The Banner Ladies Football Club Ennis
All Ireland Féile Peil na nÓg Champions 2005
What a wonderful achievement to win an All Ireland Football Championship for Ennis and for Clare. This is exactly what this great group of girls succeeded in doing in 2005. Their victory was all the more sweeter in that The Banner Club had suffered the heartache of losing the two previous All Ireland Finals by a single point on each occasion. That the Club came back from these traumatic defeats illustrates the strength of character and resolve of all associated with The Banner Ladies.
The All Ireland journey started in winning the Clare Féile Championship with victories over Newmarket on Fergus and O’Curry’s Kilkee. On to Limerick then and group stage wins over Castlemahon of Limerick, Carnew Emmets of Wicklow and The St. James’ Club of Wexford. In the All Ireland Semi-Final victory was again our lot after a thrilling encounter with the Termon Club from Donegal on a 4 – 2 to 3 – 3 score line.
The All Ireland Final was played in Páirc na nGael in Limerick and Laois champions Portlaoise were our formidable opponents. Our girls exhibited true Clare spirit (and no less footballing skills) in overcoming their much-vaunted opponents on a 1 – 4 to 0 – 4 scoreline. All at the Club salute this magnificent success and compliment wholeheartedly both the team and the team management.
While the All Ireland victory was the highlight of our year the Banner Ladies Club had many other successes during 2005. Our Under 10 team won the inaugural Marion Keane memorial County Tournament, our Community Games team (representing Ennis Parish) won the Clare Gold Medal, our U – 12 A team won the Clare A Championship and our B squad were beaten finalists in their championship group. Our U – 12 C team also reached the championship semi-final in their grade.
At U – 14 level both our A and B teams won their respective Clare County Championships and were finalists in the Munster Club U – 14 Blitz in their respective groups.
At U – 16 and Minor level both our teams succeeded in reaching the county finals but were narrowly beaten on each occasion. Our Senior Ladies team contested the Clare League final and were semi-finalists in the Clare County Championship. Our Senior Ladies also played in the All Ireland Club Sevens series in Dublin and were Plate semi-finalists.
Nine girls from our Club won Munster Championship medals with this year’s Clare U – 14 team and Club member Niamh O’Dea won the honour of player of the match in the Munster B Final against Waterford.
The Club was also honoured at The Bank of Ireland Senior Football Final when our star U – 12 Megan Hough was selected in the Cumann na mBunscoil Mini Sevens team. At the TG4 Ladies Football Final our Féile team captain, Niamh Martin, was introduced on the field to the 24,000 spectators in attendance.
The Banner Ladies Club now has over 170 playing members and we field 11 teams from U – 10 to Senior grades. In 2005 Banner Ladies Club teams played over 80 competitive matches.
Gabhann Cumann Mná an Bhrataigh míle buíochas dóibh siúd a chabhraigh linn i mbliana. Táimid fíor bhuíoch go specialta le Chomhairle Bhaile na hInse, leis an Clare Sports Partnership agus le SuperMacs Inis. Ní neart ach chur le chéile agus tá súil againn go bhféadfimís co-oibriú lena chéile arís an bhliain seo chugainn.
All at our Club are looking forward to another successful year in 2006 as we strive in our mission to become both Clare’s and Ireland’s premier Ladies Gaelic Football Club.
The Banner Ladies All Ireland Féile Peil na nÓg Champions 2005
Back Row (Lt to Rt)Ciara Fahy, Aoife Dormer, Claire Gaynor, Caoimhe O’Dea, Lauren Dooley, Shonagh Enright, Niamh Martin, Sarah Barrett, Danielle Kennelly, Ciara McCarthy, Aidín Shannon, Ellen Minogue, Rebecca McNamara, Deirdre Kelleher.
Front Row (Lt To Rt) Eimear O’Connor, Niamh Cavanagh, Megan Hough, Louise Woods,
Niamh O’Dea, Maria McMahon, Laura Brennan, Shona Cullinan, Lorna Higgins, Catríona Hennessy, Kim Moloney, Aoife Davoren, Meave McCarthy.