Caltra Cuans survive shaky start to claim Connacht title

BARRY’S 0-9

By Kevin Egan in Kiltoom  

CALTRA Cuans weathered the St. Barry’s storm for 20 minutes before storming over the finish line to pick up a Connacht Club Ladies Football Intermediate title at the expense of their Roscommon opponents on Saturday afternoon in Kiltoom.

The double-score winning margin, however, was flattering to the winners in a final that was extremely competitive throughout while after the game, the reaction of the St. Barry’s supporters and sideline made it clear that they were less than enamoured with the performance of referee Ger Canny.

Caltra undoubtedly got the rub of the green with one or two big decisions in the second half, most notably the lack of a penalty call and a decision to bring play back for a free kick just when the ball had run through to corner forward Gabby Compton with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Despite this, when the dust settles and the Longford-border club get the chance to review the contest in full, they’ll most likely identify their failure to take a series of early chances and their inability to sustain a full hour at a high tempo of play as the bigger reasons why Caltra were that bit better over the game, albeit not as far superior as Ciara Murray’s late goal made it look on the scoreboard.

This competition has been an unhappy hunting ground for Roscommon clubs, with no winner and just two final appearances from the county since St. Brigid’s won it all the way back in 2004. St. Barry’s looked for all the world like they might break that run as they took control of this game in the early stages, running the ball with pace and purpose to set up a series of opportunities.

Shannon McGuinness kicked two early points either side of a goal chance for Edel Beirne that was blasted over the bar by the elusive centre forward, with St. Barry’s 0-3 to 0-1 in front by the 19th minute. Caoimhe McCabe had to produce a superb block to deny Cara Cox a goal, Nicole Conway cleared a spilled ball off the line and Orlaigh Tighe hit the crossbar as the chances came and went for St. Barry’s, and when Caltra started to come into the game, they didn’t suffer from the same wastefulness.

Saoirse Murray could have had a goal when she pointed in the 19th minute to reduce the gap but a few plays later Emma Reaney had plundered 1-1, sweeping a point over the bar before pouncing on a sloppy kickout to steal possession and rifle in the game’s first goal.

Through the game Caltra saw St. Barry’s kickout as a weakness to be exploited and they could have had a second goal before half-time when Rosa Bleahane intercepted another, but the attacker fired over the bar with Reaney screaming for a handpass in front of the posts

That score, allied to some classy points from Saoirse Murray, helped give Caltra a 1-6 to 0-5 half-time lead that put the onus on St. Barry’s to come out swinging after half-time. Orlaigh Tighe’s deft run and subtle dummy set up Edel Beirne for the opening score but a couple of poor misses, including a scorable free that was weakly struck by McGuinness, meant they merely added to their litany of wasted attacking possessions.

Pictured: Caltra Cuans' Aoibheann Fitzpatrick and Rosa Beahene surround St Barry's Rachel Freyne the Connacht Ladies Intermediate Football Final in Kiltoom on Saturday. Photo: Joe Keane.