'Castle retain title after ding dong battle

Garrycastle remain as county Ladies champions after a hard fought final played in miserable conditions in Rosemount on Sunday last.They won because they had the better scoring forwards and that's the truth of the matter but they were made to fight all the way by a determined and resilient Coralstown Kinnegad side that will rue the amount of wides they hit over the course of the hour and the amount of spilled ball when they had a huge period of superiority in the second half. Garrycastle were led by Longford county star, Denise Murtagh who scored five points and was a constant thorn in the side of the Kinnegad defence whether on the ball herself or when she was moving it on and creating great space for her fellow forwards and generally leading the Kinnegad defence a merry dance. Kinnegad had their own heroes as well though and none more so than Mary Walsh at centre forward who had a marvellous game and certainly did not deserve to be on the losing side but in the end Garrycastle eased away for back to back titles and still are the pacesetters in Westmeath ladies football.The game was slow to start and the football was poor to say the least as both teams struggled with big match nerves and it showed but after eight minutes it was lifted from its malaise by a superb goal from Lisa Fitzpatrick after a mazy run from Denise Murtagh had set her up. A Maud Annie Foley free got one back for Kinnegad immediately but Murtagh nullified that with a pointed free of her own after a foul on Ann Duignan. The game then reverted into mediocrity again with some poor misses from both sides and some pretty poor football too but conditions militated against them it must be said. Fitzpatrick put Garrycastle four up when she scored a fine point from a direct ball in from Duignan and when Murtagh pointed another free the alarm bells began to ring for Kinnegad. Garrycastle kicked a succession of wides thereafter and they could have been out of sight before half time but some of their efforts were ill advised and badly executed and Maud Annie Foley pulled one back for Kinnegad with a free to settle their nerves but Garrycastle had their tails up and after another series of misses it was Fitzpatrick again who got them firing when she pointed after a superb through ball from Aoife McCormack and it was 1-4 to 0-2 in Garrycastle's favour at the break.Foley started the Kinnegad comeback with another pointed fee and when she scored from play moments alter the big fight back really looked on but Murtagh stopped the rot for Garrycastle when she soloed from the middle of the field and hit a fabulous point that raised their hopes once more and restored a 4 point lead. Murtagh then saw a long range free come off the crossbar and missed two good chances directly after and this seemed to raise the Kinnegad girls hopes and they began to battle again with Mary Walsh to the forefront again leading by example and after a succession of near misses it was Nuala Farrell who got the breakthrough when she was on the spot from a defensive error by Garrycastle and rifled the ball to the net for a super goal.This should have been the catalyst for Kinnegad to push on but instead they seemed to stand back and invited Garrycastle on to them and that was the rock they perished on.Sub Sarah Dolan kicked a lovely score after some fine approach work by another sub Jennifer Byrne and when Murtagh pointed a close in free with 58 minutes on the clock it all looked over and it was left to Murtagh to put the crown on the victory when she scored her fifth point to seal a memorable and deserved victory for Garrycastle.Murtagh, Fitzpatrick and Lorraine Duncan were the pick of what was a strong Garrycastle 15 who played as a unit and were far too strong at times for their opponents. Indeed if they had taken their myriad of chances then they would have won this game with consummate ease. Walsh, Foley, Nuala Farrell and Ciara Brannock were the pick of the Kinnegad girls and they battled bravely but they were out gunned in far too many departments of the field and can have little complaint with the result on a day when Garrycastle retained the title in fine style.Scorers: Garrycastle: Denise Murtagh 0-5, 3 frees, Lisa Fitzpatrick 1-2, Sarah Dolan 0-1. Coralstown/Kinnegad: Maud Annie Foley 0-4, 3 frees, Nuala Farrell 1-0.TeamsGarrycastle: Claire Gaffey, Aimee Duncan, Lorraine Duncan, Karen Farrell, Eimear Murphy, Orla Connaughton, Laura Brennan, Aoife McCormack, Ann Duignan, Lisa Fitzpatrick, Denise Murtagh, Ciara McCormack, Aine McCormack, Sinead Walker, Aoife Dolan. Subs: Sarah Dolan for Walker H/T, Jennifer Byrne for Ciara McCormack, Maedhbh Flynn for Farrell 58 mins.Coralstown/Kinnegad: Jo Raleigh, Ciara Brannock, Amie Giles, Michelle Murtagh, Tasha Brady, Tally Flynn, Catherine Hanley, Niamh O'Reilly, Maud Annie Foley, Claire Farrell, Mary Walsh, Louise Darby, Caroline Mullen, Niamh Farrell, Nuala Farrell. Subs: Donna Kiernan for Hanley 40 mins, Leanne Flynn for Niamh Farrell 58 mins, Lisa Darby for Claire Farrell 60 minsReferee: Declan Hogan, St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge.