consecutive overs. On the stroke of half-time Prenter sent over her fifth point as her side trailed by the bare minimum.

Donaghmoyne were quickly out of the blocks in the second half, extending their lead with points from Lauren Garland and Eimear Traynor. The Monaghan champs were then reduced to 13 when Rosemary Courtney was sin-binned.

McConnell and Aine Devlin then exchanged points before Moneyglass were thrown a lifeline with seven minutes left. Maria O'Neill was fouled in the box and sharpshooter Prenter buried the resulting penalty to level matters for the fifth time.

Donaghmoyne responded with points from McConnell and Amy Garland, but Moneyglass would not lie down and Prenter again pointed to close the gap to a single point.

The game was effectively won in injury-time when following good work by Eimear Traynor, substitute Grace Cumiskey netted to help her side to a four-point win.

Donaghmoyne: L Martin, J Geoghegan, N Callan, F Courtney, H Kingham, S Courtney, E Traynor, S McConnell, E McElroy (0-01), A Garland (0-02), C Courtney (0-01), R Courtney (0-02), C McConnell (0-03) (0-2f, 0-1), L Garland (0-02) (0-02f), A Burns

Subs: G Cumiskey (1-0) for S McConnell

Moneyglass: A McCann, S McErlain, E