Swift departure for Shels ladies

FOXROCK-CABINTEELY SHELMALIER 4-19 1-5

AN UNDERSTRENGTH Shelmalier side had no answer for a star-studded Foxrock-Cabinteely in the Leinster ladies’ football Senior club championship quarter-final in Bray on Sunday.

The Dublin outfit have so much strengthin-depth - boasting an array of talent from across the land - that they can afford to have inter-county players on the bench.

Meanwhile, Shelmalier were missing three of their Wexford stars, and were four short of their county final line-up.

With Sarah Harding-Kenny and Leona Tector injured, Siobhán Cloake unavailable and Róisín Murphy competing in the Intermediate camogie final with Buffers Alley, the Hollymount outfit were well and truly up against it.

However, it didn’t stop Pat Quill’s side from giving it a real go and they were especially competitive in the first-half.

Michelle Harding made an impression with a stellar performance, Deirdre Fox made a few fine saves between the posts, while Deirdre McMahon and Maeve Quill caused the Dublin club problems in defence.

McMahon actually kicked the Wexford club into an early lead, converting a free after Deirdre Byrne was fouled.

She popped over another dead-ball to make it 0-2 each but Amy Ring netted to kick-start the eventual victors.

Michelle Doyle converted a dead-ball after Harding was fouled but another major from the south Dublin club, this time from Hannah O’Reilly, helped them into a 2-4 to 0-3 lead.

Youngster Ailis Neville enhanced her growing reputation with a 24th-minute major as Shels kept fighting.

McMahon kicked another free before the interval but Foxrock-Cabinteely continued to tack on scores and build a 2-8 to 1-4 advantage at the change of ends.

The ‘hosts’ maintained a similar rate in the second period but the Shelmalier scored dried up.

Dublin panel member Hannah O’Neill found the net early in the period and, after a string of points, Laura Nerney shot past Fox to make it 4-16 to 1-4.

Kellie Kearney did add one tick to the Shelmalier side of the scoreboard late on to avoid a second-half shut-out but it wasn’t to be their day.

Shelmalier: Deirdre Fox; Eadaoin Fitzgerald, Sadbh McCarthy, Ceara O’Brien; Michelle Harding, Shauna Murphy, Eleanor Neville; Clara Donnelly, Kellie Kearney (0-1 free); Deirdre Byrne, Lauren Murphy, Michelle Doyle (0-1 free); Maeve Quill, Deirdre McMahon (0-3 frees), Ailis Neville (1-0). Subs. - Mikaela Lanigan, Lisa Quill, Caroline Curran.

THE FERNS St. Aidan’s club has won a digital clock and scoreboard in a competition run by the G.A.A’s official timing sponsor, EirGrid. A winner from each province was drawn at Croke Park by EirGrid External Communications Manager, Valerie Hedin, and the G.A.A. President, John Horan, who is in his first year at the helm of the Association.

This fantastic prize comprises the delivery and installation of a top-of-the-range, LED, digital clock and scoreboard with a radio-controlled handset to manage the score from anywhere in the ground. This will be an invaluable asset for the club.

There were a total of 220 entries for the competition, including 80 from Leinster.

‘We’re absolutely thrilled to win this fantastic prize,’ the Ferns St. Aidan’s Chairman, Johnny Sinnott, said.

‘It comes at a great time for the club, as we also near completion of a major clubhouse extension and redevelopment, which will deliver better facilities than ever before for all hurlers, footballers, and camogie players in Ferns.

‘A new scoreboard had also been on our wish list for a long time, so we’re overjoyed to receive the news that we’ve been successful here, and we say a massive thanks to EirGrid.

‘A word too about the winning photo. It shows the joy on the face of one of our young players, Bill Moulds, after he achieved the dream of scoring a goal in Croke Park.

‘We hope that many more players from Ferns and Wexford go on to score many more goals there too!’

DOIREANN FAHEY of Wexford Youths Women was introduced in the 66th minute for Lucia Lobato as the Republic of Ireland Under-19 team cruised to an easy 7-0 win over Lithuania in their UEFA Championship qualifying round opener in Alytus on Tuesday.

The team qualified for the elite round with a game to spare when they went on to beat the Faroe Islands 3-0 in Marijampole on Friday, and this time Fahey and her club colleague, Aoife Slattery, were both brought on in the 78th minute.

Meanwhile, Rochdale defender Ryan Delaney, that fine prospect from New Ross, has been included on Noel King’s 20-man squad for the UEFA Under-21 European Championship qualifying games away to Israel in Akko on October 11, and Germany in Heidenheim five days later.