No joy for Loreto Secondary School in All Ireland PPS Senior semi-final

There was no joy for Loreto Secondary School in their bid for All Ireland Post Primary School glory, with Galway side Dunmore Community School pulling clear of them at the University of Limerick.

Having already won the national honours in Camogie just a fortnight ago, there was still dreams of a rare double, but the Connacht champions pulled away during a fragmented second half. The Loreto girls will be proud of their season, having annexed the Leinster C title against Dominican College of Dublin just last week.

This contest was played at a frantic pace on the 3G surface, especially in the opening half. In the end, the more accurate passing, greater spread of ball carriers helped Dunmore to the win. They will face Clare or Donegal opposition in the decider.

Louisa Gilmore opened the scoring with a free for Loreto inside the first minute, but a run of 1-6 to a point between here and the quarter hour meant it was going to be an uphill battle. The goal, after just three minutes saw Megan Healy blast to the net.

Gilmore’s free, on 13 minutes cut the gap but the were losing the midfield battle, with Isabelle Murray lively for the Galway outfit.

The first Kilkenny major arrived on 26 minutes, this from the boot of Caoimhe Keher-Murtagh, who picked out the hope corner with a left-footed effort. However, this was only canelling out a goal from the impressive Rebecca Noone just two minutes earlier.

David Woulfe’s side trailed 2-11 to 1-5 at half-time, with a strong breeze, blowing across the Limerick pitch of little value to either team.

The third quarter had some pivotal moments. Loreto couldn’t build on a Blaithín Holden point as the winners collected the next three white flags. A goal was needed, and Holden obliged, ghosting in around the back and collecting before firing to the net.

A stunning save from Erika Diskin denied Gilmore on 49 minutes, with the gap still  at nine points. A sin bin earlier, shown to Angela Carroll for not wearing a gumshield, killed some of the momentum.

The last four points went to the fresher looking Dunmore side, who’d had a healthy break since winning their provincial title in January.


Scorers for Loreto Secondary School: L Gilmore 0-5 (frees); B Holden 1-1; C Keher-Murtagh 1-0; M Gillsenan 0-1.

Scorers Dunmore Community School: R Noone 1-10 (0-8 frees); M Healy 1-3; I Murray 0-3; S Kilgarriff; C Costello 0-1 each.

Loreto Secondary School: C Dunne; A Shealy, J Lennon, A Healy; S Carroll, A Doheny, A Carroll; E Smith, C Keher-Murtagh; A Browne, L Gilmore, B Holden; S Kehoe, M Gillsenan, T McGrath.

Subs: L Boyd for Keher-Murtagh (33); L O’Donovan for Gilsenan (43); E Doheny for Holden (53); E Carr for Healy (60).

Dunmore Community School: E Durkin; E Daly, A Costello, S Kilgarriff; E Concannon, M Hanley, C Diskin; K Slattery, I Murray; R Noone, M Healy, E Henegan; L Kearney, G Dooley, A O’Connor.

Subs: C Costello for Daly (43); S Hartnett for Dooley (56).

Referee: Ciara Gilroy (Down)