By Derek Buckley

Markievicz Celtic v Alpine Express 2-0
‘Sky’s the limit for the Markievicz women’
The intermediate cup final Venue AUI complex.

This was the girls’ second final in a month and after losing their first final you could say heads would be down, and on top of that the girls were up against, not only a team that are a league higher than them but a team that took full honours (league champions)

So what happens from there? Well for the first 15 minutes Alpine dominated the game. Markievicz looked nervous. But to Alpine’s disadvantage they failed to capitalize and how could they as they failed to get past Mark’s back four!

From there on, for the remainder of the first half Mark’s dominated, Rachel McGuinness had two half chances from free kicks but her efforts were unlucky. At this stage after 30 minutes Lynn Flood and Michelle Kearney were in full swing.

Then came the first opportunity of the game as Erica Nangle with her solo run had only the keeper to beat but, credit to Alpine’s goalie as she denied Nangle.

As Mark’s dominated they knew that it was goals that count and their first goal came from a quality run from Kim Flood from inside her own half and as she was just about to pull the trigger from the edge of the box she was lifted out of it.

So it was up to McGuinness to put the record straight from the free kick, and how unlucky she was as her shot thundered off the post and fell to the feet of Kim Flood, who sent it back into the six yard box for a tap in by Amy O’Connor, 1-0 in the 40 minutes and well deserved it was.

By now Alpine couldn’t find an escape route out of their own half and were fortunate not to fall further behind as Nangle’s lob just went over.

With only 5 minutes into the second half, Mark’s started the way they finished the first as Kearney squandered a good opportunity off a Nangle cross.

At this stage, every player sprung to life. Safe hands Lisa Fagan was confident. Roseanne Whelan, Louise Rooney, Jessica Downes, Amy O’Connor and Sarah Hurley moved up a gear, but for their extra efforts, legs started to tire and Alpine, out of the blue looked like equalising but, credit to Hurley, Rooney, Whelan and Flood as they mopped up any damage in defence.

The winning goal came from a quality ball from McGuinness who, in fairness, I would link to Roy Keane because her work rate and attitude was electric and from that pass Nangle’s 40 yards shot ended in the back of the net as Alpine’s keeper let the ball slip through her legs.

Game set and ‘Cup’ to a well-deserved Markievicz side that held their heads high and were a credit to themselves.

Quotes from both managers:
Eddie Weafer: “Best team won on the day and they know it takes 90 minutes for results, I’m proud of them.”

Ritchie Cummins: “To bounce back from the last cup’s defeat was fantastic. I’m absolutely thrilled for them.”

Attendance: 752.

The committee would like to thank their main sponsors ABBA Blinds for all their help.

Above: ‘The Fantastic Four’. Left to right: Erica Nangle, Kim Flood, Rachel McGuinness and Amy O’Connor.