Rivercourt Hotel Junior C Cup Final
Thomastown 1-16 James Stephens 2-11
Thomastown retained the Junior C Cup that they won in 2025 with a hard fought two point win over James Stephens in a well contested final on a breezy but pleasant early November morning in Mullinavat. The ground conditions were very good on the day and this contributed to a skilful and high scoring match where both sides had periods of supremacy and the small margin of victory reflected the closeness of the contest – and the victory for can perhaps be attributed to the greater experience of the Thomastown girls to see the match out in the closing minutes in the face of strong pressure from the Village girls.
Thomastown opened backed by the breeze and looked set to establish a good interval early on when they led by 0-4 to 0-1 after 12 minutes with Sophie McCabe proving to be very accurate from play and from frees throughout this half. However, James Stephens settled into the contest and were boosted by a fine penalty finish to the net from Jenna Larkin minutes later and further scores from the lively Tara McGuire and Laura Leahy saw the sides level at 0-6 (T) to 1-3 (JS) by the 18th minute. Thomastown then had a period of dominance scoring five unanswered points through Sophie McCabe (0-3, 0-2 frees), Ellen Treacy and Marie Farrell to open up a useful lead as half time approached. James Stephens again rallied and after a pointed free from the accurate Jenna Larkin, they struck for what looked like a crucial second goal on the stroke of half time when a shot from Hannah Joyce found the net. This left the half time score at 0-11 (T) to 2-4 (JS) and the James Stephens supporters would have been pleased with this scoreline given that they had the elements in their favour for the second half.
The second half was barely a minute old when a key moment arrived as a Thomastown forward was fouled inside the small square leading to a penalty being awarded by referee Maurice Flynn. Anna Farrell stepped Farrell to convert this to the net and Thomastown had stretched the lead out to four points again. The following minutes of this half saw repeated efforts by James Stephens to reel in this deficit and they had reduced the margin down to the minimum 1-14 (T) to 2-10 (JS) by the 50th minute thanks to scores from Tara McGuire, Laura Leahy, and accurate freetaking from Jenna Larkin – but Thomastown never relinquished the lead and struck for further points from Ellen Treacy, Aoife Coverdale and Sophie McCabe (free) to hold onto a slender lead. The closing minutes saw plenty of efforts on both sides to get crucial late scores but Thomastown managed to hold onto the lead thanks to good defending from all of their backs while two further Sophie McCabe frees proved to be enough for them to claim the Cup after a fine match between two well prepared teams.
Thomastown: Clodagh Galway, Megan O’Reilly, Una Donnelly, Aoife Coverdale, Niamh O’Shea, Kate McDonald, Fiona Farrell, Aisling Coverdale, Ellen Treacy, Samantha Kavanagh, Anna Farrell, Sophie McCabe, Aoife Ravenhall, Anna Morrisey, Marie Farrell. Subs: Ruth Ryan, Sarah Jane Morrissey, Chlow Nevin, Roisin McAlwee, Orlaith Kirwan, Hannah O’Reilly, Sinead Galway, Orla O’Keeffe, Caoimhe Fennelly, Laura Challoner, Katie Begley.
James Stephens: Lucy McGrath, Ciara McDonald, Cady Boyle, Lucy Lennon, Roisin O’Sullivan, Molly Burke, Emily Lauhoff, Lucy Coomey, Anna Bergin, Roisin Leahy, Tara McGuire, Laura Leahy, Maura Barton, Hannah Joyce, Jenna Larkin. Subs: Niamh Leahy, Sarah Kenny, Eimear Gladney, Niamh Moore, Caoimhe Egan, Daisy Coomey, Molly Purcell, Aoibh Lawler, Mia Dunne, Niamh O’Hara, Yoma Etaferi, Sorcha Larkin, Roisin O’Shea, Aoibheann Cantwell, Freya Doyle, Caoimhe Moran, Alice Quinn, Aine White.
Referee: Maurice Flynn
By PRO Tue 3rd Nov
