The Down Ladies team narrowly missed out on
promotion to Division One as they suffered a
heart breaking one point defeat to Clare in
the Division Two semi final in Athlone on Sunday.
The loss was made all the worse by the fact
that they completely dominated Clare for the
opening quarter, amassing an eleven point lead
without reply at the twenty minute mark. However,
a combination of atrocious weather and poor
Down play allowed Clare back into the game and
to their credit, they took their chances to
clinch promotion.
Down started the game with
a bang as Sinead Fegan captured the ball from
the throw in and found Aileen Pyers on the forty
five yard line. Her deft layoff allowed Michaela
Downey space to hit the first point of the day.
Her point was swiftly followed by an excellent
angled strike from Sonya McGaw who pointed shortly
after a Michaela Downey goal was ruled out for
a square ball. With five minutes gone, the ball
had yet to go into Down’s half as they
dominated possession. Grainne McClean got onto
the scoreboard after six minutes, hitting over
after a good cross field ball from Michaela
Downey. Points four and five came from Downey
again and Sinead Fegan as Down showed a lot
of patience in making scoring opportunities
and taking their chances well with the wind
in their favour. Castlewellan player Lisa Morgan
continued the onslaught, hitting an excellent
point herself before hitting a probing high
ball into the square for the forwards to chase.
The breaking ball from the kick fell to Michaela
Downey who made no mistake in hitting home from
two yards out. Two further points from Sonya
McGaw after excellent work from Kyla Trainor
and Sinead Fegan brought Down’s lead to
eleven points with fifteen minutes gone. Clare’s
first attack came on the twenty minute mark
came from Niamh keane who soloed up the middle
of the field, but Eliza Downey and Grainne McClean
did well to dispossess her and clear any danger
to the Down defence. Clare finally got on the
score board after twenty two minutes, as Majella
Griffin fired over from twenty yards out. With
a score on the board, the Clare team, to their
credit, regained their composure and really
got themselves back into the game with three
minutes of the half remaining as centre half
forward Marie Kelly found corner forward Eimear
Considine who cut inside her player before striking
a crisp shot, low to ‘keeper Elaine McCourt’s
left. Two further points from the other corner
forward Aine Kelly saw the teams head for the
changing rooms with Down holding a five point
lead. Half time score, Down 1-8 Clare 1-3.
The teams coming out for the
second half were met by a veritable blizzard,
as the wind picked up and snow descended on
the Athlone pitch, making playing conditions
very difficult. Playing with the wind and a
new found confidence, Clare go off to a stormer,
firing the ball long from the throw, with Majella
Griffin capturing and firing into the Down net.
They followed this with a swift point to bring
the gap down to a single point. The strength
of the wind meant that Down had to try to retain
possession right into the Clare fourteen yard
line, with their kicks even from the twenty
yard line being held up in the wind. The middle
section of the half didn’t produce too
many scores for either side. Down had much of
the possession but gave away too many unnecessary
turnovers and were unlucky as they struck the
post on two occasions and hit several close
wides. They did extend the lead back to two
as Downey scored from a free close in. Clare’s
utilization of the wind though was excellent
and they again fired the ball up with Niamh
Keane hitting the Down net again. Michaela Downey
pointed again with one minute of normal time
remaining, giving her side hope of a draw but
when referee Ciarain Groome blew the game up
without the expected injury time, Down hearts
were broken as they lost both the match and
promotion in a contest which they were more
than capable of winning.
While the weather conditions
did play a significant part in this game, Down’s
second half performance was below par, particularly
given the sparkling football they showed in
the first quarter. Too many turnovers, slack
passes and wides at crucial times came back
to haunt them but they will now need to lift
themselves as their attention turns to the Championship.
They will face Tyrone in the Ulster Semi-final
on 15th June. If the team can produce the football
they are capable of over sixty minutes, it should
prove quite an encounter. For now, they are
left to rue missed opportunities and thoughts
of what could and should have been.
Down team: Elaine McCourt,
Eliza Downey, Karen Gribben, Niamh Lennon, Emma
Mulhern, Aoibheann Downey, Sinead Fegan (0-1),
Sinead Murphy, Kyla Trainor, Grainne McClean
(0-2), Lisa Morgan (0-1), Orla Fegan, Sonya
McGaw (0-3), Michaela Downey (1-5), Aileen Pyers.
Subs Used: Jenna Connell, Natasha Ferris
