Saturday June 28 - Ladies Senior Football: Boston Shamrocks v Connacht Ladies

Boston Shamrocks 4-8 Connacht Ladies 2-11

Boston Shamrocks overcame the disappointment of their opening game defeat with an impressive win over Connacht Ladies in their second championship game.  After a great start for the reigning champion Connacht Ladies, the Shamrocks settled down and held their opponents scoreless for the last 20 minutes of the half, and weathered a late comeback to hold on and win their first 2 points of the championship.

Boston Shamrocks and Connacht Ladies battled it out Saturday afternoon.

The first 10 minutes was all Connacht Ladies.  Points from Jane Ward and Catriona Smith were followed by two expertly taken goals from Sinead Greene.  Connacht Ladies seemed to dominate to the extent that the Shamrocks struggled to get the ball out of their own half.  Last year Connacht Ladies strolled through the Boston championship, and it seemed for a while as though that dominance was set to continue into 2014.  Eventually the Shamrocks settled and began to play some good football.  Britney Maguire at wing back set the tone by winning some tough ball, and her teammates eventually responded.  It took 16 minutes to register a score for the Shamrocks, but once Marika Cotterell's shot went over the bar the scores began to flow.  Leanne McCrystal at full forward came into her own, registering a goal, followed by a point.  After Caroline Heraty saved well, McCrystal put a second goal in to level the scores.  The Shamrocks continued to press home the advantage with points from Carol Ann Byrne, Clodagh mcGovern, and another from Byrne. 

Early on it looked as though Jane Ward and Co. would have their way
 with the Shamrocks,but it did not turn out that way in the end.

It was a three point lead that greeted the Shamrocks to the field for the second half.  The ladies in green and gold put away two more goals early in the half.  McCrystal finished her hat trick and the relentless Marika Cotterell also tallied a major.  Connacht Ladies awoke, but had an 8 point mountain to climb.  With the Shamrocks backs holding firm their opponents found it hard to make a breakthrough.  However, Sinead Greene and 2 points from Catriona Foley helped to build some momentum.  The final 15 minutes saw the Shamrocks see their lead shrink, but with time on their side, it remained intact by the final whistle.  An encouraging win for the Shamrocks to get them off the mark in the senior championship.

Shamrocks:  N. Donovan, B. Mcguire, D. Kearney, L. Larkin, B. Devlin, C. McEleaney, E. King, S. McLaughlin, N. Fennell, K. Scanlon, L. Cronin, D. Hallahan, M. Cotterell, L. McCrystal, C. McGovern.  Connacht ladies:  C. Heraty, A. Kerr, K. Cunningham, Siobhan, R. Choal, H. Poff, M. Mullen, C. Moran, C. McDonnell, N. Morgan, C. Foley, S. Greene, C. Smith, J. Ward, K. Lynch.

By Rory O'Donnell