Coca Cola Meath Ladies SFC Semi-Final
Seneschalstown 2-11 St Ultans 6-13
Seneschalstown’s attempt to reach the Coca Cola Senior Ladies Championship Final came unstuck as there were defeated by St Ultans at the penultimate hurdle in a balmy Rathkenny on Tuesday. On a night when nothing seemed to go right for the Seneschalstown girls, credit is due to St Ultans who performed well in every sector of the field and deservedly won the game.
Coca Cola Meath Ladies SFC Semi-Final
Seneschalstown 2-11 St Ultans 6-13
Seneschalstown’s attempt to reach the Coca Cola Senior Ladies Championship Final came unstuck as there were defeated by St Ultans at the penultimate hurdle in a balmy Rathkenny on Tuesday. On a night when nothing seemed to go right for the Seneschalstown girls, credit is due to St Ultans who performed well in every sector of the field and deservedly won the game.
A good start was vital but it was the Ultans who came out of the blocks quickest. The winners opened the scoring in the fourth minute and had already posted two wides at this stage and their first major came two minutes later. St. Ultans had two further goal chances but shots fizzed across the Seneschalstown area and out of play. Another four points were tagged on in the first quarter by the Ultans while Emer Smith saw her long rage shot come back off the angle of crossbar and post and bounce straight to the grateful arms of the Ultans defender.
Indeed, every breaking ball appeared to fall into the arms of an Ultans player who were very sharp in reacting to situations. Kiah Geraghty opened Seneschalstown’s account in the eighteenth minute with a point from play while Louise Coyle followed up with another two minutes later and Fiona O’Rourke added a third point soon after from a well worked short free after Nina Murphy was fouled.
St. Ultans tagged on another point before Coyle launched over one of the best points of the night following a good interception from Ailbhe Rooney at the back before the ball was transferred quickly through Roisin Commons and Amy Gilsenan to Coyle who did the needful. O’Rourke added another point in the twenty second minute and the Ultans lead had been more than halved and was now down to four points. However, on the run into half time the team in green and black tagged on four further points with a solitary response from a free from Stacey Grimes to leave the half time score at 1-10 to 0-6 in favour of the reigning champions.
The second half started with Kiah Geraghty splitting the posts with a fine point from play but St. Ultans tagged on their second goal a minute later. In the thirty third minute following a foul on Amy Gilsenan, a St. Ultans player was shown a yellow card with Grimes converting the free. Grimes added another free in the following minutes and two minutes later launched over a fine long range point from play. Amy Gilsenan who was due to be on a family holiday which had to be cancelled because of the recent change to the fixtures schedule was causing the Ultans defence problems with her driving runs and added a point in the thirty seventh minute.
All the good work was undone a minute later when following a slip in the Seneschalstown defence St. Ultans got in for their third goal. St. Ultans got their fourth in the forty fourth minute following a stop from Lisa Mullen the ball broke kindly to the Ultans player who tapped home. Indeed, the same scenario was to happen again as St Ultans tagged on a further 2-01 in the between the forty seventh and fifty second minutes. In the fifty third minute Gilsenan scored her sides first goal after a driving run up through the heart of the Ultans defence and a minute later Coyle flicked the ball to the Ultans net. St. Ultans had the last say on the scoreboard with a point from play with 5 minutes of normal time left to ensure a deserved victory on the night.
On a night when they were well beaten by a St. Ultans side which played some scintillating football with their running game very impressive Seneschalstown still had some top class performances of their own with the likes of Edel McGrane who was typically resolute at full back, Amy Gilsenan who caused endless trouble with her piercing runs and Kiah Geraghty who showed excellently throughout and linked the play expertly all turning in super performances while the display of U-16 player Shona Loughran must also be noted for she did a stellar job following her first half introduction.
Seneschalstown: Lisa Mullen, Orla McMahon, Edel McGrane, Ailbhe Rooney, Seanaidh Hickey, Lizzy Doran, Stacey Grimes (0-4), Mena Sheridan, Fiona O’Rourke (0-2), Emer Smith, Amy Gilsenan (1-1), Kiah Geraghty (0-2), Roisin Commons, Louise Coyle (1-2), Nina Murphy.
Subs Used: Shona Loughran, Ruth Commons, Siobhan Sheridan, Aishling Taaffe, Mary Murray.
