Senior B Club Championship Final: Davitts v St Thomas

November 4, 2022

Windows & Rooflighting LTD Senior B Club Championship Final

SENIOR B

Davitts 1-14 St Thomas 2-08
Date: 5 Nov, 12pm
Venue: Killimor
Ref: Enda Loughnane

Player of The Match: Katie Anna Porter

MATCH REPORT

By Sarah Gaughran in Killimor
Davitts were crowned Senior B Champions on Saturday in Killimor when they overcame St Thomas’ in a very close encounter. St Thomas’ looked like they were going to cause an upset but the experience that the Davitts younger players such as Ciara Hickey, Aisling Donnellan and player of the match, Katie Anna Porter gained with the Galway Intermediate team earlier in the year really came to the fore when they needed to push on to win the game.

It was Davitts who started the brightest through points from Galway Minor Captain, Ciara Hickey, Catherine Hanley, through a free and Chole Farragher to leave them 0-3 to 0-0 ahead after 7 minutes. Aine Keane and Hanley exchanged scores through placed balls on the 7th and 14th minutes. St Thomas’ managed to pull themselves level with Davitts by the 21 st minute with Caoimhe Barrett, Abbie Massey and Keane, through a free, all adding to St Thomas’ tally. Hanley added two frees while full back Aisling Donnellan also added a fantastic long range free on the 25 th to leave 3 between the teams with 5 minutes to go in the half. St Thomas’ won a penalty on the 27th minute and Keane made no mistake in striking the ball low and hard into the Davitts net. Massey responded with a point to give St Thomas’ the lead for the first time in the game but Niamh Lawless, replied with a point to leave the sides level. A long ball into the St Thomas’ square found Barrett on the 29th minute and Barrett made no mistake when she pulled on the ball and stuck it into the back of the net to give them a three-point lead going into half time.

Davitts answered the goal within the first minute of the second half when Niamh Lawless managed to get the ball passed Sarah Healy in the St Thomas’ net. Keane replied with a free for St Thomas’ to give them the lead back a minute later. Hanley through a free and Lorraine Farrell added 2 more points for Davitts to leave them in the driving seat. Thomas’ regained their lead by the midway point of the half when Deirdre Burke and Keane through a free both added points for St Thomas’ but these would be the last scores for the side as they failed to score in the final 15 minutes. Four Catherine Hanley points, 3 through frees, in the final 15 minutes helped in ensuring Davitts got over the line with a 3 point victory as it finished Davitts 1-14 St Thomas’ 2-8.

Davitts can give great credit to their backs who really stood up for them in the last 15 minutes to deny St Thomas’ any scores. St Thomas’ can be proud of their efforts. They will look back on 2 or 3 missed goal opportunities that they had throughout the contest while they must give credit to their goalkeeper Sarah Healy who pulled off some fantastic saves in the final quarter. Davitts will have to push on for next year as they will be in the bowl for the Senior A competition next year where they will be playing the likes of Sarsfields and Oranmore Maree.

ADDITIONAL:

Davitts 1-14 St Thomas 2-8 (Senior B Final Report & Reaction) – Galway Bay FM
Defiant Davitts finish strong to shake off St Thomas’ girls – Connacht Tribune

MATCH PHOTOS

**Davitts – Senior B Club Champions**
**Back row (L-R):** Caoimhe Hickey, Roisin Dervan, Tarragh Maloney, Rebecca Broderick, Layla Harney, Aoibhin Hodgins, Maria Breheny, Katie Anna Porter, Lorraine Farrell, Chloe Farragher, Lisa Shiel, Ashling Donnellan, Allanah Kenny, Mia Dervan, Zoe O’Brien.
**Front Row L-R:** Mary Kelly, Niamh Lawless (JC), Ciara Hickey (JC), Catherine Hanley, Jemma Starr, Claire Blake, Emily O’Hehir, Hayley Kenny, Tess Larkin, Fionnuala Hanley, Sarah Whyte.
**Missing from photo:** Siobhan Coen, Saoirse Hodgins, Ava Breheny, Lucy Tierney, Aisling McHugh, Stephanie Broderick, Rachel Duggan, Amy Murphy, Fiona Daly
**Photo credit:** Alan Leonard

**Back row (L-R):** Niamh Walsh, Chloe Reidy, Aine Keane, Heather Cooney, Laura Sweeney, Sinead Skehill, Saoirse Flannery, Claire Egan, Tracy Murray, Maire Farrell, Caoimhe Barrett, Shelly Finnerty, Aishling Headd, Lisa Mullins, Sarah Healy, Fiona Burke
**Front Row (L-R):** Sandra Tannian, Elaine Tannian, Ailbhe Flannery, Siobhan Mullins, Deirdre Burke, Molly Kerins, Nikita Burke, Katie Egan, Aoife Gillane, Abbie Massie

Ciara Hickey (JC), Declan Lally (Sponsor), Niamh Lawless (JC)

PRE-MATCH

Ciara Hickey, Niamh Lawless (JC) Davitts, Declan Lally (Sponsor), Lorraine Coen (C) St Thomas

SENIOR B FINAL PREVIEW

By Sarah Gaughran
In the Senior B Championship final Davitts will take on St Thomas. Davitts overcame Clarinbridge in the semi-final to book their place in the final while St Thomas were given a walkover from Carnmore in the semi-finals as Carnmore withdrew from the competition on the evening before their game.

Davitts have been one of the most impressive sides in the Senior B Championship this year. The mixer of young stars such as Ciara Hickey, Chloe Farragher and Katie Anna Porter with the experienced players Lorraine Farrell, Siobhan Coen and Lisa Sheil has proven a success to date. They overcame Kinvara, Clarinbridge and Eyrecourt comfortably during the group stages while they also overame today’s opponents by 9 points. They did lose out to Carnmore by 1 point during the group stages, but they still topped the group due to a three way playoff. They then met Athenry in the Senior A quarter finals, but they were unlucky to lose out by 3 points on the day. They went back into the Senior B Competition where they met Clarinbridge in the semi-final’s stages. It was a closer affair this time but a strong second half performance ensured they made it into today’s final. They will be looking to add a piece of silverware to their collection after they missed out on the league title earlier in the year.

St Thomas will be happy to be in this year’s Senior B Final after a mixed campaign to date. They finished 4th overall in the Senior B group stages. They overcame Eyrecourt by two points and Kinvara by six points during the group stages, but they lost out to Clarinbridge, Carnmore and Davitts. A strong 2nd half performance against Eyrecourt in the quarter final stages of the competition ensured that they would have a spot in the semi-finals where they were due to play Carnmore but Carnmore withdrew the evening before the game and this ensured that St Thomas’ had their spot in today’s final. Like Davitts, St Thomas’ have a mixture of youth and experience throughout their side with young players Abbie Massey, Aine Keane, Siobhán and Orla Mullins along with their more experienced players such as Heather Cooney, who is back this year after missing out due to a cruciate ligament injury last year, Lorraine Coen and Sarah Healy all on their starting team. They will be hoping to push on from the defeat they suffered against Davitts earlier in the year.

While Davitts had nine points to spare over St Thomas’ in the group stages, it is safe to say that this final will be a much closer affair. If St Thomas’ get their matchups right, they could push Davitts throughout the contest.