Michael Lyng Motors Hyundai Senior Championship Rd 3.    –   Fri 1 Sept

Michael Lyng Motors Hyundai Senior Championship Rd 3.    –   Fri 1 Sept

Tullaroan 1-07 Piltown 1-20

Piltown Power past Tullaroan by Jason O’Brien, Piltown PRO

A determined Tullaroan were beaten by a well organised , determined and accurate Piltown side on a beautiful evening for this Round 3 clash. The home side started really well as they scored the first point from the hurley of Niamh Dowling from a placed ball on the 45. This was soon followed by a free from the same hurley in the 5th minute as Tullaroan were shooting towards the score board and were putting scores on it. The two Doyle sisters hit back for Piltown , as Aoife lit up the right wing with her pace and accuracy, and sister Aine showed her accuracy from the opposite wing with a free from wide on the left.

Tullaroan were struggling with their puck outs , as the Piltown midfield and half forwards had numbers under the puck out and then hunger to win the breaking ball. It started to pay off after a few initial wides and missed chances before Sophie Holden continued her fine form with her first point of the evening in the 12th minute. Aoife Doyle then got her second with a blistering run down the wing and an elegant strike over the bar.

Piltown were getting into their stride , but Tullaroan were capable of scoring also as Eimear Lanigan replied with a point for the home side in the 14th minute. They were getting a few chances now and Aoife Norris was under pressure at times as Grace Keoghan , Sinead Lanigan  and Niamh Dowling were dropping some shots dangerously into the goal mouth just short of a score. Norris dealt with them comfortably though , and with the rock solid Jenni ODea , Laura Norris and Lorraine Long in front of her they held Tullaroan scoreless for the rest of the half.

Piltown weren’t struggling with scores though as they made good use of the channels and the wide pitch. Aoife Doyle scored her third of the night in the 15th minute, Sophie Holden followed that with two in the 16th and 20th minutes, and Katie Power got two before the half time whistle went to leave the score at 0-03 to 0-09 in favour of Piltown

The second half started with Sophie Holden scoring a beauty over her shoulder and it started to look like the away side were going to run away with this game, Rachel Brennan raised a white flag from a run in front of the posts, and then a crucial moment as Sinead Keoghan got the ball inside the 21 and she blasted a low shot into the bottom right corner to give Norris no chance in goal, and suddenly it was a 3 point game. Would this spur Tullaroan on and back into the game?

Katie Power showed her influence though as she received plenty of ball from Kellyann Doyle , turned and ran at defenders. Power was now causing panic as she laid ball off to Heather Phelan, and she made no mistake as she scored a free (Power was fouled) and hand passed to Phelan for two quick points scored in reply to the goal. Katie scored a point of her own as Tullaroan were under savage pressure now, with Aoife Doyle getting her 5th of the night to put the lead back out to 7points after 43 minutes.

It was a great reaction to conceding a goal, the team showed calmness and determination to quell any comeback that Tullaroan might have thought about after getting a goal. Niamh Dowling replied with a point in the 46th minute , but it looked like the game was out of their reach now as Sophie Holden raised another white flag , before Katie Power burst through the middle and buried a low powerful shot into the bottom left giving Ely Holland no chance. Niamh Dowling scored a 45 and a free to finish the Tullaroan scoring for the night and a tally of 5points for herself.

Piltown were still dominating the puck out and the pressure was always on the home sides defence, Leah Cooney got a score in the 55th minute and points from Sophie, Katie and Aine ended the match.

A good display by Piltown , they had to work hard to win ball and their forwards were clinical when in a position to score.

Final Score Tullaroan 1-07 Piltown 1-20

Scorers – Tullaroan – Niamh Dowling 0-5 (2fs, 2 45s), Sinead Keoghan 1-0, Eimear Lanigan, Rachel Brennan 0-1 each

Piltown – Katie Power 1-4, Sophie Holden 0-6, Aoife Doyle 0-5, Aine Doyle 0-2 (1f), Heather Phelan 0-2 (1f), Leah Cooney 0-1