Teenage sensation stars in Ratoath's Leinster final glory

16-year-old Zara McKeigue was crucial to Ratoath's Ladies Leinster Club JFC final victory on Saturday.

Tom Gannon

Published: Sat 14 Nov 2026, 9:35 PM

Last updated: Sat 14 Nov 2026, 9:38 PM

Ratoath 3-9

St Vincent’s 2-8

Teenager Zara McKeigue was the star of the show for Ratoath as she bagged a brace of goals in their Ladies Leinster Club JFC final win over St Vincent’s in Baltinglass on Saturday. The talented McKeigue is 16 years old and was only introduced to the panel at the start of the Leinster campaign.

Having added the David McCabe Cup to their 2026 collection, Ratoath will now march on to the All-Ireland JFC semi-final where they will have a home fixture against Ballymacelligott from Kerry.

Ratoath got off to the best possible start with two goals early on and those two green flags seperated the sides at the break. The eventual winners pulled 11 points clear soon after the restart when they scored 1-2 on the spin. St Vincent’s scored two late goals during a very generous amount of injury time, which from their perspective, put a better look on the scoreboard.

McKeigue got Ratoath off to a lightning-quick start when she found the back of the net after only two minutes. St Vincent’s wasted a couple of opportunities before Leilia Byrne took a shot from distance. It came up short but was spilt by the St Vincent’s netminder Louise Hennessy and fell nicely for Aine Cooke who rattled the back of the net to give Ratoath a two-goal lead after just five minutes.

Cooke followed up her goal with a point. A scramble deep in St Vincent’s territory almost resulted in a third Ratoath goal. Ray Maloney’s side recycled the ball back to Rebecca McIntyre who set up Amy Gaffney for a nice point.

Caitlinn McKenna registered St Vincent’s only point of the first quarter. Ratoath defended vigorously in that opening 15 minutes and St Vincent’s also lacked some clinical edge. The Dublin side’s captain Ava Lambe pulled another point back. However, Lambe’s effort was cancelled out by a fantastic team move when Byrne linked up with McKeigue who played a wonderful ball into Laura Kelly. Kelly laid it off to Gaffney who was running off the shoulder and Gaffney completed the lovely passage of play with a nice point.

Lambe scored her second and St Vincent’s third point in the 25th minute before Kelly responded with a free. McKenna reduced the gap back to six and at the break Ratoath led 2-4 to 0-4.

Ratoath came out after the restart with intent and scored 1-2 on the spin. McKeigue raised a white flag before she was set up by McIntyre for her second and Ratoath’s third goal. Kelly knocked over a free which gave Ratoath an 11-point advantage.

Three Lambe points kept St Vincent’s slender hopes alive. Kelly kept Ratoath’s tally ticking with a fisted point and at the end of the third quarter Ratoath held a 3-7 to 0-7 lead.

The Dublin side went in search of goals to try and force a way back into the contest. St Vincent’s full forward Robin Fitzpatrick saw her goal chance rattle off the crossbar in the 52nd minute.

Emily Harley contributed two points to Ratoath’s tally. Cooke did very well in the build-up to Harley’s second point as she claimed a throw-ball, won a free, took a quick solo and go and set up the midfielder for a nice score in the 59th minute.

In the 61st minute, Aoife Tormey produced a great stop to deny Fitzpatrick a goal. The referee played a generous six minutes of injury time, during which St Vincent’s scored two goals courtesy of McKenna and Laura Leonard. When the official eventually did blow his full-time whistle it confirmed Ratoath as Ladies Leinster Club JFC champions.

Ratoath: Aoife Tormey; Cara Reidy, Emma McGill, Louise Gaffney; Marina Kelly, Aoife Kelly, Louise Byrne; Emily Harley (0-2), Leila Byrne; Rebecca McIntyre, Amy Gaffney (0-2), Sophie Donnelly; Zara McKeigue (2-1), Aine Cooke (1-1), Laura Kelly (0-3 two frees). Subs: Fiona McNerney for Donnelly 40m, Niamh Murray for M Kelly 48m, Bronagh O’Sullivan for L Kelly 58m, Roisin Flynn for Cooke 60m, Beibhinn Murphy for A Kelly 63m.

St Vincent’s: Louise Hennessy; Kate McGovern, Isabel Fitzpatrick, Clodagh O’Gorman; Róisín Rooney, Tessa Lambe, Isabelle Dunne; Eimear Adamson, Róisín Gilmore; Eabha Murray, Ava Lambe (0-5 two fres), Hannah Murphy; Caitlinn McKenna (1-2), Robin Fitzpatrick, Aoife Gallagher. Subs: Dearbhla Parker for Gallagher half-time, Emma Broderick for Murphy 40m, Laura Leonard (1-1) for Gilmore 48m.

Referee: Barry Foley (Wicklow).