Kelleher: ‘Phenomenal’ Sacred Heart have been ‘absolutely unrelenting’ all year

Sacred Heart Clonakilty 19

Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí 0

SEÁN HOLLAND REPORTS

‘IT ain't what you got, it's what you do with what you have’ – that was the message Sacred Heart Clonakilty junior coach Dominic Kelleher gave to his side before their momentous Munster Schools Girls Junior Cup triumph over Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí.

A superb first-half display saw the Clon school build a 19-0 half-time lead and they withstood everything their Bantry opponents threw at them in the second half.

Sacred Heart Clonakilty’s Amie Millin leads a breakaway.

‘It was a phenomenal performance by the girls. The level of maturity they showed on the pitch, their in-game management, everything was just fantastic. This team has been absolutely unrelenting all year,’ Kelleher said.

‘The big catch theme we had going into this was “It ain't what you got, it's what you do with what you have”, and that was our driving emphasis for the entire game,’ added the Clonakilty school’s coach.

Virgin Media Park was the venue for a game played in very wet and windy conditions. Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí kicked off with the aid of a strong breeze in the first half but they were given no time to rest as the Sacred Heart attack was relentless. Clon set out their stall from the offset and had Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí under pressure from the beginning.

‘We just wanted to contain Bantry as much as possible early on because they had a very impressive semi-final win, so we wanted to start fast,’ Kelleher explained.

The first score came after a great line break by winger Elsa Quirke, who was set on her way by a brilliant pass by fly-half Lani O’Donovan. Bantry’s Alice O’Donovan made a lung-bursting run to chase Quirke down with the tryline at her mercy but Clon showed great patience at the line. The ball was eventually recycled to Elva McAuley who touched down for the first score of the final. Keelin McCarthy added the conversion into a strong breeze. 7-0.

Sacred Heart added to the lead on the 20-minute mark after some fantastic phase play. Meghan Coakley, Maria O’Donovan, and Amie Millin all produced massive carries to bring Clon to the try line. Number eight Niamh Hilliard was the one to touchdown and after a conversion from McCarthy, the score was 14-0.

Sacred Heart Clonakilty’s Lani O'Donovan celebrates with her brother and sister after the win.

Soon Sacred Heart had their third try, and a second for Elva McCarthy. Some brilliant offloading from Clon opened up the Bantry defence and that allowed McCarthy to touchdown. The conversion was missed but that left Clon leading 19-0 heading into the break.

‘The fact we were up by 19 at the half changed our tactics somewhat. The second half was just all about defence and effort, and I must say they were phenomenal’. beamed Clon coach Kelleher.

In the second half Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí tried their utmost to break the Clon line but Sacred Heart stood firm. The Bantry team spent most of the half camped in the Clon 22 but some incredible Clonakilty defence meant that they kept a clean sheet and emerged victorious.

‘I’m just incredibly proud of them, both as students and as people. The development I could see in them, having taught them as well, has been fantastic. It’s been a phenomenal year and what a way to cap it off,’ Kelleher added.

Sacred Heart Clonakilty: Maria O’Donovan, Elsa Quirke, Elva McAuley, Keelin McCarthy, Laura Sexton, Lani O’Donovan, Julie Finn, Maya McMahon, Ciara O’Driscoll, Meghan Coakley, Emily Bell, Chloe Galwey, Aideen O’Sullivan, Amie Millin, Niamh Hilliard.

Replacements: Ciara Barrett for Elva McAuley (39), Leah Egan for Keelin McCarthy (44), Sinead O’Callaghan for Ciara O’Driscoll (46), Seodhna Walsh for Julie Finn (57), Shona Fleming for Lani O’Donovan (57), Isabelle Neville for Elsa Quirke (57), Sophie Bell for Emily Bell (57), Ellie Collins for Maria O’Donovan (59).

Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí: Belle O’Donoghue, Sophie O’Shea, Ciara Kelly, Alice O’Donovan, Seren Lehane, Abbey Connolly, Grace Cronin, Leah Barry, Maggie Murray, Gracie O’Connor, Annie Doody, Lucy Donaldson, Mary Fox, Caoimhe McCarthy, Muireann McCarthy.

Replacements: Keelyn O’Connor for Leah Barry (5), Amy Coughlan for Muireann McCarthy (9), Grace Keane for Elsa Quirke (52’) Nicol Lenazun for Lucy Donaldson (58).