[caption id="attachment_71779" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Aine O'Dwyer."]
Na Fianna took home the Annie Kearney Cup on the heels of a dominant second half display when they stormed into the lead and should have been much further ahead but for wayward shooting. A brilliant display from midfielder Kathryn Sullivan in this period set the foundation for the victory. The defense also closed their ranks by holding Cavan to four points in the final half hour, which was huge.
Na Fianna had been behind at the break 0-09 to 0-05 after Cavan dominated the final fifteen minutes of the opening half. Both sides had two points in the opening eight minutes with Emma Clarke's score from distance the best of the bunch. Nicola King had the third point for Cavan when Alisha Jordon set her up. Kings bullet had goal all over it but it tailed high and over the bar. Na Fianna responded with a clear goal chance when Kelly McCormack was free to the left of goal moments later. Her shot was excellently smothered by Nora Kilkenny however. Na Fianna with Aine O'Dwyer prominent had three of the next four points before Cavan then began to dominate with Alisha Jordon and Linda McKeon taking control in the middle. A stream of points, six without reply pushed them into the lead. It left the challengers ahead by four at the break.
While the sides swapped points to open the second half the control of the game was changing. Emma Clarke had a point for Cavan with three minutes gone but that was to be their last score for a full 18 minutes. A slew of chances in front of goal for the winners came up short. Alison Reilly stopped a shot with her body while Nora Kilkenny made another tremendous save to keep her sides chances alive. A Mary O'Rourke point however was followed by the all important breakthrough goal. Aine O'Dwyer set up Mary O'Rourke and then player of the game Sullivan followed with two points from play. Nora Kilkenny made another fine stop but the pressure was intense. Dwyer followed with a pair of points from a free and play to extend the advantage to 1-12 to 0-11. Cavan tested Alison Leyden with an Alisha Jordon shot and they did add two points from a free and play but it was as close as they could get as Na Fianna held on for the first silverware of the year.
Cavan 1 Nora Kilkenny 2 Aileen O'Reilly 3 Nicola O'Reilly 4 Kate Kilkenny 5 Katie McEvoy 6 Caroline McBrien 7 Tina Lenihan 8 Linda McKeon (0-01) 9 Alisha Jordon (0-04)10 Maraid Ruane 11 Mary Hanley 12 Rosie O'Reilly 13 Catherina Rafferty 14 Emma Clarke (0-06)15 Nicola King (0-02) Subs Kelly Donaghue
Na Fianna 1 Alison Leydon 2 Shannon Spillane 3 Jessie Garcia 4 Imelda Mullarkey 5 Stephanie Tierney 6 Catherina Lynch 7 Bridget Judd 8 Fiona O'Dwyer 9 Kathryn Sullivan (0-03) 10 Brianna Tierney 11 Aine Dwyer (0-06) 12 Natasha Barrwell (0-01) 13 Jeannine Rynn 14 Mary O'Rourke (1-02) 15 Kelly McCormack
Referee: Alan Hearty
Player of the Match: Kathryn Sullivan
Cavan steam roll Orchard
Cavan used a dominant attacking style with ten players on the scoreboard to overwhelm Armagh on Sunday. With the defenders kicking five points and the forwards gelling like a well timed machine, it was too much for their opponents to contain. But for too crucial saves from Alan Hearty the defeat would have been even heavier.
After the sides split scores to open the game, Cavan went on a point scoring spree. Paul Lambe started the onslaught when he linked with Munnelly and Clarke to fire over. Kennedy, Kelly and Eoghan Carew added scores to move the side into a 5 points to 1 lead by the seventh minute. Further points arrived before Armagh had a mini reprieve when Richie Morgan grabbed 1-01. The goal was a fisted effort on the end of a long ball in to the square by Seamus McDaid. Cavan again dominated the final ten minutes however with a goal from Mike Kennedy and four points from James Connolly, two, Sean Munnelly and the advancing Ronan McGinley. . It left the Breffni Boys holding a 1-12 to 1-02 half time advantage.
Both sides had three points each in the first fifteen minutes of the second half. It was the calm before the final storm as the winners outscored their opponents 1-04 to 0-02 as the game wound down. Sean Munnelly had an excellent point when he linked with Paddy McCullough. James Connolly forced a good save from Alan Hearty and Barry McGinn joined the attack to slot over his second as the attacks kept on coming. The goal arrived with three minutes left when Ciaran Shields and Sean Munnelly set up Ciaran Clarke for a fisted effort over the advancing Hearty who was powerless to stop it. A comprehensive victory for Cavan.
Cavan 1 Gavin Joyce 2 Ronan McGinley (0-02) 4 Ciaran Martin 5 Paul Lambe (0-01) 6 Ciaran Shields 7 Barry McGinn (0-02)8 Paddy McCullough (0-02) 9 Sean Kelly (0-01)10 Ciaran Clarke (1-01)11 Eoghan Carew (0-03)12 Sean Munnelly (0-02)13 Michael Kennedy (1-01)15 James Connolly (0-04)
Armagh 1 Alan Hearty 2 Patsy Martin 4 Collie Fearan 5 Stuart Stokes 6 Caolan Short 7 Aiden Morton 8 Brian Patton (0-02)9 Kevin McGeeney 10 Seamy McDaid 11 Richie Morgan (1-03)12 Gary Nugent (0-01)13 Raymie Kane 15 Liam Collins Sub Kenny Cox (0-01)
Referee: Tommy Fahey
Man of the Match: James Connolly
