CLONAKILTY Hockey Club celebrated Munster U16 and U18 Schoolgirls Hockey Cup successes on St Patrick’s Day.
Garryduff Sports Complex was the setting for an historic afternoon in the history of one of West Cork’s fastest growing clubs.
Clonakilty contested both the Munster U16 and U18 cup finals as part of a bumper fixture-list of schoolgirls’ and senior women’s deciders.
First up were the U16 team against Cork Harlequins B. Playing in their first cup final, Clonakilty’s Olive O’Flynn handed her side a 1-0 half-time lead following a successful short-corner routine. Harlequins B levelled six minutes from the end, resulting in shuttles to decide the outcome.
Goalkeeper Bonnie Hegarty O’Brien proved one of Clon’s heroes, preventing Harlequins from scoring four of their five shuttles. Olive O’Flynn scored for Clonakilty to level matters, 1-1, before sudden-death shuttles were needed.
O’Flynn scored for a second time prior to Hegarty O’Brien forcing a Harlequins B’s shuttle-taker wide and missing the target. It finished 2-1 to Clon on shuttles, the players immediately celebrating with their families and supporters.
The Clonakilty Hockey Club U16s who defeated Cork Harlequins B on shuttles to capture the 2023 Munster Hockey U16 Schoolgirls Cup.
Then it was the turn of the Clonakilty U18s, the club’s first competitive side at that level, who took on Limerick in their Munster Cup final.
Using a squad of 17 in which each player contributed, goals from Grace O’Gorman and Máire Murphy (via a short corner) made it 2-0 after two quarters. Ciara Barrett scored in the third quarter and not even a late Limerick effort could prevent a superb all-round Clonakilty team performance from cementing a 3-1 cup final victory.
Both of the Munster Cup winning squads received a raucous welcome on the streets of Clonakilty later that evening. A reception and refreshments in the Clonakilty Park Hotel rounded off a memorable day.
‘We were thrilled to have both teams qualify for the finals in the first place,’ Clonakilty Hockey Club PRO Lisa Kemp told The Southern Star.
‘It was a big occasion for both teams, with big crowds in attendance in Garryduff. To win U16 and U18 cups on the same day was remarkable and everyone in the club is thrilled with the girls’ achievements.
Clonakilty’s arrival on the Munster schoolgirls hockey scene did not happen overnight. Regularly fielding two adult teams is an achievement in itself but the manner in which Clon’s U16s and U18s beat established hockey clubs en-route to their cup successes bodes well for the future.
‘Clonakilty was an adult hockey club starting off so to bridge that gap and feed younger players into our senior setup is absolutely vital,’ Kemp added.
‘The club is developing fantastically over the last couple of years at underage level. That is down to the huge amount of work being done on and off the pitch by every one of our club members and coaches.
‘Our U16 and U18s were heavily impacted by Covid which makes their cup final achievements all the more remarkable.’
