By Tom King

Kilkerrin-Clonberne  (Galway) 2-11
Clann Éireann (Armagh)  1-9

First half goals from Aisling Madden and Ailish Morrissey paved the way for Kilkerrin-Clonberne to overcome Clann Éireann on their home ground in Lurgan and maintain their AIB All-Ireland Ladies Club SFC four in-a-row ambitions.

The reigning Galway and Connacht title holders built a 2-6 to 0-3 interval lead with a magnificent half-back line of Hannah Noone and Niamh Divilly flanked by recently crowned Players’ Player of the Year Nicola Ward providing a solid platform.

Kilkerrin-Clonberne never trailed and raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead inside the opening quarter with Eva Noone, Nicola Ward, Chloe Miskell and 2024 All-Star Olivia Divilly (free) all finding the target.

Niamh Henderson kicked Clann Éireann’s sole reply and though the Ulster standard bearers suffered a setback when Niamh Coleman spent ten minutes in the sin-bin, Greg McGonigle’s team moved to within a point through back-to-back Niamh Murray scores.

Kilkerrin-Clonberne delivered the first major blow on 19 minutes when a trademark driving run from Nicola Ward set Aisling Madden free into open country and she finished low with conviction to the Clann Éireann net. 

That began a match-defining run of 2-2 without reply before the break from Kilkerrin-Clonberne as a brilliant individual goal from Ailish Morrissey followed in the 29th minute, while Ward and Madden added further points.

The winners’ lead reached a high of ten points with a Morrissey point straight after the restart, but a resurgent Clann Éireann battled back valiantly with Meabh McCambridge and Murray points cutting the deficit.

The Armagh club showed admirable resilience and closed to within six points when Murray, their best performer on the day, tucked away a 39th minute penalty to leave it 2-8 to 1-5. But Kilkerrin-Clonberne held firm with Miskell, Eva Noone and Olivia Divilly (free) cancelling out efforts from Niamh Coleman and the excellent Murray who finished with 1-6.

Kilkerrin-Clonberne march on to a mouthwatering final with Kilmacud Crokes at Croke Park on Saturday week — a repeat of their epic semi-final in 2023 that went to extra-time.

Scorers - Kilkerrin-Clonberne: A Morrissey and Aisling Madden 1-1 each; E Noone 0-3 (1f), N Ward, C Miskell and O Divilly (2f) 0-2 each.

Clann Éireann: N Murray 1-6 (1-0 pen, 0-3f), N Coleman, N Henderson and M McCambridge 0-1 each.

KILKERRIN-CLONBERNE: L Murphy; K Mee, S Gormally, C Costello; N Divilly, N Ward, H Noone; S Divilly, L Ward (capt.); O Divilly, Aisling Madden, L Noone; E Noone, A Morrissey, C Miskell. Subs: Aobhín Madden for Miskell (58), Caitlin Boyle for Morrissey (60).

CLANN ÉIREANN: C Lawless; G Carville, C McCambridge, M McCambridge; E Melanophy, D Coleman, R Mulligan; C Towe, N Henderson (capt); A Donohue, N Coleman, T Grimes; E McConaghy, N Murray, C. Henderson. Sub: M McCann for McConaghy (51).

Referee: Kevin Phelan.

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