Only six clubs have won the Laois ladies senior football championship – and for Shanahoe, their 2006 triumph stands out as the greatest day in their history.
It was a success that they’d been building towards as the club found its way after being established in the early 1990s and by the second half of that decade they were winning championships at various grades.
In 1996, they won the U-16, in 1997 and 1998 they won junior and intermediate titles and 1999 they won a minor.
By 2004 they reached the senior final for the first time when they were beaten by Crettyard but there was change happening in the ladies football game in Laois and in 2006 the final meeting of Shanahoe and Sarsfields was the first time since 1976 that neither Timahoe nor Crettyard were in the decider.
And it was a final that didn’t disappoint.
The side originally met in Ratheniska in late September when an Aileen O’Loughlin point deep in injury time meant the sides finished level.
The replay wasn’t for six weeks and there was plenty of drama when it was eventually played.
The sides were level at the break but Eimear Fitzpatrick gave Shanahoe the lead when she punched to the net midway through the second half.
But Sarsfields weren’t long about responding with Aileen O’Loughlin firing home a penalty after her cousin Claire had been fouled in the square.
Two points from Tracey Lawlor either side of a Mary Kirwan free had Sarsfields holding a slender lead as the end of normal time approached.
“It wasn’t without its fair share of controversy,” noted the Leinster Express report at the time.
“With time almost up Sarsfields clung to a hard-earned lead and Tracey Lawlor’s point seemed set to be the winner. Shanahoe had other ides and when they got the benefit of a dubious sideline ball decision they sent the ball goalwards and Eimear Fitzpatrick fired the ball to the net for the match-winning goal.
“In the furore Lorraine Muckian was sin binned and in the eight minutes of injury time Mary Kirwan kicked her sixth point of the day to seal the three point win … to spark wild celebrations from the Shanahoe contingent.
“(There was) great excitement in the club,” remembered club stalwart Mikey Hyland when chatting recently on the LaoisToday Talking Sport Podcast.
“Always great to win a final but to win a senior final for a small club was outstanding.
“Pat Ryan was involved – a very good trainer, a gentleman and an excellent trainer,” added Mikey.
“Nobody thought we would beat Sarsfields,” added Mary Kirwan on that same podcast. –
“They were a serious side and so strong and when we got to the final and drew the first day we thought maybe that was our chance gone.
“We ground it out and got the result and it was absolutely unbelievable to win a senior county final. It is such a pity we haven’t done that since.”
Shanahoe have since come and gone from the senior grade and haven’t been back to a final since that 2006 success. Sarsfields, on the other hand, have dominated the grade since winning their first title two years later in 2008 and won seven titles in a row from 2013-2019.
But following on from last year’s triumph in the intermediate grade, they’ll be hoping to make an impact in senior once more.
“Going through a transition and have been up and down,” she added. “We have a nice solid team and a good panel of players and a good mix and would like to give it a good go.”
You can listen to the full interview with Mikey Hyland, Mary Kirwan and Eimear Barry here from 37 minutes.
SHANAHOE: Orla Dwyer; Aoife Donohue, Marian O’Grady, Valerie Doogue; Yvonne Delaney, Noirin Kirwan, Deirdre Moore; Mary Kirwan, Martha Kirwan; Tori Lynch, Eimear Delaney, Eimear Fitzpatrick; Sinead Moylan, Edel Hanley, Lisa Dunne. Subs: Sinead Delaney for Donohue, Sinead Lanham for Moylan, Maggie Hogan for Dunne.
SARSFIELDS: Caroline Bermingham; Jenny McEvoy, Lorraine Muckian, Mags McEvoy; Laura Quigley, Grace Weston, Deirdre Hally; Emma McEvoy, Aileen O’Loughlin; Tracey Lawlor, Claire O’Loughlin, Amy Grehan; Claire Conlon, Annmarie Hourigan, Rosemarie Bermingham
SEE ALSO – Remembering the great Lulu Carroll: ‘A volunteer all the way to the bitter end’
The post When the Shanahoe ladies footballers made their senior breakthrough in 2006 appeared first on Laois Today.
source https://www.laoistoday.ie/2021/03/07/when-the-shanahoe-ladies-footballers-made-their-senior-breakthrough-in-2006/
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