Down were crowned All-Ireland U14 Silver champions after a 6-13 to four point win over Monaghan.
Down got off to a perfect start, Grace Guest fired a penalty to the net after Evie McHugh was fouled.
While Monaghan did drive towards the Down defence, it was the Mourne County that added to the scoreboard. Abigail Hanvey and Gracie McManus both finding the range.
Down got their second goal after nine minutes, an initial shot was saved by Louise Dempsey. The rebound fell to Abigail McManus whose effort hit off one upright and crossing the goal-line on the other side.
Guest got on the scoresheet for a second time from distance after 11 minutes before McManus converted a free.
McHugh added her name to the scoresheet after the water break. Down got their third goal when Annie McEvoy hit a high speculative ball in and it went all the way to the net.
Monaghan reacted well through two Brannagh Connolly points before half-time reduced the deficit to 3-5 to 0-3 at the break.
Connolly added her third point as the second-half got underway but this was cancelled out a minute later by a McEvoy point.
A sweeping team move down the field resulted in Abigail Hanvey netting her second goal of the day and Down continued to push on, hitting 2-7 without reply in the remainder of the second-half.
Down's Day
The goals came in the 43rd and 45th minutes with McHugh finding the net and Guest converting a second penalty.
This was to be Down’s day, their first All-Ireland U14 title since the introduction of the competition’s new format.
Down: C Faloon; O Magill, F May Morgan, M McStay; H Cassin, M Quilton, N Napier; A McEvoy (c), G Guest; L McEvoy, T Ryan, L Elmore; A Hanvey, G McManus, E McHugh.
Subs used: C Croskery, S Heenan, A Donnelly, S Kennan-Travers, L Devlin, C McGrath, C O’Donnell, A Fitzpatrick, K Davis, E Cunningham, C Doyle, AR McNutly, O Dean, E Easton, K O’Rourke.
Scorers: G Guest 2-1 (2-0 pen), A Hanvey 2-1, E McHugh 1-2, A McEvoy 1-1, G McManus 0-4 (1f), H Cassin 0-1, L Elmore 0-1, C McGrath 0-1, E Easton 0-1.
Monaghan: L Dempsey; M Sullivan, E McMeel, A McAdam; R McCarthy, L Carey, A Mooney; M Treanor (c), N McCarville; S Wilson, B Connolly, L Coyle; C Dooley, N McCaghey, H Coyle.
Subs used: MK Byrne, T Treanor, L McKenny, T O’Neill, C Mahon, H Coyle, A O’Hart, A Sullivan, A McMahon, N McCarville, E Kearney, LA O’Loughlin, C Mooney, C Culleton, G O’Neill
Scorers: B Connolly 0-3, L Coyle 0-1 (1f).
Referee: Sinead McHugh (Dublin)
