Greenfields added the Connacht Senior Cup to their Connacht League triumph, completing the double, which hadn't been achieved by the club in recent memory, although they had to dig deep to achieve the win on Saturday against a determined and hungry Galway Hockey club side.
The match started in frantic fashion with Greenfields on top in the possession stakes. A yellow card early in the half for one of the Greenfields defenders for a poorly timed challenge, saw Greenfields down to ten players and this disrupted their momentum. Galway began to gain some possession of their own but Sinead Collins had only one or two saves to make of any note in the first half.
Greenfields on the other hand had the better of the chances in the first half with some good attacking play leading to chances for the Greenfields forward line. Michala Van Der Walt in the Galway goal was dealing with everything being thrown at her.
Just on the half time whistle Greenfields were awarded a short corner but Mary Healy's shot was cleared by the Galway defence and the score remained at 0-0.
The second half continued in the same vein with Greenfields tipping the possession scales but inaccurate passing and resolute Galway defending kept the match scoreless.
The deadlock was broken ten minutes into the second half when Galway was awarded a short corner after some attacking pressure. The initial shot from Emma Glanville hit the foot of first runner Elaine Hall but the umpire played good advantage and the ball fell to Hannah Gormley who coolly slotted her shot into the corner of the net to give Galway the lead.
Greenfields upped the pace of their game in search of an equaliser and to keep their dream of a league and cup double alive. Fresh legs in the form of Siobhan Divilly was introduced and Greenfields began to create goal scoring chances but the Galway defence stood firm. In this period, Mary Healy, Trish Garret and Elaine Hall went close to scoring but the score remained at 1-0 to Galway.
With two minutes to go it looked like Galway were going to be celebrating their first Connacht Cup win in four years, but as the rain turned into a down-pour, the water tight defence of Galway finally gave way. A Greenfields turnover fell to Healy whose pass found Trish Garret in the circle with only the Galway keeper to beat. The Galway keeper Van Der Walt was adjudged to have fouled Garret in the tackle and a penalty stroke was awarded. Clodagh Grealy calmly stepped up to slot the penalty stroke and bring the sides level with just over a minute remaining on the clock. The remaining time was played out with no more goal mouth action so two periods of seven and half minutes of extra time remained.
The rest of the match saw Greenfields holding possession and Galway soaking up the pressure and counter attack, but the momentum was with Greenfields following their late equaliser. Greenfields had the best of the chances in extra time but couldn't find the winning goal so the game went to penalties. Greenfields having the experience of this twelve months previously in the Irish Trophy Final were going into the strokes with some advantage not to mention the fact that their goalie Sinead Collins saved four out of five of the Lisnagarvey penalties in that final to retain the Irish Trophy. Galway won the toss but Collins saved from Rebecca Dillion, Clodagh Grealy scored for Greenfields, Collins saved again from Catherine Clancy, but sister, Aine Collins’s penalty hit the post. Galway's third penalty was scored by Hannah Gormley but Greenfields went 2-1 up when Mary Healy converted, Galway's fourth penalty was saved again by Collins and Mary McDonald scored for Greenfields to ensure that this season would end on a high for the already crowned Connacht League Champions. Yvette Quinn, Connacht President presented the Connacht Cup to Alma Whelan Greenfields captain to cap another memorable season for the greens following their first season in the Irish Hockey League.
The Junior Cup final between Greenfields and Athlone also went to penalties after a highly entertaining match with end to end play. Athlone took the lead twice with the young Greenfields side coming back with goals from Sinead Minihan and Rebecca Gilligan. It was Athlone who eventually won out on strokes.
Well done to both teams who provided a great game of fast paced hockey!
Pictured below are the victorious Senior Squad:
Back row L-R Liz Tighe, Aine Collins, Pam McGann, Sinead Collins, Siobhan Divilly, Ellie Noone, Clodagh Greally, Sarah McDonald, Deirdre McDermott (Coach) ,Imelda Brennan (Manager).
Front Row- Catherine Moore, Kelly Dunleavey, Trish Garret, Elaine Hall, Alma Whelan, Becky Anderson, Mary Healy, Kate Hennessy, Mary McDonald. Missing Anna Boyce & Derek O'Loughlin.
