Derrygonnelly hold off Kinawley to land first Division One title

A strong third quarter was vital as Derrygonnelly Harps saw off Kinawley to land a first ever Ladies Division One title in Belcoo on Sunday evening.

With the sides level at 1-05 apiece at the break, the Harps rattled off four of the next five points to move into a three point lead and although Kinawley rallied, Derrygonnelly did enough to hold on as they secured a hard fought one-point victory.

This was a big win for the Harps who have been pushing Kinawley closely in recent years without getting over the line although the Brian Borus do not have long to wait to try and avenge this defeat with the sides set to meet in the Senior Football Championship final at Brewster Park this Saturday night.

It was Kinawley who enjoyed the brighter start to the contest as they opened up a 0-03 to 0-01 lead by the 13th minute.

Roisin O’Reilly landed the first point of the game from a free before Eimear Smyth answered with a point from play.

However, scores from Gemma McCaffrey and Niamh McManus put Kinawley two ahead.

Back though came Derrygonnelly and two points from frees in quick succession from Eimear Smyth levelled up proceedings.

But, Kinawley grabbed the first major score of the game when they hit the back of the Derrygonnelly net in the 20th minute.

McCaffrey took advantage as the Derrygonnelly defence switched off and she tucked the ball past Megan Maguire in the Harps goal to make it 1-03 to 0-03.

Smyth and O’Reilly traded points from frees but Smyth then converted another free and from the resultant kick out the Harps swooped for their goal. Bronagh Smyth intercepted the ball and she was fouled as she was about to get her shot away with the referee awarding a penalty.

Eimear Smyth stepped up and converted to nudge Derrygonnelly into a 1-05 to 1-04 lead but O’Reilly knocked over a late free for Kinawley to leave it level at half time.

O’Reilly tagged on another free as Kinawley got on the front foot from the throw in but Derrygonnelly settled back into the game and Smyth slotted over three frees while Sarah Jane Jones fired over a fine point from the right to give Derrygonnelly a three point advantage as the contest edged towards the last ten minutes.

Kinawley though responded and O’Reilly knocked over a further free before Corrine Breen registered a super score from play to leave one in it with three minutes to go.

There was still further drama as another Kinawley effort came back off the crossbar and from the rebound Derrygonnelly’s Emily Cassidy made a brilliant block as her side held on to record a terrific victory.