- Seneschalstown 1-11 Boardsmill 1-9
Seneschalstown Junior Ladies secured a place in the knockout stages of the Kepak Junior C championship with a hard-fought victory over Boardsmill under the lights in Fr Tully Park.
A tale of two halves was the story of this encounter. Seneschalstown had the upper hand in the first half but had to withstand a surge from the visitors in the second half.
The home side went into an early lead when Ruth Commons put over a free in the 3rd minute and despite dominating possession it took until the 10th minute to increase the advantage when Zoe Kirwan, who was playing her first game back following injury, knocked over her first point from play. In the 12th minute the Boardsmill keeper was called into action when blocking a goal bound shot from Megan Connolly. A minute later Commons increased the lead to 3 points and almost immediately to 4 points with two quickfire scores. Boardsmill opened their account on 18 minutes with a point, but this was cancelled out immediately when Kelly Smith knocked over a point from play. Boardsmill cut the deficit to 3 again with a pointed free. The run-in to half time was to prove very fruitful for the home team as Kirwan tagged on 1-3 from play in a 5-minute spell with Lucy Lynch also getting on the score sheet. Boardsmill got their 3rd point on the stroke of half time to leave the HT score at 1-9 to 0-3 to the Furze girls.
When the second half commenced, Boardsmill showed their intent when knocking over 3 points in the opening 4 minutes of the half. The home side were struggling and finding it difficult to make any headway as the away side had their tails up. The visitors continued to chip away at the lead and had it down to 4 points with 10 minutes remaining. The home side did enjoy a spell of dominance, but a number of chances went abegging. The visitor’s keeper was also called into action to deny Darcy Kilfeather from close range. Kiwan then converted a free for the home side in the 21st minute. With 5 minutes of normal time remaining the visitors scored a goal to cut the deficit to 2 points. On 27 minutes, Chole Williams scored a welcome point for the home side to push the margin out to 3. The visitors pushed hard for an equalizing goal but could only manage to get a point in the remaining minutes.
This result ensures a place in the knock-out stages as two wins and a draw from their 3 group games will ensure a finish in the top two for the team. The result of the remaining fixture in the group will determine who is first and second in the group.
Scorers: Zoe Kirwan 1-5, Ruth Commons 0-3, Kelly Smith 0-1. Lucy Lynch 0-1, Chloe Williams 0-1.
Team: Katie Lawlor, Catherine Monaghan, Aisling Taaffe, Catherine Smyth, Caoimhe Clarke, Orla Garry, Grace Finnegan, Aly Finnegan, Darcey Kilfeather, Megan Connolly, Zoe Kirwan, Lucy Lynch, Chloe Williams, Ruth Commons, Kelly Smith.
Subs: Katie Geraghty for Orla Garry.
Ava Jane Ryan, Niamh Mulvany, Lana Wardick, Holly Knowles, Sarah Jane Donnelly, Kellie Geraghty, Moya Watters, Katie Finnegan, Eve Wardick-Clarke.
