Two goals in as many extra-time minutes secured a famous victory for Crescent College Comprehensive in an absorbing Munster Senior Schoolgirls Cup final at Rosbrien in Limerick yesterday.
The pendulum had swung spectacularly from one end to the other, as evidenced by the 19 short corners accrued by both sides, but Crescent had the extra gas when required to see themselves over the line.
For Mount Mercy, it was a galling loss. While they’d had little answer to a rampant Laurel Hill Coláiste in the 2008 decider, the knowledge that they could easily have come out on top here – converting just one of their 11 corners – will be of little comfort.
2010 Munster Senior Schoolgirls Cup winners Crescent College Comprehensive
Nonetheless, few can begrudge Crescent a win inspired by the solidity of skipper Geena Kinevane and her deputy Eimear McManus at the rear, and the ingenuity of Ciara O’Sullivan, Orla Donworth and Karen McGrath at the other end.
In between, Ireland U16 starlet Roisin Upton was, predictably, the catalyst for much of their good work, and her battle for supremacy in the middle with Mount Mercy skipper Yvonne O’Byrne was a significant highlight.
Mount Mercy had their stars too; Allyson Moore’s pace and one-handed ball control frightened the life out of the Crescent defence, while Ciara Lucey and Elisa Buckley and rookie right-back Kate O’Herlihy were industrious to a fault.
McGrath produced the best opening of a cagey first quarter, scorching clear on the right and slipping the ball past Mount Mercy netminder Susan Peters, only to see Buckley get back to make a miraculous clearance off the line.
Both sides were guilty of conceding penalty corners far too easily, and also for wasting them; it took six set-pieces for either keeper to be tested, Aoife McNamara saving well from an O’Byrne thunderbolt.
Following a scoreless first half, Crescent finally hit the front on 42 minutes from a corner. Upton shaped to drag-flick, but instead delivered a disguised pass to Orla Hickey in the push-out spot, and she made no mistake from close range.
Both goalkeepers remained busy as the sides continued to carve out chances on the break, but the Cork school then found an equaliser with seven minutes remaining.
Again, it came from a set-piece, O’Byrne’s shot ricocheting high off McNamara’s pads, but umpires Liz Clifford and Gráinne O’Connell played a clever advantage, and Emily O’Leary batted home in mid-air.
Upton saw a drag-flick well saved by Peters as Crescent pushed for a winner, and the Limerick nursery kept that momentum going into extra time to get the all-important strikes.
The first came on 63 minutes, when Hickey got the vital touch amid a scramble for her second, and the third was a strike worth winning any game.
Upton’s searching aerial out of defence found Hickey rampaging down the right, she crossed to Ciara O’Sullivan at the far post, and the forward had the presence of mind to square for Ciara Nolan, who rifled the ball hard and low to the backboard.
Both sides had further chance as tired legs saw the game open up even more, notably when O’Sullivan was sent clear but couldn’t get the ball off her reverse to get a clean strike, and Peters smothered the danger.
O’Byrne and O’Leary had half-chances for Mount Mercy as they sought to salvage something, but Crescent rarely looked like losing their grip and held out for a win that sees them heading to Galway in a fortnight’s time as Munster’s representative in the All-Ireland Kate Russell Cup.
CRESCENT: Aoife McNamara (GK); Laura O’Kane, Geena Kinevane (capt), Karen Fitzgerald, Eimear McManus (vice-capt), Roisin Upton, Ciara Moloney, Orla Hickey, Ciara O’Sullivan, Katie Flinn, Karen McGrath, Orla Donworth, Tara Lyons, Aileen McMahon, Georgia Flemming, Orla Joyce, Ciara Nolan, Lisa Barrett.
MOUNT MERCY: Susan Peters (GK); Kate O’Herlihy, Ciara Mullane, Niamh Byrne, Grace Kelleher, Jill Cremin, Yvonne O’Byrne (capt), Ciara Lucey, Emily O’Leary, Elisa Buckley, Eve Kaar, Aoibheann O’Donovan, Allyson Moore, Jennifer Murphy, Sarah Browner, Sarah Wrixon (GK).
Umpires: Liz Clifford and Gráinne O’Connell
Note: I unfortunately have no pictures of this game to hand, but would gladly accept whatever anyone wishes to send in to munsterhockeyblog@gmail.com
Post Author:
alangood
17 Replies to “Crescent go the extra”
Would I be right in saying that this means Crescent College won the Senior A league and cup without even one representative on the Munster U18 team. Does this say something about our selection process.
This Mount Mercy team deserve far more credit then they have been getting all season. They are an extremely hard working team and they were very unlucky to lose in extra time. As an observer on the day they were much better then the Crescent side. They put massive pressure on the Crescent side and in the end it was pure luck that they won. Theres a reason why Crescent don’t have anyone on the Munster U18 team. Give this team more credit!
Yes you would be correct observer, fair play to them. Obviously if their school had put anyone forward that would have helped too. Think maybe 2 went for trials from Cresent but pulled themselves out of the running. Well done to Crescent in the final anyway, maybe that helped them be fresher!
In reply to Nominations, Just a few facts about putting names forward for U18 selection. As far as I know Crescent College put 9 names forward and 4 of the starting eleven went to the first U18 trial and all 4 were cut so the other 5 decided not to attend the other trials as the 4 that were cut would have been considered 4 of the better players.
How was the parking at this facility?
In reply to anonymous, no one is saying that Mount Mercy didnt play well. If they had converted their chances in the first 20 minutes they would have been out of sight of Crescent, but to say that Crescent were lucky is really stretching the facts, this particular team hasnt lost a competitive match to any Munster school in the past 5 years, I think that takes a little bit more than luck. If you know the reason why Crescent girls are not being selected for Munster U18 squad I am sure the Crescent girls would love to know.
In relation to observer’s comments re the u-18’s. With regards the 5 players who decided not to turn up to trials, surely this is their own fault in not having the confidence in themselves to believe they are good enough. Maybe if Crescent pushed their players to become more involved re munster teams, a lot more of them will turn out as good as their sole international at the moment Roisin. I know of the 4 & 5 players your referring to, and in my opinion, 2 out of the 5 who did not turn up would have had a decent shot of making the team. They just weren’t given the confidence to go. But where is this supposed to come from? A player may be amazing individually, but they can’t play a game on their own. Its about the players who can work the best as a team. So they maybe the greatest player on their school team, but do they deal well with change? Can they adjust well to playing with someone they’ve know for all of 5 minutes? All this has to be taken into consideration so its not always the best players on the school teams that make the teams. I think they just need that little bit of extra push. Seeing them win the Senior Cup is fantastic and I should hope, every single one of them who is eligible at least goes for a Munster trial this year. Even if to just go to one and see for themselves and not rely on the ‘4’/others that went and didn’t make and than decide they won’t go. I definitely think Crescent players would help the Munster game if they just came to trials. But only time will tell I suppose.
In relation to anonymous above, Mount Mercy could have got more from the game if they could finish their chances, 12 short corners, scored one. Sport is about swings and roundabouts Crescent dominated against Bandon in the semi final last year, but did not take their chances, but it is all about finishing, sport is all about the bottom line, Crescent scored three Mount Mercy scored one. Nothing about PURE LUCK as mentioned above. Crescent obviously worked on their finishing this year, and proved it by lifting the League and the Cup. Well done to both teams for great entertainment and best of luck to crescent team and managers Ollie and Brenda in the Kate Russell.
I Think That It Is Stronly Unsportsmanlike that The Crescent Players Are Getting Told They Only Won By Luck And i Think We Should Just Be Happy For Them Instead Of Making Excuses For Mt Mercy
As a parent when you travel many hundreds of miles over the space of 10 weeks encouraging your daughter to push herself to represent her province and she gets disappointed purely on where she goes to school and not her ability it becomes very difficult to try and encourage and be positive about representing your province. At least the myth and rumours being spread that Crescent College dont send players forward for trials has been put to bed, it just means that they dont get picked.
I think to say players are not picked because of their school is ridiculous. I find it difficult to believe that our coaches are biased against certain schools, given that they want to win and would choose the strongest players. Players who play in clubs have an advantage over schools only players, as they are exposed to more hockey every week and play against senior womens sides, so they develop faster.
Many of the Crescent girls do not play in clubs. Despite the fact that they won the cup collectively, are they individually as good as the teams that were selected at U16 and U18 last year, whose teams were primarily made up of club players?
Selection is based on a number of criteria and coaches are open to questioning regarding their selection.
Being disappointed because a player does not make a squad is part and parcel of interpro hockey, but being disappointed because of a perceived bias against a certain school is a bit much. Coaches want to win and will select the best players to make up their squad, not players they like because they are in a certain school.
I’m sure the U16 and U18 coaches would be highly offended by this notion. It is no wonder that Munster find it difficult to get coaches for these jobs.
If people would like to see a change, then maybe they should put themselves forward to coach one of the interpro sides, rather than just complaining about it. There are plenty of good coaches out there who are happy to complain about selection, but maybe they should get of their own backside and see what it’s like and I bet someone will complain about their selection too.
I might mention that it was also good to see the Munster U18 coach attend the final.
Apologies for not replying sooner, only withnessed these comments today.
May I begin by wishing Crescent good luck in the Kate Russell Competition coming up soon, i’m sure everyone in Munster is behind the team.
Yes, Crescent did win the Senior A league and Cup, a fantastic double, achieved if anyone would like to know with a perfect record of P 9, W 9, scored 26 and conceeded 4 [Including beating my own school side twice along the way, in two cracking games (3-1 in league, and 1-0 AET in Cup). As Ollie and Brenda, and all the other Senior A coaches in the league will tell people both my Assistants and I keep a record of all results in cup and league, and try attend as many games as is possible with work committments etc.
[PS – one error in people comments though. Crescent Senior A lost 3 times in league, and knocked out of Cup last year so “unbeaten in 5 years…”???]
RE The Final: Very even game, either team could have won it, and as one comment states Mount Mercy had their chances, more than Crescent in fact, but Crescent took theirs and thats Sport. Great Final to watch. My thanks to the Regional Development Officer and Press Officer for their company throughtout.
RE The Munster U18’s: from my records 9 Crescent players were put forward, 0 attended Trial 1 [Cork based session], 4 attended Trial 2 [Limerick / Thurlus based session] (all 4 didn’t make it), 1 other subsequently pulled out, 1 attented Trial 3 but didn’t make it and the final Crescent player we viewed failed at Trail 5 this season. That leaves 2 players who didn’t attend any trials or, for the record, respond to any of the communications between the Manager or Coach throughout the summer. The players who attended the sessions were viewed fairly by a minimum of 5 people [Coach, Assistant Coaches, Selectors and Managers] with each person given a vote, which was then compiled afterwards at a meeting. Records available if needed!
For anyone to state that Crescent players are being “overseen” or “ommitted” due to geographical location or school bias I take offense too.
“”Observer says: March 12, 2010 at 1:17 am…”As a parent when you travel many hundreds of miles over the space of 10 weeks encouraging your daughter to push herself to represent her province and she gets disappointed purely on where she goes to school and not her ability it becomes very difficult to try and encourage and be positive about representing your province…””
This is my 3rd time consuming season overseeing the Munster U18’s, and in the previous two seasons i have selected 5 and 4 Crescent players respectively [plus this year was an Irish U16 year so R.Upton was encouraged to play U16 not U18 despite U18 call up, and i’m glad she choose to play with her U16 teammates].
Finally, should anyone wish to discuss this matter further [openly, not behind OBSERVER and ANON etc names] please don’t hesitate to contact me directly or through the Munster Branch.
Thank you,
David Egner
Munster Under 18 Girls Coach
Munster Junior Ladies Coach
IHA Tricks 4 Sticks Coordinator
Scoil Mhuire Senior A Coach
Well said Dave!
in relation to David Egners perceived ‘error’, the writer meant that the particular group of players as a group(together at minor, junior and senior level) hadnt lost a competitive match in munster in the last 5 years.
As a crescent player that represented munster before, i must say that i did feel slightly pejudiced against at times, crescent players were described as ‘ extremely pigeon holed’ in one particular training. It would be nice to see munster trials and trainings distributed more evenly between cork and limerick to facilitate any players that arent cork natives.
I sincerely hope Crescent and Munster heal this rift for the benefit and development of Munster hockey as a whole.
I was a part of the winning Crescent team last Friday and I am hugely proud of our accomplishments not only this year but for he past 5 years Ive been playing! I have lost one game with Crescent which was when I was in first year, this is also true for 9 of the starting team last Friday! I am shocked that someone put our win down to luck, yes we didnt play to the best of our ability and Mt Mercy played out of their skins on the day but that says it all! We are Senior Cup Champions even on a bad day, look at any great times they get the results no matter how their performance may look! As regards to the selection of the Munster squad yes I have been severlely dissappointed in previous years but so have many other girls which is inevitable, however I do strongly dissagree with certain choices which happen to be continually against my team mates ; if we are not given oppurtunities in life we will never develope! And yes some Crescent players have turned down trials but only because of their previous experience and this is understandable, confidence has been severely knocked on our team because of this injustice but we have proven everyone that we are worthy and will continue to prove this!
Not sure if I wish to get involved in this but just think I should clarify that Observor was correct in their statement as this particular group of girls at Senior A level were Junior for the past 2 years where they won League and Cup without losing a match. Thanks to Dave and the others who have wished us well in the Kate Russell, the girls are really looking forward to the trip.
This debate is going around in circles; Dave has encouraged anyone with a genuine grievance over the selection process for the Munster U18s to contact him, therefore I won’t be accepting any more comments on this post.
Comments are closed.
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Would I be right in saying that this means Crescent College won the Senior A league and cup without even one representative on the Munster U18 team. Does this say something about our selection process.
This Mount Mercy team deserve far more credit then they have been getting all season. They are an extremely hard working team and they were very unlucky to lose in extra time. As an observer on the day they were much better then the Crescent side. They put massive pressure on the Crescent side and in the end it was pure luck that they won. Theres a reason why Crescent don’t have anyone on the Munster U18 team. Give this team more credit!
Yes you would be correct observer, fair play to them. Obviously if their school had put anyone forward that would have helped too. Think maybe 2 went for trials from Cresent but pulled themselves out of the running. Well done to Crescent in the final anyway, maybe that helped them be fresher!
In reply to Nominations, Just a few facts about putting names forward for U18 selection. As far as I know Crescent College put 9 names forward and 4 of the starting eleven went to the first U18 trial and all 4 were cut so the other 5 decided not to attend the other trials as the 4 that were cut would have been considered 4 of the better players.
How was the parking at this facility?
In reply to anonymous, no one is saying that Mount Mercy didnt play well. If they had converted their chances in the first 20 minutes they would have been out of sight of Crescent, but to say that Crescent were lucky is really stretching the facts, this particular team hasnt lost a competitive match to any Munster school in the past 5 years, I think that takes a little bit more than luck. If you know the reason why Crescent girls are not being selected for Munster U18 squad I am sure the Crescent girls would love to know.
In relation to observer’s comments re the u-18’s. With regards the 5 players who decided not to turn up to trials, surely this is their own fault in not having the confidence in themselves to believe they are good enough. Maybe if Crescent pushed their players to become more involved re munster teams, a lot more of them will turn out as good as their sole international at the moment Roisin. I know of the 4 & 5 players your referring to, and in my opinion, 2 out of the 5 who did not turn up would have had a decent shot of making the team. They just weren’t given the confidence to go. But where is this supposed to come from? A player may be amazing individually, but they can’t play a game on their own. Its about the players who can work the best as a team. So they maybe the greatest player on their school team, but do they deal well with change? Can they adjust well to playing with someone they’ve know for all of 5 minutes? All this has to be taken into consideration so its not always the best players on the school teams that make the teams. I think they just need that little bit of extra push. Seeing them win the Senior Cup is fantastic and I should hope, every single one of them who is eligible at least goes for a Munster trial this year. Even if to just go to one and see for themselves and not rely on the ‘4’/others that went and didn’t make and than decide they won’t go. I definitely think Crescent players would help the Munster game if they just came to trials. But only time will tell I suppose.
In relation to anonymous above, Mount Mercy could have got more from the game if they could finish their chances, 12 short corners, scored one. Sport is about swings and roundabouts Crescent dominated against Bandon in the semi final last year, but did not take their chances, but it is all about finishing, sport is all about the bottom line, Crescent scored three Mount Mercy scored one. Nothing about PURE LUCK as mentioned above. Crescent obviously worked on their finishing this year, and proved it by lifting the League and the Cup. Well done to both teams for great entertainment and best of luck to crescent team and managers Ollie and Brenda in the Kate Russell.
I Think That It Is Stronly Unsportsmanlike that The Crescent Players Are Getting Told They Only Won By Luck And i Think We Should Just Be Happy For Them Instead Of Making Excuses For Mt Mercy
As a parent when you travel many hundreds of miles over the space of 10 weeks encouraging your daughter to push herself to represent her province and she gets disappointed purely on where she goes to school and not her ability it becomes very difficult to try and encourage and be positive about representing your province. At least the myth and rumours being spread that Crescent College dont send players forward for trials has been put to bed, it just means that they dont get picked.
I think to say players are not picked because of their school is ridiculous. I find it difficult to believe that our coaches are biased against certain schools, given that they want to win and would choose the strongest players. Players who play in clubs have an advantage over schools only players, as they are exposed to more hockey every week and play against senior womens sides, so they develop faster.
Many of the Crescent girls do not play in clubs. Despite the fact that they won the cup collectively, are they individually as good as the teams that were selected at U16 and U18 last year, whose teams were primarily made up of club players?
Selection is based on a number of criteria and coaches are open to questioning regarding their selection.
Being disappointed because a player does not make a squad is part and parcel of interpro hockey, but being disappointed because of a perceived bias against a certain school is a bit much. Coaches want to win and will select the best players to make up their squad, not players they like because they are in a certain school.
I’m sure the U16 and U18 coaches would be highly offended by this notion. It is no wonder that Munster find it difficult to get coaches for these jobs.
If people would like to see a change, then maybe they should put themselves forward to coach one of the interpro sides, rather than just complaining about it. There are plenty of good coaches out there who are happy to complain about selection, but maybe they should get of their own backside and see what it’s like and I bet someone will complain about their selection too.
I might mention that it was also good to see the Munster U18 coach attend the final.
Apologies for not replying sooner, only withnessed these comments today.
May I begin by wishing Crescent good luck in the Kate Russell Competition coming up soon, i’m sure everyone in Munster is behind the team.
Yes, Crescent did win the Senior A league and Cup, a fantastic double, achieved if anyone would like to know with a perfect record of P 9, W 9, scored 26 and conceeded 4 [Including beating my own school side twice along the way, in two cracking games (3-1 in league, and 1-0 AET in Cup). As Ollie and Brenda, and all the other Senior A coaches in the league will tell people both my Assistants and I keep a record of all results in cup and league, and try attend as many games as is possible with work committments etc.
[PS – one error in people comments though. Crescent Senior A lost 3 times in league, and knocked out of Cup last year so “unbeaten in 5 years…”???]
RE The Final: Very even game, either team could have won it, and as one comment states Mount Mercy had their chances, more than Crescent in fact, but Crescent took theirs and thats Sport. Great Final to watch. My thanks to the Regional Development Officer and Press Officer for their company throughtout.
RE The Munster U18’s: from my records 9 Crescent players were put forward, 0 attended Trial 1 [Cork based session], 4 attended Trial 2 [Limerick / Thurlus based session] (all 4 didn’t make it), 1 other subsequently pulled out, 1 attented Trial 3 but didn’t make it and the final Crescent player we viewed failed at Trail 5 this season. That leaves 2 players who didn’t attend any trials or, for the record, respond to any of the communications between the Manager or Coach throughout the summer. The players who attended the sessions were viewed fairly by a minimum of 5 people [Coach, Assistant Coaches, Selectors and Managers] with each person given a vote, which was then compiled afterwards at a meeting. Records available if needed!
For anyone to state that Crescent players are being “overseen” or “ommitted” due to geographical location or school bias I take offense too.
“”Observer says: March 12, 2010 at 1:17 am…”As a parent when you travel many hundreds of miles over the space of 10 weeks encouraging your daughter to push herself to represent her province and she gets disappointed purely on where she goes to school and not her ability it becomes very difficult to try and encourage and be positive about representing your province…””
This is my 3rd time consuming season overseeing the Munster U18’s, and in the previous two seasons i have selected 5 and 4 Crescent players respectively [plus this year was an Irish U16 year so R.Upton was encouraged to play U16 not U18 despite U18 call up, and i’m glad she choose to play with her U16 teammates].
Finally, should anyone wish to discuss this matter further [openly, not behind OBSERVER and ANON etc names] please don’t hesitate to contact me directly or through the Munster Branch.
Thank you,
David Egner
Munster Under 18 Girls Coach
Munster Junior Ladies Coach
IHA Tricks 4 Sticks Coordinator
Scoil Mhuire Senior A Coach
Well said Dave!
in relation to David Egners perceived ‘error’, the writer meant that the particular group of players as a group(together at minor, junior and senior level) hadnt lost a competitive match in munster in the last 5 years.
As a crescent player that represented munster before, i must say that i did feel slightly pejudiced against at times, crescent players were described as ‘ extremely pigeon holed’ in one particular training. It would be nice to see munster trials and trainings distributed more evenly between cork and limerick to facilitate any players that arent cork natives.
I sincerely hope Crescent and Munster heal this rift for the benefit and development of Munster hockey as a whole.
I was a part of the winning Crescent team last Friday and I am hugely proud of our accomplishments not only this year but for he past 5 years Ive been playing! I have lost one game with Crescent which was when I was in first year, this is also true for 9 of the starting team last Friday! I am shocked that someone put our win down to luck, yes we didnt play to the best of our ability and Mt Mercy played out of their skins on the day but that says it all! We are Senior Cup Champions even on a bad day, look at any great times they get the results no matter how their performance may look! As regards to the selection of the Munster squad yes I have been severlely dissappointed in previous years but so have many other girls which is inevitable, however I do strongly dissagree with certain choices which happen to be continually against my team mates ; if we are not given oppurtunities in life we will never develope! And yes some Crescent players have turned down trials but only because of their previous experience and this is understandable, confidence has been severely knocked on our team because of this injustice but we have proven everyone that we are worthy and will continue to prove this!
Not sure if I wish to get involved in this but just think I should clarify that Observor was correct in their statement as this particular group of girls at Senior A level were Junior for the past 2 years where they won League and Cup without losing a match. Thanks to Dave and the others who have wished us well in the Kate Russell, the girls are really looking forward to the trip.
This debate is going around in circles; Dave has encouraged anyone with a genuine grievance over the selection process for the Munster U18s to contact him, therefore I won’t be accepting any more comments on this post.