Termon 6-11 Glenfin 0-09
By Chris McNulty at Pairc na nGael
GERALDINE McLaughlin tore Glenfin apart in Sunday’s Senior Ladies final in Glencolmcille.
The Termon sharpshooter was unstoppable, scoring a staggering 4-4 for her side, all bar one of it coming from play, as the Burn Road brigade retained the county title – and now go to Waterford in search of an All-Ireland title next month.
McLaughlin hit a brace of goals inside the opening six minutes – and from there Termon never looked back. Try what they could, Glenfin just couldn’t keep the shackles on the deadly McLaughlin.
“If you get her on the ball, she can actually be unstoppable some days,” said the Termon captain Maureen O’Donnell.
“Some teams try to mark her out of it, but when she has a day like that it’s very hard to keep her quiet.
“Every day you go out, you expect that from her. She’s great for goals and especially in big games like this that is so important.”
O’Donnell had opened the scoring with a neat score from the right-hand side before McLaughlin opened her account in the fifth minute, firing a clinical low strike into the bottom corner of the Glenfin net.
Just a minute later, she was at it again. This time, O’Donnell was provider and McLaughlin held off her marker before slotting home.
Anne Marie McDaid tagged on a point and while Karen Guthrie got the An Gaeltacht Lar girls off the mark, Termon were proving ruthless opponents.
Dara Kelly provided the assist, with a raking ball in, for McLaughlin’s hat-trick goal with just eleven minutes on the board.
Amazingly, Trevor Alcorn’s girls hit a fourth goal a minute later. Roisin McCafferty’s long punt up field deceived the Glenfin goalkeeper and ended up in the net.
Glenfin tried to make a game of it, with Laura McKenna, Leanne Browne and a brace from Guthrie adding to their tally.
But Termon had got in for two more goals by the time the teams parted for the interval.
Ten minutes from the break, Emer Gallagher blasted home after McLaughlin laid off 20 metres out.
McLaughlin added her fourth, Termon’s sixth, soon after, polishing off a superb team move involving Friel and McDaid. They could have had a sixth, only for an excellent save by Bonner denying O’Donnell from close-range.
If McLaughlin was the standout performer, then she was run close by Roisin Friel at centre half-forward. Although she didn’t get on the scoresheet, the prints of ‘Yankee’ were all over everything that was good about this Termon performance, pulling the string to excellent effect. Her’s was a display that was every bit as influential as McLaughlin’s, considering how many of her side’s scores she was involved in.
Glenfin hit three of the opening four points of the second half, but by now it was a damaged limitations effort of sorts for them.
Termon found the high gears again, scoring five fine points in a ten-minute spell, with O’Donnell hitting three and McLaughlin two.
In that same spell, Glenfin’s misery was further compounded when they saw Termon ‘keeper Laura Gallagher save a powerfully-struck penalty by Guthrie after McKenna was adjudged to have been fouled.
Katy Herron came up from full-back to tack on a late Glenfin free, but it was Termon who finished in style, with their midfield duo adding the game’s final two scores: Dara Kelly curling over after bursting through and Donegal ladies captain Roisin McCafferty stepping up with the last point, a free.
“It’s a great achievement by the girls,” said the delighted captain, O’Donnell, after accepting the Cup.
“We’ll get down to Waterford now and hopefully take another All-Ireland back to the parish.”
Termon: Laura Gallagher; Clare McDermott, Nicole McLaughlin, Shauna Kelly; Marie McFadden, Therese McCafferty, Petra McCafferty; Roisin McCafferty (1-1, 1f), Dara Kelly (0-1); Emer Gallagher (1-0), Roisin Friel, Grainne McCafferty; Anne Marie McDaid (0-1), Geraldine McLaughlin (4-4, 1f), Maureen O’Donnell (0-4). Subs: Lucky Flynn for McDermott (half-time); Clare McDermott for E.Gallagher (58 mins).
Glenfin: Laura Bonner; Christine Frize, Karen Ward, Orla McGinty; Catherine McDaid, Katy Herron (0-1, 1f), Ciara Ward; Karen Guthrie (0-4, 1f), Maggie Farrelly (0-1, 1f); Jessica Martin, Gemma Glackin, Bridín Bonner; Laura McKenna (0-2, 1f), Caoimhe McMenamin, Leanne Browne (0-1). Sub: Rachel Ward for McDaid (56 mins).
Referee: Siobhan Coyle (Fanad Gaels).
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