Carnacon well beaten by Galway champions

Mayo ladies senior club champions Carnacon bowed out of the Connaught championship following their 2-19 to 2-6 defeat by arch rivals Kilkerrin/Clonberne of Galway in this evening's semi-final in Clogher.

Although the final scoreline was a bit flattering for the winners, there was little doubt that last year's All-Ireland finalists fully deserved their victory.

They were much sharper and were another level to Carnacon when it came to pace and their passing of the ball. On top of that they had a lot more options when it came to turning possession into scores.

However, while the final scoreline shows the Mayo champions went down by 13 points, it does not do justice to the fine effort they put in.

Indeed, after going four points down after 12 minutes, Carnacon hit a real purple patch where they hit back with a cracking goal from Louise Dowling and two points from Cora Staunton to turn the four-point deficit into a one-point lead by the 15th minute.

The Mayo side should have had a second goal two minutes later when Fiona McHale missed a great chance in front of goal.

However, while Carnacon were more than holding their own, they gave away a real soft goal in the 26th minute and from there it was the Galway side who took over.

Kilkerrin/Clonberne had a 1-10 to 1-6 advantage at the interval but given that Carnacon had whatever wind advantage there was for the second half, there was general hope among their supporters that they would still win this game.

This hope didn’t last long after the resumption, however, as the visitors scored an unanswered 1-4 to extend their lead to 11 points by the 38th minute.

Although Cora Staunton goaled for Carnacon two minutes later, this was to prove to be their only score of the half and it was Kilkerrin/Clonberne who pulled away rather easily in the final quarter.

The Kilkerrin/Clonberne team was: L. Murphy, S. Gormally, S. Fahy, C. Costello, C. Dunleavy, L. Ward (0-1), H. Noone (0-2), S. Divilly, A. Clarke (1-1), N. Ward, C. Miskell (0-3), L. Noone (0-1), E. Noone (0-1), A. Morrissey (0-2), O. Divilly (1-7). Subs used were: L. Gannon, M. Flanagan, S. Fahy, C. Boyle and M. Ruane (0-1).

The Carnacon team was: M. Higgins, S. Larkin, S. Walshe, S. McGing, M. Corbett, M. Carter, E. Cosgrove, F. McHale, B. Bruton, L. Dowling (1-1), A. Dowling (0-2), M. McGing, E. Flannery, C. Staunton (1-3), H. Prendergast. Subs used were: D. Hughes, D. Joyce and B. Hoban.

*Pictured above, Olivia Divilly scored 1-7 for Kilkerrin/Clonberne in their victory over Carnacon in today's Connacht ladies senior club football championship game. Photo: Sportsfile