Cullyhanna’s Frances Keenan wins thrilling Europe Netball Open final with NI Warriors

The unavailability of her childhood hero O’Hanlon left fellow south Armagh woman Keenan with big boots to fill in an understrength Northern Ireland team but she rose to the occasion in ensuring the Warriors took the trophy home after five wins from five matches.

O’Hanlon was playing for Armagh in ladies gaelic football’s Ulster Senior Championship showpiece in Clones, where the Orchard crew won with a free a minute from the end of extra-time by Keenan’s old Sacred Heart classmate Niamh Reel.

The Douglas decider earlier in the afternoon also had a dramatic conclusion and it too resulted in a happy ending from a local perspective as Keenan’s Northern Ireland eventually edged an epic encounter with an ambitious UAE side.

Tournament favourites Northern Ireland were trailing in the penultimate minute but great pressure from Keenan on UAE captain Carly Lewis forced the key turnover and Orlaith Rogers levelled from long-range with 88 seconds left on the clock.

The towering Westside shooter, who is on a development contract with Strathclyde Sirens, then edged the Warriors ahead with her 47th goal of the game and UAE were blown for a held ball on their own centre pass.

A missed shot from Rosa McCloskey gave the Emirates side an opportunity to tie things up once more but a pass was picked off as they tried to come out from the back and Northern Ireland netted again just before the full-time buzzer.

It was the perfect finish to an afternoon when the Warriors were five goals down on occasions but lived up to their name by showing fantastic character in fighting hard and holding their nerve when the tension was almost unbearable.

Although 10 places separate these countries in the world rankings, UAE have several players in their side with British SuperLeague experience and were up against an inexperienced Northern Ireland team missing several leading lights.

The girls in green had won 65-51 when these sides met in the round robin phase, helped by the opposition goalkeeper being sinbinned in the last quarter, but the UAE secured a second crack by beating Republic of Ireland 60-50 in Saturday’s semi.

Ahead of this competition, there had been a lot of focus on the prospect of two Irish derby battles, with the noisy neighbours fancying their chances of claiming a big scalp having pushed a full-strength Warriors side in last December’s two-Test series.

But Northern Ireland comfortably beat their Republic counterparts 62-35 at teatime on the Thursday and Emeralds supremo Teresa Gillespie’s post-match comments about the teams meeting again in the final proved premature.

The Warriors had got their campaign underway with a comprehensive 70-29 victory over Isle on Man that morning, with four players winning their first caps off the bench including two inter-county gaelic footballers, Derry’s Orla McGeough and Antrim’s Ana Mulholland.

Mulholland and the towering Tillie Irvine became Northern Ireland’s first senior internationals from Crumlin netball club while it was an unforgettable day for the McCloskey siblings with Olivia following younger sister Rosa by winning her first cap in the evening game.

The diminutive Evelyn McCagherty’s interception in the closing seconds of the final allowed Rosa McCloskey to confirm Northern Ireland’s win with her 100th goal of the tournament having been rotated up front with her Kingsway club captain Georgie McGrath.

Until Michelle Magee came off the bench in Sunday’s showpiece, Warriors supremo Sheonah Forbes had been without all four of NI’s current British SuperLeague professionals including O’Hanlon, fellow doctor Niamh Cooper and highest-profile forward Emma Magee.

O’Hanlon’s long-serving vice-captain Fionnuala Toner stepped up seamlessly as skipper, but the only other established frontliner, Keenan, was the second oldest player in the Warriors starting seven here aged just 24.

The Warriors squad of 15 in Isle of Man included half a dozen players who will still be eligible to wear the green dress for Northern Ireland Under 21s in September’s qualifying event for next year’s World Youth Cup.

So this trip was very useful for squad development and coming away with silverware on the back of a clean sweep of five wins having averaged just over a goal per minute throughout made this a very satisfying first tournament in charge for highly-rated Englishwoman Forbes.

Having just led Belfast Ladies to the NI Premier League title in the domestic season just ended, the hugely experienced Toner was superb throughout and picked up two Player of the Match awards in the competition’s first phase in addition to numerous turnovers.

Goalkeeper Lauren Walshe had the honour of filling in as skipper when Forbes opted to start none of Northern Ireland’s regular first-choice line-up in the Saturday semi against Isle of Man, which the Warriors won 48-35.

Keenan got a first taste of captaining her country that afternoon too having been brought off the bench to steady things after the opening period and she took on a lot of informal leadership responsibility throughout the tournament.

Capably assuming the mantle of chief playmaker in O’Hanlon’s absence, Keenan orchestrated superbly all week whether in her regular role of wing attack or when switched to centre including for the last 20 minutes of the final.

Leeds Rhinos vice-captain Michelle Magee had come off injured in the closing stages of her Player of the Match performance in their SuperLeague victory over Team Bath on the Friday night, so being able to call upon her for the final was a real relief for Forbes.

Forbes went with the same starting seven as for the three group games, with Walsh partnered in the back circle by Maria McCann, but Magee came on at wing defence for Toner at the start of the second quarter.

She continued as on-court captain when Toner returned to the court eight minutes later, replacing McCann at goal defence, and Northern Ireland led 29-26 at half-time having scored nine of the last 10 goals before the long interval.

With Keenan increasingly influential, the Warriors had got back on level terms at 19-19 but a rocky spell saw them fall five goals behind, as they had in the opening period, before hitting back brilliantly with Walshe winning ball at the back and Rogers nailing her shots.

The sides were level at 44-44 going into the last quarter of this compelling contest of fluctuating fortunes but UAE spent much of it two goals ahead and official warnings for Magee and Walshe added to the tension for the Warriors.

With less than two minutes left, UAE could almost taste a famous victory but the quick Keenan crucially closed down Lewis, forcing the centre into too elevated a pass which her team-mate couldn’t keep in.

Keenan then had to be brave in claiming a contestable ball from the back as UAE desperately tried to regain possession but she took it brilliantly to pave the way for the equalising goal with her own centre pass to follow.

Against the backdrop of a packed crowd generating a deafening din, Northern Ireland patiently engineered the opportunity for Rogers to put them back in front but there was still time for a few more heart-stopping moments before the buzzer brought relief and delight.