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Westmeath claimed their first U16 All-Ireland title on Saturday defeating Tyrone 6-9 to 5-3 in the æC’ decider.
Louise O’Connor had a great game for Westmeath scoring a personal tally of 1-1. However it was her ability to interlink with her teammates and create scores that did the real damage to the Tyrone defence, despite the efforts of full-back Cara Fitzgerald.
O’Neill county girls worked hard and were back in contention at the break of play, trailing only by three points. Westmeath came out after the break determined to kill off the Tyrone challenge and were rewarded for their efforts with four goals.
The Red Hand girls were undeterred and put in a gritty performance in the second half, adding three goals to their tally.
Once again Caoimhe Rafferty had a solid performance driving Tyrone forward at every opportunity and chipping in with a personal tally of 1-3.
In the Ulster Junior semi-final on Saturday Monaghan overcame Donegal 3-9 to 1-2 and they will now have the honour of playing in Park Esler on æFinals Day’.
Maire Greenan and Lorriane McKenna both had a fine game for Monaghan proving influential when the game started to get tough.
Margaret McConnell and Martina Rush battled well for Donegal in defence, forcing Monaghan to shoot for points. Ciara McMenamin and Ann Marie Gibbons had a good tussle with the Monaghan defence, creating opportunities for Donegal.
Monaghan will now face Tyrone on the 4th July in the Ulster Junior Final. This should be a great encounter and the Red Hand girls will prove very different opponents. Upfront the
Tyrone will also be hoping that their captain Juile Lagan will be available for the final after she picked up a knee injury earlier this month.
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