Portlaoise Panthers delight in Midlands Division One Cup title win

MABB Women’s Division One Cup 

Clonaslee 26 

Portlaoise Panthers 46 

Portlaoise Panthers completed their march to the MABB Women’s Division One Cup title following their recent hard-fought 46-26 victory over Clonaslee in Clonaslee Community Centre.

Portlaoise took three of the four quarters, leading 12-4 at the end of the first before enlarging the gap to 14 points (27-13) by the halftime break.

Clonaslee did managed to recoup two points in the third, but Panthers pushed on to secure the win in the fourth, Sharon Melia demonstrating some super rebounding, while scoring well on offence also.

Maeve Cahillane helped control the game at the top of the key for the winners, while Grainne O’Reilly’s impressive season continued with another solid performance in this decider.

Delighted at seeing her side secure this piece of silverware, Portlaoise captain, Catherine Ashe said: “It was a very physical low-scoring game.

“Our team played really well inside and Sharon Melia had an exceptional game and it was great to see her play so well.

“It was a hard-fought game. Thankfully we were ahead for most of it, but it was never comfortable and it never is in Clonaslee either.

“But we're delighted with ourselves and especially for some of the girls like Grainne O’Reilly, Rachel Byrne and Chloe Byrne. That would have been their first Senior Cup win. We’ve had a few of them, but this was their first one, so it was nice for them,” she told the *****Laois Nationalist*****.

This season’s Portlaoise senior team is the product of the merging of some of the Portlaoise Masters with the club’s Division One Top-Four winning squad from last season, and Ashe believes that the benefits of that move are starting to show now in the wake of their cup success.

“It's great” she said “I feel like we needed that victory. It’s taken a bit of time with the two teams combining, but it’s starting to come together” she insisted.

On another note, Portlaoise saw their run in this season’s Over 40 Women’s Masters National Cup ended after they lost out to a very strong Neptune team by 20 points in Cork on Saturday.

Having suffered defeat at the hands of Notre Dame in their opening game of the competition’s round-robin phase, victory in Cork was a must for the Laois side, which is made up of a mix of the club’s Division One and Two teams, but it was not to be.

“Neptune are very good and I'd be very surprised now if they didn't go on to win it” remarked Ashe.

“They were really strong, with ex-internationals certainly among their first five. They have a combination of players from around the country with the likes of Dearbhla Breen, Marie Breen and Juliet Murphy who are outstanding Irish players,” she said.

CLONASLEE: Heather Conroy, Sarah Corbet, Annie Digan, Rebecca Malone, Becky Dunne, Kate Dunne, Caoimhe Foynes, Zoe Brierty, Amelia Dunne, Laoise Harding, Ciara Breen, Emer Gilsenan.

PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Ann-Marie Troy, Catherine Ashe, Cathy Mulhare, Chloe Byrne, Deirdre Tomlinson, Grainne O’Reilly, Grainne Tomlinson, Maeve Cahillane, Rachel Byrne, Sharon Melia.