Owens puts Dubs into League final
NICOLE OWENS was the late match-winner as TG4 All-Ireland champions Dublin booked a Lidl National League Division 1 final appearance against Mayo on May 6.
Mick Bohan’s Sky Blues will hope to seal a very first top-flight League title when they tackle the Westerners in what will be a repeat of last year’s TG4 senior decider.
Bohan’s charges never led through the 60 minutes before Owens started the move that resulted in her hitting the net in the final minute to give Dublin the advantage.
Galway hit the ground running at the start, finishing to the net inside 60 seconds.
On 23 minutes Áine McDonagh found Mairead Seoighe to her right and she found the top corner to make it 2-3 to 1-3.
Leonard and Olivia Divilly added points as Dublin went down to 14 players following an Olwen Carey yellow card.
For large periods of the second half, Dublin struggled to unlock their opponents, and Galway were 2-7 to 1-5 up on 38 minutes thanks to points by Coen and Leonard.
Lauren Magee pointed for Dublin and they gradually reduced the deficit through McEvoy, Noelle Healy and Aherne, before Owens bagged the cruical goal, interchanging passes with a couple of team mates before firing into the net. DUBLIN: C Trant; M Byrne, D Murphy, L Caffrey; S McGrath (A Kane 40), S Goldrick, N Collins; L Magee (S Killeen 57), O Carey; H O’Neill (J Dunne 42), N McEvoy, L Davey (E Rutledge 53); E Flanagan (N Owens HT), N Healy, S Aherne. Scorers: N McEvoy 1-1; N Owens 1-0; S Aherne 0-3 (3f); N Healy 0-2; S Goldrick, L Magee 0-1 GALWAY: D Gower; F Cooney, S Lynch, S Burke; C Cooney, N Ward, C Cormican; L Gannon, O Divilly; A McDonagh, T Leonard, A Davoren; M Seoighe (E Reaney 54), S Conneally (R Leonard 41), L Coen (D Brennan 46). Scorers: T Leonard 0-5 (4f); L Coen 1-1; M Seoighe 1-0; O Divilly 0-1. Referee: Seamus Mulvihill (Kerry).