Ladies Football Intermediate Leinster Championship Quarter-Final
BSJ 4-08 (20) Clonee (Wexford) 3-15 (24)
A game of two halves to close an unforgettable season
Some games are decided by the better team. Others are decided by the weather, a bounce of the ball and a few fine margins. Last Saturday in Sancta Maria, the BSJ ladies played their final game of the 2026 season, a Leinster quarter-final against Wexford’s Clonee, and it was very much the latter.
For 50 minutes BSJ were in charge. For the last 10, the wind got up, the game turned, and a decent Clonee team took their chance. It was a great advertisement for ladies’ Gaelic football: 7 goals, 23 points and a finish that had both sets of supporters on their feet.
BSJ were out of the blocks like Rhasidat Adeleke. A point straight from the throw-in and a goal inside two minutes set the tone. Clonee showed why they are Wexford champions by marching straight up the pitch for a goal of their own, but that only seemed to sharpen BSJ.
What followed was some of the best football the team played all year. Backs, midfield and forwards linked up beautifully, the ball moved quickly, and the scores flowed. A superb team goal in the 15th minute had BSJ 2-05 to 1-01 ahead and the home crowd in fine voice.
Clonee are a strong, physical side and kept probing, but our defence gave very little away. BSJ went in at half-time 2-07 to 1-03 ahead, a lead fully deserved.
Clonee had the wind firmly at their backs and began winning the breaks and the long kick-outs. Three quick points brought them within four, and for the first time all afternoon BSJ were on the back foot.
Momentum is a funny thing. Just when it looked to be drifting away, BSJ grabbed it straight back. A point and a goal in quick succession around the 46th minute pushed the lead out to eight, 3-08 to 1-06, with 15 minutes left. The BSJ support relaxed a bit. Surely that was enough?
It wasn’t. Clonee hit back with two goals in three minutes and the game flipped on its head, the first spinning back from a shot that hit the upright and was adjudged to have crossed the line despite the BSJ protests. Two more points and the sides were level with about 5 on the clock. The pendulum had swung completely. Clonee were also getting the run of all the calls in this period, which is crucial in a game of fine margins.
Credit to BSJ, they refused to fold. With the wind in their faces and the game slipping away, they produced one last punch, a brilliant goal in the 57th minute to go three points clear. The roar from the sideline could have been heard in Wexford.
But Clonee kept going, gratefully accepting some of the decisions going their way and kicked six points in the final seven minutes, five of them from frees, to win 3-15 to 4-08. A cruel ending for a team that led for so long, but a fair tribute to a Clonee side that never stopped running. We wish them well in the semi-final.
A defeat stings, but one windy afternoon will not define this group. What they achieved in 2026 is remarkable: Intermediate Champions for the first time, after only 1 league defeat to gain promotion to Division 1. Unreal. When I started writing about this team in 2023, a season like this felt like a dream. Now it’s the new standard.
Congratulations to the management team of Michael, Chris and Liam, and to Paul, Clare & Bernard and everyone who sets up the pitches and fills in forms. Thanks to the whole panel, and to the loyal BSJ families and supporters who turned up all season in sunshine, rain and wind.
Division 1 next year. A new adventure, Bring it on.