Tir na nOg 1-8 Connacht Ladies 3-7
Connacht Ladies drew first blood in the Ladies Senior
Football championship with a victory over a battling Tir na nOg team. Center forward, Aisling Reynolds was the
center of their forward activities, while the back line held up when pressured
by the Brighton side. It was a victory
soured by a serious injury to Maria Kelly who had to be brought to the hospital
for treatment.
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| Connacht Ladies came through in the second half to claim both points. |
Two first half goals put Connacht Ladies in the driver’s
seat. Aisling Reynolds was instrumental
of much of the positive things happening for the westerners. At wing forward Reynolds finished a lovely
move to net and put the Westerners into a four point lead. Tir na nOg had got off to the better start
with points from Danielle Pugh, Emma Connolly, and Niamh Daly, Daly pointing
from a very tight angle. The Brighton team
were moving the ball well and seemed to have found an early groove.
Connacht ladies came back into the game in a big way,
however, Reynolds popped over three frees in a row as the Tir na nOg back line
were forced into fouls. Then came the
goal, and was soon followed by a second from Maria Kelly. The defending champions were looking good and
the back line tightened things up, with Honor Ennis at corner back working
hard. Niamh Brick stemmed the Connacht
tide just before the break with a well worked point, and at the break Connacht
held a 2-5 to 0-4 lead.
Tir na nOg started the second period well, and early on we
inside on three occasions as the spaces behind the opponents rearguard started
to open up. Caroline Nee first blazed a
low shot past the far post, then Niamh Crowe was in and her shot was saved by
Jackie McDonagh. The rebound was put
over the bar by Crowe, and finally Nee was put in and finished her shot into
the back of the net. After the flurry
the Connacht Ladies lead had been reduced to two points.
Play was stopped for a lengthy period following an injury to
Maria Kelly for whom an ambulance was required. Following the stoppage Connacht ladies
restored their advantage with a goal and a point from Reynolds. There were good saves at either end from
McDonagh and Niamh Hynes before Roisin Boyce made it a three score game with a
point. Tir na nOg had it all to do to
pull it out of the bag.
Connacht Ladies, however, maintained the advantage and
really should have added to the tally, however some wayward shooting meant that
the door was left open. Trudi McLaughlin
reduced the deficit to the two goals with a few minutes left, and Tir na nOg
tried to work the ball into the danger zone for a goal, however, with Jane Ward
helping out in the back line Connacht Ladies held firm.
Tir na nOg: N. Hynes,
M. Sayers, R. Stapleton, C. Murphy, N. Daly, A. McKenna, M. Murphy, E.
Connolly, D. Pugh, C. Dalton, C. Nee, T. McLaughlin, N. Brick, A. Leady, M.
Mullan. Connacht: J. McDonagh, H. Kilgallon, H. Ennis, A. Kerr,
S. Cleary, A. Sheridan, C. Boyle, R. Boyce, M. Other, A. Finnerty, A. Reynolds,
R. McElligott, J. Ward, N. Crowe, C. Ryan.
By Rory O'Donnell
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