Holycross complete League and Cup double

SOCCER: North Tipperary Women's Cup Final

Holycross 3

Killavilla United 1

Report and Photos: Gary Culbert

at the Tower Grounds, Thurles

Invincibles, Holycross completed the league and cup double in a composed and clinical manner last Wednesday, defeating Killavilla United in a hotly contested North Tipperary Women’s Cup Final.

A large crowd of enthusiastic supporters, mainly made up of the Roscrea faithful, travelled to the Tower Grounds, the home of Peake Villa FC, to draw the curtain down on another successful summer of women’s soccer in North Tipperary.

As the sun set, ushering in a breezy and cool evening, it was Killavilla who started like a house on fire, with the pace of Chloe Kelly down the left looking like a promising weapon for Villa. Indeed, the winger was nearly in on goal four times inside the opening ten minutes.

Villa’s best chance during their dominant start came when Nicole Brooks let fly from outside the box in the sixth minute, with the skipper desperately unlucky to see her effort rattle the crossbar.

The exceptionally young Holycross side eventually came into the contest through the running power of Louise McGrath in the heart of midfield. And shortly after they were ahead with Thomas Dwan and Nicole McKay’s side getting a high reward from opting to press high from a Villa goal kick.

Having caught Villa on the edge of their own area, a quick and neat passage of play saw Abby Challen put the ball on a plate for Ellen Maher, who was arriving late into box like any good number 8.

The goal knocked the wind out of the Villa crowd and Holycross almost doubled their lead in the 20th minute when Louise McGrath dissected the Villa defence with a precision pass, only for some alert and no-nonsense goalkeeping from Reanne Conlon, which stopped Sarah Quinlan in her tracks.

At the other end, Chloe Cummins had to be alert to deny Sheoladh Dynan sneaking in behind on the counter.

As the half progressed, Holycross looked more and more comfortable on the ball, whereas Villa were relying on alert goalkeeping in defence, and quick direct balls up the pitch in attack. However, the final ball consistently ran agonisingly beyond the reach of the chasing strikers.

A misjudged header from Killavilla’s Ella Brussels presented a guilt-edged chance for Elana McGrath, who fired over from the edge of the box with only the keeper to beat. Villa tired as the half time whistle approached, which led to another golden opportunity for Holycross to double their lead. Once again though, Reanne Conlon was alert and off her line to smother the danger.

Shortly after though, there was nothing the keeper could do when Sarah Quinlan swung in a menacing corner from the left to an unmarked Abby Challen, who only needed one touch to find the top corner.

An audacious effort from skipper Sarah Quinlan just after half time was inches away from putting the game out of sight, but a combination of the upright and centre half, Ella Brussells, came to the rescue, with the latter taking no prisoners in her goal-saving challenge on substitute Ellen Ryan.

Killavilla were in danger of being overran but skipper Nicole Brooks stood up to be counted in the second half, keeping play moving from her attacking midfield berth. The Roscrea side turned the screw for the opening twenty minutes of the half and thought they had pulled one back on the hour, but the headed goal was ruled out because the out swinging corner left the field before coming back into play.

Brooks had Villa’s next chance but some alert sweeping from Mya Bourke poured cold water on the danger. Bourke had a fine game from centre half but was carried off with a quarter of an hour remaining following a late challenge, meaning Holycross lost one of their best defenders.

Killavilla took full advantage, clawing their way back into the game with ten minutes remaining. Some high pressing from Khya Lynch created an opportunity from close range for Chloe Kelly, who arrived at pace down the right before letting fly from a close angle. Roisin Dwan produced a fine save to deny the ball flying into the roof of the net, only for Nicole Brooks to arrive on cue to fire in the rebound and give Villa a lifeline.

Villa’s tails were up and there were a few short minutes where the crowd was roaring them to an equaliser, but in the end, the siege of Thurles would be very short lived, as Louise McGrath topped off a player of the match display with a goal worthy of winning the final. The central midfielder let fly from the right with a superb effort which flew high over the keeper’s head, nestling just inside the post to seal the win.

The young Holycross side played more football through the thirds on the evening and were deserved winners on the double in the end and will be remembered as the Invincibles of 2026.

Player of the Match: Lousie McGrath (Holycross)

Holycross: Roisin Dwan; Hazel Ryan, Niamh Craddock, Chloe Cummins, Mya Bourke; Louise McGrath, Sarah Quinlan, Ellen Maher, Abby Challen; Lily Ryan, Elana McGrath.

Subs (roll-on, roll-off): Aisling Craddock, Margaret Keane, Jessica Ryan, Kaitlin Loughnane, Caoimhe Hayes, Ellen Ryan, Niamh O’Regan.

Killavilla United: Reanne Conlon; Courtney Wright, Aoife Dillon, Mary Breslin, Ella Brussels; Tara Nolan, Chloe Kelly, Abby Martin, Sheoladh Dynan; Nicole Brooks, Khya Lynch.

Subs (roll-on, roll-off): Niamh Moloney, Ellie Feehan, Kelsey Wing, Kayla Carney, Niamh O’Brien, Katie Shanahan, Teegan O’Meara.

Referee: Tommy Murphy.