The Scotland Ladies started off the 2015 Marine Harvest Shinty / Hurling / Camogie event with a convincing 19-1 win over a Kildare County Select at the Bught Park outside pitch on Saturday 24 October 2015.
Scotland Ladies boss Stuart Reid highlighted his players will to win ahead of the contest as they went looking for a third successive win over Irish opposition. The Scots were strong in the middle of the park with Skye duo Sarah Corrigall and Lorna MacRae and Badenoch & Strathspey’s Kirsty Deans set up to get a grip of the game from the throw-in. Captain Laura McCafferty and her Glasgow Mid Argyll club-mate Alana McGarrie were also be important players whilst Kirsty Delaney was in attack having scored 10 times for the Lochaber second team in Marine Harvest North Division 2 this season
Kildare reached the final of the 2015 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship where they were runners-up to Waterford. However they travelled without a number of players from their first choice squad. Former Glasgow Mid Argyll player Alannah Savage, who was part of the Scotland pool last year was in the Kildare squad having since returned to Ireland. Caroline Forde captained the side in the absence of Susie O’Carroll. Who was named in the original squad but was unable to make the trip.
The Inverness Royal Legion Pipe Band led the teams onto a wet pitch, with puddles lying in places, and the make-shift Irish side was blown-away by an early four-goal Scots blitz.
Lochaber’s Kirsty Delaney sent a shot low into the net to give her side the lead and a second Delaney strike and a double from Lovat’s Laura Gallacher had Scotland 12-0 to the good with only 10 minutes played.
Ireland had made a change in goal with Roisin O’Connell taking over between the sticks and this helped them settle into the match.
Two-pointers from Badenoch & Strathspey’s Jeanette MacGregor - from distance - and Aberdour’s Niamh Donnelly - in front of the posts - extended Scotland’s lead to 14-0.
Kildare were showing signs of settling into the game though and Melissa Lyons lifted a free and sent the ball over the bar to pull a point back to make it 16-1. However Scotland already had what proved to be an unassailable lead as referee Martin MacLean’s half-time whistle sounded.
Scotland made good use of the rolling substitutes throughout the match but the changes didn’t affect their dominance.
Laura Gallacher went on to complete her hat-trick when she took a pass from 3 before shooting from the left to seal a 19-1 win.
Scotland captain Laura McCafferty from Glasgow Mid Argyll lifted the winners’ trophy for the third year in a row.
Scotland Ladies from:
1 - Elizabeth McGregor – Badenoch & Strathspey
2 - Rachel McCafferty – Glasgow Mid Argyll
3 - Laura McCafferty - Glasgow Mid Argyll (captain)
4 - Kirsty Delaney - Lochaber
5 - Jeanette McGregor - Badenoch & Strathspey
6 - Vicki Henderson – Aberdour
7 - Emma Gordon – Skye Camanachd
8 - Caitlin MacLean – Skye Camanachd
9 - Kirsty Deans - Badenoch & Strathspey
10 - Rosie Mulligan – Aberdour
11 - Niamh Donnelly - Aberdour
12 - Lyndsay Michie - Glasgow Mid Argyll
13 - Paige MacDonald – Lorn
14 - Katie Drain - Glasgow Mid Argyll
15 - Lorna MacRae – Skye Camanachd
16 - Laura Gallacher – Lovat
17 - Catriona Gibb – Skye Camanachd
18 - Sarah Corrigall – Skye Camanachd
19 - Alana McGarrie - Glasgow Mid Argyll
20 - Taryn Neilson - Aberdour
Head Coach - Stuart Reid
Assistant Coaches – Scott Campbell, Stuart Campbell & Robbie Gordon
Physio – Brian Slattery
Kildare Ladies from:
1 – Niamh Gilligan
2 – Fionnuala McGowan
3 – Alannah Savage
4 – Hazel Mulligan
5 – Dawn Ryan
6 – Gillian Molloy
7 – Niamh Hegarty
8 – Caroline Forde (captain)
9 – Hannah MacDonnell
10 – Catherine Nealon
11 – Michelle Convoy
12 – Laura Sheahan
13 – Roisin O’Connell
14 – Regina Gorman
15 – Melissa Lyons
16 – Niamh Breen
17 – Louise Keatley
18 – Susie O’Carroll
19 – Oral Bambury
20 – Clodagh Farrell
Match Referee – Martin MacLean
(Picture courtesy of Neil G Paterson)