Michael Lyng Motors Senior League Championship
Windgap 2-7 Young Irelands 1-6
Windgap made it two wins from two in the senior league championship with a hard fought win against Young Irelands on a very pleasant Sunday morning in Windgap. This was expected to be a close encounter as there was very little to choose between these sides when they last met in the senior knockout round last year and so it proved again with the crucial score arguably being a long range free from Windgap’s Ona Kennedy which dropped into the Young Irelands net shortly after half time – scores were hard to come by throughout the hour and this major score largely gave Windgap the cushion to see out a second league win. For Young Irelands, they have come out the wrong side of two tight senior matches in successive weeks but they will know that with improvements particularly in attack, they will more than match any opponents they meet later this year.
Windgap opened very sharply as the Gowran girls struggled to settle in the opening minutes of the match and they looked in firm control as they opened up a 0-4 to 0-0 lead inside the opening six minutes with scores from the impressive Rachel O’Meara(2) and Ciara O’Shea (2). Gradually, Young Irelands fought their way back into the contest and they shaded the rest of the first half as their defence led by county star Tiffanie Fitzgerald got to grips with the Windgap attack while further afield, Ciara O’Keeffe, Sarah O’Donnell and Julie Lennon started making inroads into the Windgap defence. By the 20th minute, they had reduced the deficit to the minimum thanks to scores from Sarah O’Donnell and Ciara O’Keeffe (2). Windgap looked to have regained the momentum with a smart ground pull to the net for a goal from Rachel O’Meara in the 22nd minute, but the Gowran girls were undeterred and after a fine goal of their own from Ciara O’Keeffe in the 28th minute, they levelled proceedings at 1-4 each with a good point from play by Eimer Brennan in the 30th minute.
The second half saw further close battles as both sides fought for the upper hand an scores were hard to come by partly due to the strong defending by both sides who both employed a sweeper during this period – One Kennedy proceeded to have a string performance for Windgap over this period which helped them arrest the momentum that Young Irelands had enjoyed in the latter part of the first half. Indeed, Ona’s goal from a long range free in the 34th minute early in this half opened up a three point lead which was added to by a fine Rachel O’Meara point from play a minute later. Young Irelands continued to make the match a fierce battle but they now struggled for scores with Windgap’s half backline of Caoimhe Power, Ona Kennedy and Moya Egan getting to grips with the Young Irelands attack. Both sides did add two further points in the rest of this low scoring half (Windgap’s scores came from Megan Kenneally and Ciara O’Shea (free) while Young Irelands added points from Emma Farrell and Ciara O’Keeffe). Despite the best efforts of all, no further scores occurred during this period and both sides will know that this is an area that needs improvement when round three of the league championship resumes in two weeks time
Windgap: Ali Kennedy, Sophie McGowan, Margaret Purcell, Eimear Moylan, Caoimhe Power, Ona Kennedy, Moya Egan, Gillian Costello, Orlaith O’Shea, Molly Walsh, Ciara O’Shea, Sarah McCarthy, Shonna King, Megan Kenneally, Rachel O’Meara.
Young Irelands: Hannah Brennan, Niamh Walsh, Eimear Naddy, Aoife Farrell, Mia Murphy, Tiffanie Fitzgerald, Miriam Brennan, Holly Drennan, Ciara O’Keeffe, Eimer Brennan, Sarah O’Donnell, Marie O’Keeffe, Eilish Keating, Julie Lennon, Emma Farrell.
Referee: Conor Everard
By PRO Thu 27th Aug
