Adult Ladies vs St. Margarets
Thu, 17th May 2007

Result: 5-14 to 3-08

Don’t let the score-line fool you, but this was the hardest one to date. Our opponents were strong and tough and could play a bit as well. The conditions were awful but fair play, both teams got stuck in from the off.

We lost the toss and played with the aid of a big wind in the first half. We started well and got a few early points which I thought would settle us but our hosts really tore into us.

They got back to level at three points a piece and then after catching a great ball on the goal line our keeper Lynsay Flood was dispossessed (illegally I thought) and they scored a soft goal. Two minutes later Lyndsay caught another ball and she was tackled in the same manner and she got a free out?

It was nip and tuck for the first half and our midfield pairing of Laura Dowling and Ailish McKenna struggled hard. The backs in the main played solidly enough but we allowed too may of their players to wander and weren’t tight enough for long stretches. Bairbre, Rachel and Tracey (great tonight) are playing well as unit and are developing a great understanding.

We knew that changes would have to be made and with the conditions in mind I had kept four strong players on the bench for just this reason. Emma Bates came in at mid-field and Ailish dropped back to centre half where she was definitely more comfortable. Grace replaced Bairbre at corner back and with Noelle and Deborah coming into the attack we hoped that the fresh legs would give us added impetus.

They started the livelier and tagged on a couple of more points. It seemed to take us a long time to settle and every time we scored, they replied, we were going nowhere slowly. Just as we seemed to be getting up a head of steam we were rocked again by another goal but as before the girls battled hard and scored some lovely points.

Then as before a goal from out of the blue from St.Margarets put them four points up. I was tearing my hair out, we are better than this I was thinking to myself and with nine minutes to go it needed a big effort to pull this one out the bag. What happened over the next five minutes is what makes ladies football so hugely entertaining.

A marvellous move involving no fewer than eight players ended with a tremendous goal from Emma Lyons. Two more fabulous goals followed, from Laura Dowling and Lorna Hillery. Game over. St Margaret’s heads dropped and with a few more well taken points the game ended in a twelve point win for the ‘knock.

A player who has been impressing me more and more with every game is Tracey Browne and tonight she capped it off with a P.O.M performance. Well done Trace (tough as nails).

Many thanks to Pat Stritch and the St.Margarets club for their hospitality and we look forward to seeing them in Porterstown for the League encounter.

Next Wed we play Scoill Ui Chonail in Porterstown at 7.30 pm which should be a humdinger. Plenty of support would be appreciated.

Team
Lyndsay Flood, Bairbre Mulvanny, Rachel Fleming, Tracey Browne, Leanne Quinn, Louise Mahony, Leanne Ryan, Ailish McKenna, Laura Dowling Michele Hoare , Lorna Hillery, Edel Quinn, Aoife Hayes, Emma Lyons, Diane O’Brien, Subs: Emma Bates for Leanne Ryan , Grace O’Neill for Bairbre , Deborah Geraghty for Aoife , Noelle Farrell for Edel