Kinsale strong underage ladies football structure leaves them well set

A West Cork Division 1 adult championship title was the highlight of a positive year for Kinsale LGFA who will be eager to kick on in 2025.

Although their season ended in disappointment with a Cork LGFA senior B county final defeat, Kinsale made huge strides in both the county’s underage and adult grades during a hugely productive 12 months. 

West Cork U15 and U16 as well as Cork LGFA U16A county trophies underlined the strength of the club’s underage structures.

At adult level, Kinsale got a pre-county championship boost by qualifying for their divisional Drinagh Co-Op West Cork LGFA senior decider.

That opportunity came about after knocking out reigning West Cork champions Castlehaven following a 3-13 to 1-15 semi-final triumph. Former Cork LGFA senior Orla Finn scored one of the winners’ goals with current inter-county senior Sadhbh O’Leary also found the net. So did captain Jenny Murphy in a semi-final Catherine Murphy, Ava McCarthy, Kate Redmond and Caoimhe Horgan were also on the score sheet.

That victory set up a meeting with Clonakilty in the divisional decider. Kinsale were searching for their first (adult) divisional success since 2019 and won convincingly, 2-15 to 2-7, in Bandon. Sadhbh O’Leary contributed 1-2 and produced another Player of the Match performance. Jenny Murphy (1-3), Caoimhe Horgan (0-5), Catherine Murphy (0-2), Ava McCarthy, Kate Redmond and Orla Finn (0-1 each) completed an impressive winning total.

CONFIDENT

Kinsale entered the group stages of the Cork LGFA senior A championship in confident mood following that morale-boosting victory. Alas, a solitary win over Bride Rovers and draw with eventual county champions Aghada resulted in a fifth-placed Group 1 finish.

Kinsale’s season was far from over however, as they entered the senior B county championship at the semi-final stage. Drawn away to Mourneabbey, few gave the West Cork side a chance of making the final.

Things looked bleak as Kinsale conceded 2-2 without reply during a difficult opening spell in Mourneabbey. Amid difficult weather conditions, the visitors settled before exploding into life and leading 3-3 to 2-6 at the short whistle. Caoimhe Horgan, Catherine Murphy and Orla Finn goals preceded second-half green flags from Finn (her second) and Caoimhe Horgan.

The West Cork club ran out 5-4 to 3-9 winners and setup a senior B county final meeting with old rivals Clonakilty.

“The start of this year’s championship did not go as we expected or wanted to,” Kinsale captain Jenny Murphy commented.

“As the year progressed, everyone got together, reset, set out new goals and gave it our all for the last few championship matches. We are delighted to be in the final.

We were delighted to get over Mourneabbey as they are such a great team and have so many high quality players. 

"We knew we had to deliver one of our best performances of the year. Thankfully, despite the terrible conditions, we came out the right side of the result.” 

Unfortunately, there was no fairy-tale ending as Clonakilty edged a tight senior B final 2-5 to 0-5. Kinsale contributed much to a defence-dominated encounter but where an inability to find the net proved costly.

Whilst the year ended in disappointment. Jenny Murphy believes younger talent coming through the club’s underage ranks offers hope for an even better year in 2025.

“Kinsale is lucky to have so many talented young players coming through,” the Kinsale captain concluded.

“Our U16s won a county title and that gave our senior squad a boost and plenty of momentum to build on in the future. Also, reaching a senior B county final was one of our panel’s goals at the start of the year.”