Title playoff for Scoil Mhuire and Crescent

Scoil Mhuire and Crescent Comp are set for a winner-takes-all playoff after finishing deadlocked on 15 points at the top of the Munster Senior Schoolgirls League. David Egner’s side had led the way with five wins from six with Emma Dobson, Holly Lehane and Niamh O’Donnell leading the charge, and showed the Christmas break had few ill-effects for them as they racked up a 5-0 win over Laurel Hill Coláiste in midweek. That left them banking on Ashton to get a result against Crescent this afternoon, but the Limerick girls duly stepped up to the plate with a stunning 9-0 victory which leaves them matching Scoil Mhuire’s record. As in Munster senior club leagues, goal difference is not taken into account. A date has yet to be set for the playoff game. That means third place will be taken by Ursulines Thurles, who finished up with four wins from six.

Ireland U16 Edel Nyland pulled the strings for them, the goals were spread around the team and they have proven they can score from anywhere by netting 17 times in six games. The issue for the Tipp side was that their two defeats have come at the hands of their biggest rivals, Scoil Mhuire and Crescent. Another Irish underage international, Clodagh Moloney, scored twice for Crescent in that excellent 3-1 victory in Thurles, a feat they repeated in Cork when winning against Scoil Mhuire by the same score. That Crescent did not take overall honours with a 100% record was a direct result of a shock defeat to fifth-placed Mount Mercy, who scored a 2-1 win at the Model Farm Road with Kate O’Driscoll and Ciara O’Connell netting the all-important goals. Reigning cup champions Bandon Grammar are next in line in fourth place after a campaign of extremes; they have kept clean sheets in good wins over Laurel Hill Coláiste and Mount Mercy but failed to score in the defeats to Scoil Mhuire and Crescent. Arguably their best performance came in Thurles when Karen Coombes and Loraine Copithorne netted in a hard-fought 3-2 defeat. Meanwhile, the Munster Junior Schoolgirls League looks to be Crescent’s to lose as the Limerick school have enjoyed a dominant campaign thus far. They have averaged five goals a game and have a 100% record from five encounters, their biggest win coming when they beat Regina Mundi 9-1. They have also notched a very impressive 4-1 success over second-placed Ursulines Thurles, who have themselves racked up a collection of huge wins. Despite that big loss to Crescent, Regina Mundi haven’t been put off their stride. The Douglas girls sit in third thanks to 2-1 wins over St Angela’s and Scoil Mhuire, inspired by Ali O’Shea’s excellence — she has notched three of her side’s four goals thus far. Aside from Scoil Mhuire — who have won once in six games and prop up the table — the other sides have multiple games in hand on the top two, meaning the table should take shape over the coming month or so.