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DUBLIN 3-11 DOWN 1-4
The Down
Ladies team bowed out of the Suzuki
National League Playoffs after defeat by
a strong Dublin team in Portmarnock on
Sunday.
Down
made the perfect start with some good
early attacks by Kyla Trainor and
Lyndsey Cunningham. They capitalised on
their possession in spectacular style on
the five minute mark when captain Eilish
McConville fought hard for a 50-50 ball
before a pinpoint pass to Michaela
Downey who duly surged forward and
planted the ball low to the keeper’s
right. Down capitalised on this a
minute later as Bredagh player Kerrie
O’Neill played a tremendous long ball
into
Downey in the right corner.
She subsequently turned her marker
before fisting the ball over the bar for
a four point lead.
The good
start made by Down was to come to an end
as the Dublin team came back into the
game. They got onto the scoreboard just
before the half way mark with a point
from half forward Karen Hopkins. The
score marked the beginning of a purple
patch from the Dubs as the points
reigned in from All Star Mary Nevin and
a goal in the top left hand corner from
full forward Amy McGuinness. Down
regained their composure to fight back
and were unlucky when a Kyla Trainor
strike from fifteen yards was palmed
wide by the excellent Dublin keeper
Cliodhna O’Connor. Dublin promptly
surged up the field to hit two sucker
punch goals before half time, both from
Mary Nevin who caused multiple problems
for the Down defence all afternoon. A
final point from Ballyboden player Fiona
Corcoran left the half time score,
Dublin 3-4 Down 1-1.
The second half didn’t provide the
excitement of the first as Dublin sought
to consolidate their lead. However,
they did extend their lead through the
excellent Karen Hopkins and the former
Down starlet was to notch 1-3 for her
afternoon’s work. Down hit further
scores from Grainne McClean (0-1) and
Michaela Downey (1-3) but the damage had
been done in the first half. Dublin’s
short passing game was tremendous
throughout and their finishing, while
sometimes wayward, was more than enough
to see them through to the semi finals.
The mourne girls will have been
disappointed with the extent of the
defeat, which was accentuated by a
number of Noelle Healy scores near the
end. However, they did show glimpses of
their potential and competed right until
the end, with top performances given by
Michaela Downey and midfielder Aine
Keary.
Down
team: Emma Madine, Bronagh McCurry,
Niamh McGowan, Niamh Lennon, Eilish
McConville (captain), Sinead Murphy,
Sinead Fegan, Kerrie O’Neill, Aine Keary,
Grainne McClean, Kyla Trainor, Michaela
Downey, Lyndsey Cunningham, Maeve
McConville, Geraldine Campbell. Subs
Used: Aileen Pyers, Lisa Morgan, Aveen
McAvoy
Management: John McCarthy, Noel Haughey
On a
positive note for Down, the Minor team
defeated Cavan by 3-15 to 3-7 in the
Ulster Championship. The result
signified tremendous progress for Down
as they have never defeated Cavan at
that age level before. Star performers
for Down included Grainne Kelly, Sinead
Fegan and keeper Christine McCarthy.
The game was a text book display of fast
moving football and the young team will
be hoping to continue their good form
into the next round robin game. |
