Glen Ladies shock reigning champions Steelstown in Championship opener

Errigal Group Ladies Senior Football Championship  

Glen 2-6  

Steelstown 1-8

THE championship is up and running and Glen will have sent shockwaves throughout not just Derry but in Ulster when they defeated reigning champions Steelstown in Watty Graham Park on Monday evening.  

The girls from the city were unbeaten in Derry championship football since losing the 2019 semi-final to Ballymaguigan. The home side were superb especially in the opening half with Leanne McCrystal and Ciara Mulholland dominating the centre of the park and Steelstown struggled to match their intensity, although they improved immensely in the second period.  

Glen played some delightful football passing the ball through the hands and breaking tackles with pace. Steelstown were very much on the back foot with plenty of bodies behind the ball and looking to break but Glen were smart and quickly pressed when they lost possession and got players back while Orla McCrystal played as a sweeper.  

Katy Holly opened the scoring for the reigning champions but at the water break Glen led 1-2 to 0-2 with Leanne McCrystal finishing to the net. Two outstanding points from Annie NiLochlainn (free) and Breena O’Loughlin stretched the lead. Another superb Glen move yielded a second goal on 26 minutes. Ciara Mulholland made the initial burst before laying off to Bronagh McNicholl who in turn found Breena O’Loughlin who was the coolest person in Watty Graham Park as she calmly side footed to the net. The visitors hit their first score in 13 minutes through an Orla McGeough free but at the break Glen led 2-5 to 0-3.  

As expected, the defending champions improved on the resumption but never looked like they were going to turn it around. The introduction of both Megan Devine and Caoimhe O’Kane seemed to have a huge impact. However, with Aimee Glasgow and Caoimhe Kirkpatrick excellent, Glen always held the upper hand despite only managing a further point that coming from NiLochlainn on 43 minutes.  

Steelstown rattled over the first three points of the half with Orla McGeough, Lea Casey and Aoife Collins on target. McGeough added a further two after Rachel Glasgow had denied Ciara McGurk and then four minutes into added time a foul on McGurk saw them awarded a penalty which was dispatched by Emma Doherty. Despite gaining possession again they could not manage the equaliser as an effort tailed wide.  

The pressure will be on Steelstown as they know defeat at the hands of Ballymaguigan in Celtic Park in round two may end their championship campaign at the group stages. 

Scorers:  

Glen: A NíLochlainn 0-4 (f), B O’Loughlin 1-1, L McCrystal 1-1.  

Steelstown: O McGeough 0-4 (3f), E Doherty 1-0 (p), A Collins 0-1, L Casey 0-1, C McGurk 0-1, K Holly 0-1.  

Glen: Rachel Glasgow; Aoife McGuckian, Aimee Glasgow, Sarah Darragh; Orla McCrystal, Caoimhe Kirkpatrick, Lauren O’Loughlin; Leanne McCrystal, Ciara Mulholland; Clare McGroggan, Annie NiLochlainn, Sorcha Higgins; Bronagh McNicholl, Christina Kielt, Breena O’Loughlin.  

Steelstown: Molly McBride; Ruagin Atkins, Aoife McGough, Niamh Friel; Orlaigh McGough, Kathryn Canavan, Lea Casey; Leah McCready, Niam Gilmore; Katy Holly, Orla McGeough, Ciara McGurk; Dara McKeever, Aoife Collins, Emma Doherty.  

Subs: Megan Devine for McCready, C O’Kane for Atkins.  

Referee: Terence McGilligan