A crushing defeat Wicklow no match for Offaly in one-sided league clash

at Bray Emmets

Quegan, Rachel Brennan, and Niamh Killeen (3) to make it 7-12 to nothing.

Finally, with 20 minutes on the clock, Wicklow got their first score of the afternoon, when Jessica Maxwell calmly stroked a free between the posts. It would be the visitors who would have the final say on the first-half proceedings, however, as Niamh Walsh flicked the ball over the head of a defender into the patch of Killeen, who made no mistake in smashing the ball into the top right corner for a hat-trick of her own to send Offaly into the half-time interval 8-12 to 0-1 in front.

The Faithful County – and Rachel Brennan, in particular – went about the second-half in much the same way that they did in the first. Brennan restarted the scoring with a point, before sealing her double hat-trick with her sixth goal after easily shrugging off the attempted tackles of Kate Campbell.

Wicklow would enjoy a more fruitful second-half, when compared with the first. Aishling Shannon split the posts with an exquisite strike from the 45’, before Maxwell brought the home side’s scoring exploits to a conclusion with a free to make it 9-13 to 0-3.

From there, Offaly rekindled their ruthless streak that all-but ended the game after the first 10 minutes of the first-half. Eabha Flanagan and Elizabeth Harding sprung from the bench to get a point each, the latter of which coming following an exquisite reverse ball from the irrepressible Rachel Brennan. Harding went one step farther and scored the 10th goal of the day. In an apropos sense, Rachel Brennan then got her team’s final goal of the day, before bringing her personal scoring exploits to an end with a point from an Aoife Walsh set-up.

While Brennan had her fill of scores, Offaly still had a couple more left in the tank. Harding got her second point of the day, before it was left to Niamh Killeen to bring Wicklow’s torturous afternoon to a close with the final score of the day to finish the game at 11-19 to 0-3.

Wicklow: Jessica Maxwell (2f), Aishling Shannon (0-1).

Offaly: Rachel Brennan (7-4), Niamh Killeen (3-4), Elizabeth Harding (1-2), Aoife Walsh (0-3; 0-2f; 0-1 45’), Niamh Walsh (0-3), Charlotte Quegan (0-1), Eabha Flanagan (0-1), Leanne Scully (0-1).

Scorers: WICKLOW:

Jenny Tyrrell; Casey Kelly, Amy Barrett, Emma Doyle; Emma Murphy, Niamh Shannon, Kate Campbell; Jade Byrne, Ciara Kelly; Aishling Shannon, Nicole Curran, Emily-Rose Byrne; Sive Byrne, Lucy Rooney, Jessica Maxwell. Subs: Ciara Clancy (for E. Doyle), Emma Doyle (for A. Barrett).

OFFALY:

Michelle Gleeson; Cathy Fogarty, Deirdre Cashen, Aoibhe Whelehan; Sarah Guinan, Kaitlyn Kennedy, Siobhan Killeen; Leanne Scully, Charlotte Quegan; Orla Maher, Aoife Walsh, Rebecca McGarry; Niamh Walsh, Rachel Brennan, Niamh Killeen.Subs: Niamh Ryan (for R. McGarry), Elizabeth Harding (for O. Maher), Eabha Flanagan (for A. Whelehan), Orla Maher (for N. Walsh).

REFEREE:

Alan Doheny (Laois)