Wicklow ladies notch third league draw
DOWN WICKLOW 0-11 0-11
WICKLOW have recorded their third draw of the 2020 Lidl national football league campaign, following a hard-fought 0-11 to 0-11 stalemate with Division 3 promotion hopefuls Down on Sunday afternoon.
Neither side could separate from the other throughout a very competitive game in the Ulster county. Both would enjoy twopoint advantages at several points in both halves, but did not have the final bit of quality required to win the day. Down would overturn such a deficit at the end of the firsthalf to into the break 0-6 apiece, while Wicklow would come from behind themselves towards the end of the game, with a late Laura Hogan free securing the draw.
Having registered their first win of the campaign with a comprehensive 5-18 to 0-8 win over Sligo at the end of February, in addition to two draws and one defeat from their other three games, Mark Murnaghan’s side were going in search of a confidence boosting win ahead of the championship in the summer.
Wicklow made a good start to that end, with Aoife Gorman putting them into a 0-1 to no score lead inside the first couple of minutes. Natasha Ferris levelled the score from the angle, before Sarah Dougherty put the home side in front with a free shortly thereafter.
The visitors responded to going behind in fine fashion, with Laura Hogan levelling the scores off her weaker left foot, before Gorman saw a shot at goal go narrowly wide of the left-hand post. Not to be deterred, Wicklow went on
The Wicklow ladies football team who earned their third draw of this year’s league campaign.
to take a two-point lead through scores from Laura Hogan and a well-crafted Sinead McGettigan point.
Wicklow lost Niamh McGettigan to injury before Down levelled matters through a class Natasha Ferris score on 18 minutes. Despite Down’s ability to keep themselves within reach of Wicklow, the visitors were the stronger side in the first half, with Jackie Kinch orchestrating things going forward, while they looked steely at the back.
Laura Hogan put them back in front from a free, before Lorna Fusciardi reasserted their two-point lead with a score coming at the end of patient possession. Despite the run of play being in their favour, Wicklow were unable to distance themselves from their hosts, as Jessica Foy scoring from play to, once again, bring the sides level. Hers would be the final score of the
half, as the two teams went into the break deadlocked at 0-6 to 0-6.
While they were the superior team in the first half, and continued to impress in the second, Wicklow were unable to turn their advantage into scores on the board, as Down held Murnaghan’s side to their third draw of the year.
Down started the half in the same impressive fashion that Wicklow had in the first. Kate McKay and Jessica Foy (free) put them into a 0-8 to 0-6 advantage inside the first five minutes, before Natasha Ferris preserved that two-point advantage after Laura Hogan had reduced the arrears to a minimum with another free.
Wicklow’s usually potent forwards were being frustrated by a deep-lying Down defence.
Whereas Jackie Kinch was causing problems in between the lines in the first half, she was finding much less space in the second.
Despite this, they came back into the game and drew level through a pair of Meadbh Deeney points, the second of which coming from open play.
Down took the lead once again through Natasha Ferris, but Wicklow persevered and drew level with a fine score from wide on the right by Sarah Miley, before Down took the lead again going into the final ten minutes.
The close-fought nature of the contest made the draw an inevitability, which is exactly what happened when Laura Hogan slotted a final free of the game to bring them together at 0-11 to 0-11. Hogan looked to have the chance to win the game with a late free, only for referee Kieran McKeever to overturn the decision, bringing the game to an end a couple of minutes later for Wicklow’s third draw of the league season.
Down: Natasha Fer
Scorers:
ris (0-5), Jessica Foy (0-2; 0-1f), Aoife Keown, Eimear Fitzpatrick, Kate McKay (0-1 each), Sarah Dougherty (0-1f).
Wicklow: Laura Hogan (0-5; 0-3f), Meadbh Deeney (0-2; 0-1f), Aoife Gorman, Lorna Fusciardi, Sarah Miley, and Sinead McGettigan (0-1 each),
Shannon O’Reilly; Adair Trainor, Ciara Byrne, Eve McArdle; Orla Duffy, Sarah
DOWN:
Dougherty, Mairead Kavanagh; Aoife Keown, Mary Adegbamiye; Aoibheann McCarvill, Jessica Foy, Kate McKay; Eimear Fitzpatrick, Natasha Ferris, Megan Doherty.
WICKLOW:
Kim Connors; Emily Mulhall, Sarah Jane Winders, Lucy Dunne; Loran Fusciardi, Laurie Ahern, Jessie Nolan Byrne; Niamh McGettigan, Aoife Gorman; Sarah Miley, Laura Hogan, Sinead McGettigan; Clodagh Fox, Jackie Kinch, Meadhbh Deeney.
REFEREE:
Kieran McKeever (Armagh).