All Ireland Minor B LGFA semi-final: Clare 5-3 Monaghan 3-7
Clare will face Sligo in the All Ireland Minor B LGFA final after a dramatic extra time win over Monaghan.
In a game where there was rarely much more than a kick of the ball between the sides, a brilliant tally of 4-1 from Doonbeg’s Aoibheann Ryan was crucial in hauling the Banner home.
Two of her goals came in the extra time period, with the fourth proving to be a game clinching score that finally broke a stubborn Monaghan resistance.
Clare flew out of the blocks in the opening quarter with Ryan netting twice on a sweltering evening that saw water breaks implemented to help cope with the searing temperatures.
Monaghan turned things around on the resumption of play to register 1-3 without reply which saw them lead 1-5 to 2-1 at the half time break.
The tit for tat nature of the contest would continue right to the final passage of play, with both sides answering each others big scores with one of their own.
This was typified when Shannon Cagney crashed home a brilliant penalty to the top corner of the net to give Clare a 3-2 to 1-5 lead midway through the second half, and less than five minutes later, Monaghan struck for their second goal to level proceedings again, with the game eventually being forced to extra time at 3-3 to 2-6.
It became the Ryan show in the added period as she netted a brilliant goal to put Clare ahead once more, but as had been the case throughout, that joy was short lived as Monaghan dispatched a penalty to have their noses in front at the extra time interval.
Just one score would come between then and the conclusion, and that would be Ryan’s fourth goal which eventually sealed their passage, and healed the heartbreak of last year’s defeat at this stage of the championship.
