Termon finally pip Glenfin in Donegal LGFA Senior final free-kick lottery

Just when you thought you’d seen it all between Termon and Glenfin, another epic chapter was written at O’Donnell Park this afternoon - albeit with a peculiar conclusion.

Termon 0-19
Glenfin 1-14
(Match finished 0-14 to 1-11 AET. Termon won 5-3 on free-kicks)

When the hooter sounded for the final time, after extra-time, they were still level in the final of the Donegal LGFA Senior Championship and few in the huge crowd in the region of 1,500 would’ve complained had they been told to come back next week. 

But free-kicks it was and the championship was settled between two flags 25 metres from the Town End goal. The goalkeepers twiddled their thumbs and it would all go down to the five kickers on each team, with nerves that must’ve been dangling. 

Roisin McCafferty, Geraldine McLaughlin, Roisin Friel and Jodie McFadden all scored for Termon, while Glenfin’s Karen Guthrie, Yvonne Bonner and Gemma Glackin all put over too, with Katie Long the unfortunate party whose effort fell short with her side’s second kick. Ciara McGarvey of Termon, then, put it between the posts to win a seventh senior crown for Termon.

It was the seventh final meeting between the two, with Termon having won the first four in 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2019, while Glenfin were aiming for three-in-a-row on the back of the 2020 and 2021 titles. For a contest that see-sawed so relentlessly, it looked as though Glenfin had finally put Termon out of sight at half-time in extra-time, when they moved into a three-point lead at 1-11 to 0-11. 

However, with nothing left but to give it a rattle, Termon pressed on the kick-outs and hemmed in Glenfin, who had lost Diane McGlynn to a yellow card late on and Geraldine McLaughlin hit three frees, which brought her up to 11 points for the day, to claim a draw.

It’s pretty much the norm for the two sides to take one another to the limit and beyond and that’s exactly how it transpired. Whereas last year’s final in Lifford developed into a shootout, with Glenfin coming out on top 1-23 to 2-18 after extra-time, there was more of an air of caution in Letterkenny, certainly to begin with.

It was more chess than checkers with the two teams sussing one another early on. Twenty-four minutes had passed with McLaughlin’s third point making for a 0-3 to 0-2 Termon lead, with Gurthie and Bonner having opened their accounts with Glenfin’s first two points.

On 25 minutes came what proved to be the only goal of the game when Caoimhe McGlynn steered past Orla Corry having been found by Bonner, with Termon having tried to build from the back. It meant Glenfin were 1-2 to 0-3 ahead. 

All over the field there were a series of subplots, with match-ups dotted here and there between some of the county’s leading players. With her exploits for club and county, Geraldine McLaughlin might find herself not far from that top of that list and she kicked three points late in the first half to give the Burn Roaders a 0-6 to 1-2 half-time lead.

In the second half, the mantle passed over and back but on 41 minutes it looked to have taken a significant turn when McLaughlin needed to receive attention to a knee-injury and McGarvey took over from a free to score.

However, players like McCafferty and Evelyn McGinley stepped forward to score, with the latter also putting in a fantastic defensive shift. With nine minutes left, it was Glenfin 1-6 Termon 0-9.

By then, Bonner had been well shackled, although she grabbed a hold of the game late on, with two frees, the second of which levelled it again at 1-8 to 0-11 with three to play.

Extra-time, just like last year, with two halves of 10 minutes on the menu, then, if no separator was to be found, it would go down to a free-kick competition. 

Guthrie, with her fifth point, edged Glenfin in front some 20 seconds in, although with the legs looking increasingly heavy, McLaughlin looked isolated inside for Termon with Katy Herron in front.

However, six minutes into the first allotment of extra-time Sophie Curran’s ball in was gathered by McLaughlin, who spun in a flash only for Sharon Conaghan to make a brave stop to keep her sheet clean and her team in front.  Then, Bonner and Guthrie brought the lead out to three.

Three up at the break in extra-time although a player down, Glenfin had bother getting out and Termon got back on terms from three more McLaughlin scores. Last year it was at that stage they finally blinked.  Termon were the team with the ball on the offensive as Siobhan Coyle blew for time, although Paul Bonner’s Glenfin had done well to keep them outside the scoring zone.

It ended as it ended, which mightn’t have been pleasing to everyone, although these contents are so close, a toss of a coin would nearly be as fair a way to decide. 

One thing nobody doubted though, Maria Carr, the Termon captain who was surrounded in maroon and white, wore the widest smile in Letterkenny as she became the first person to lift the Donna Dunnion Boyle Memorial Cup.

Termon scorers: Geraldine McLaughlin 0-12, 8f; Ciara McGarvey 0-2, 2f, Roisin McCafferty 0-2, 1f; Evelyn McGinley 0-1; Roisin Friel and Jodie McFadden 0-1, 1f each.
Glenfin scorers: Karen Guthrie 0-7, 4f; Yvonne Bonner 0-6, 5f; Caoimhe McGlynn 1-0; Gemma Glackin 0-1, 1f.

Termon: Orla Corry; Maria Carr, Emer Gallagher, Niamh Friel; Niamh Boner, Evelyn McGinley, Aibhe McDaid; Nicole McLaughlin, Jill McGettigan; Shannon McLaughlin,Roisin McCafferty, Lauren Gallagher; Ciara McGarvey, Geraldine McLaughlin, Jodie McFadden. Subs: Jenny McGettigan and Sophie Curran for Boner and L Gallagher (38), Roisin Friel for J McFadden (51), J McFadden for McGarvey (68), McGarvey for Curran (72)
Glenfin: Sharon Conaghan; Ciara Meaney, Annamarie McGlynn, Mary Ward; Karen Ward, Diane McGlynn, Lauren Martin; Grainne Houston, Annemarie Logue; Danielle McGinley, Yvonne Bonner, Katie Long; Caoimhe McGlynn, Karen Guthrie, Katy Herron. Subs: Gemma Glackin for Martin (40), Jamie Lee McMahon for McGinley (54), Brenda Carr for C McGlynn (66), McGinley for Carr (77)
Referee: Siobhan Coyle (Gaeil Fhánada)