St Loman's determined to build on great victory

Winning St Loman’s manager Ciaran Kilmurray praised Vicky Carr’s performance after his side defeated Milltown to win the ladies senior title at TEG Cusack Park on Saturday.

Carr’s performance was pivotal: a real engine in midfield, she came up with two crucial second-half goals. “Vicky really stood up today. In fairness to her, she has been brilliant for us all year. She is a serious athlete. You will not get a finer athlete in the whole of Leinster. When she’s on it, she’s hard to stop,” said the former St Loman’s midfielder.

“The balls fell to her but she has to be there to get them. The first goal was a great finish because there was little to put it into. There was only a small gap, and she was calm, composed and put it away. She’s a fantastic player. Her and Caoimhe [Kilmurray] in midfield gave us a huge basis to start off and everybody did well. But Vicky really came to the fore when we needed her. She’s an experienced county player but she’s still relatively young, and when we needed her, she stepped up, as did many of the girls.”

A look at the pen pictures in Saturday’s programme showed how many teenagers started for St Loman’s, and the wealth of young talent on the bench. Kilmurray has high hopes.

“The job is to keep them. When we came in, we looked at, realistically, a three to four-year plan to get them competing. There were no guarantees of anything. It’s accelerating and it’s great for now; no one can take it off you but if you don’t build on it, it’s only a flash in the pan. You have to build on it.

“We are in a good club. We know how to do that but it’s still a matter of the work having to be done to make sure we are here again. If we are not here next year, it’s no good. The 16-year-olds inside, Katie (Kilmurray) and Shannon (Breslin), did well, and of course Caoimhe, who’s 17. Lara (McCartan) at the back was exceptional. Her and Caoimhe are the same age. Katie and Shannon have an U16 final to play in the next couple of weeks.

“It bodes well but we have to keep them together, and we have to keep the more experienced girls because they have brought them on and helped them. So there’s a bit more work to do. There are great girls coming on. I see Jayne Charles walking by me, who had a bad injury this year. She is a talent, along with other girls who will be coming back into it next year.”

Leinster is up next for the St Loman’s women and a meeting with Longford Slashers, and ‘Killer’ is looking forward to the occasion. “I didn’t want to tempt fate, so I haven’t looked at what the draw was or anything like that. I did say to them at the beginning that Leinster is where we want to compete,” he said.

“When we were there with the men for so many years, they were fantastic days. I personally loved them.

“They’re the best days of all; even better than county finals. If you can get an away game down the country wherever it may be, it’s a fantastic experience. I want them to have it, so hopefully that’s now in our future.”

The Delvin Road club could be looking at a senior double next weekend, as the lads line out against The Downs in their 10th consecutive county final. Kilmurray is confident that they’ll follow their female counterparts with a big display.

“There are no better buachaillí to take up a gauntlet! Those lads are prepared better than any team you could meet. Those lads will do us proud regardless of the result,” he beamed. “Everyone in the club is proud of those boys.

“Hopefully they’ll get the result. I’d be confident of it because I know how good those lads are.”