TINAHELY TRIUMPH!
Tinbox see off Moorefield in Leinster championship
TINAHELY MOOREFIELD 3-11 3-10
TINAHELY are through to the Leinster Ladies Football Intermediate quarter-final after edging Kildare champions Moorefield in a thrilling game in Tinahely on Saturday afternoon.
The Wicklow girls were forced to dig deep and despite trailing for most of the second half three late Laura Hogan points saw them creep over the line and secure a nerve racking victory.
The game was played at a frantic pace, with brilliant scores on both sides and huge credit must go to the visiting side as they contributed equally to what was a really brilliant game of football.
Tinahely started strong as Hogan kicked a goal and a couple of points early on to establish an early lead. But Moorefield hit the women with a pair of quick fire goals just before half time and held the lead for most of the rest of the game as a late surge of scores saw Tinahely come through an epic match.
It was clear from the first whistle that it was going to be a titanic tussle as both side’s settled into the game early with good points.
Moorefield brought a very strong running game and after a great run from midfielder Amber Masterson the ball was sent over by intercounty star Mary Hulgraine for the first score of the game.
Tinahely came roaring back though and Laura Hogan soon levelled matters with a free from near the left side line and the full forwards afternoon got even better minutes later as she ran in and finished low to the left of Niamh Doran for the game’s first goal and give Tinahely a very solid footing in the match.
Hogan added another before Tinahely suffered an early set back as midfielder Aoife Gorman had to spend 10 minutes in the sin bin following a high tackle.
Moorefield added a couple of one pointers through Hannah Quirke and Kate Hannon but Tinahely kept the scoreboard ticking over themselves and held the away side at arm’s length for the opening 20 minutes with the impressive Sarah Byrne clipping over on the right.
Laura Hogan got in behind once more but this time Doran was equal to her effort and soon Tinahely were made pay as Moorefield hit 2-1 without reply in the space of five minutes.
Wing back Aisling Curley was hugely impressive and following one of her many runs through she coolly rounded Shauna Bermingham and blasted to the net. Kayleigh Humphries followed up with a second goal soon after and all of a sudden Tinahely had been hit for six and found themselves trailing by four.
Hogan got a settling score from a free just before half time as Tinahely went in three down and with much to ponder if they were to overcome the deficit and earn the win.
The two sides seemed very well matched and cancelled each other out on most fronts. Tinahely left a good number of scores behind them in the first half which was proving to be the difference. If they could rectify this in the second half they would surely be there or there abouts at the end.
From the first attack, Tinahely set the tone with Sarah Byrne pointing, after good play from Jessie Byrne, and the wing forward soon added her first and Tinahely’s second major to bring the sides level within a couple of minutes as the game really started to heat up.
Just when Tinahely seemed to be turning the tide however Moorefield came roaring back once more as the momentum seemed to switch around every five minutes.
Kate Hannon goaled brilliantly after a sweeping attack either side of a couple of score’s as the Kildare side now held a 5 point lead with less than 15 minutes to play.
Tinahely went to their bench as Sinéad Byrne and trump card Lucy Mulhall entered the fray and although they had an impact Moorefield still seemed to be heading towards victory as Humphries cancelled out a pointed effort from Mulhall.
But with ten minutes to go Tinahely earned the crucial lifeline to keep them in the game. A brilliant long ball from Jackie Kinch found Laura Hogan who offloaded to the onrushing Sarah Byrne. Byrne’s shot took a slight deflection but found the top right corner of the net to leave two points between the sides.
Sarah Hogan caught brilliantly, before releasing Lucy Mulhall who cut through and popped to Aoife Gorman who pointed from 25 yards, in front to level the sides.
Gallantly Moorefield swung the pendulum of momentum once more with two points in a row from Hannon and Quirke but this time they’re lead would not last long.
Tinahely were not to be denied and great work from Aimee Maher and Emily Mulhall set up Laura Hogan to level the scores with two pointed frees in quick succession.
Finally following a great turnover by Ciara Stokes the ball found its way to the trusty arms of Hogan once again and she swept over from in front of goal with her trusty right foot to boot Tinahely into the next round of Leinster.
Scorers - Tinahely: Laura Hogan 1-7 (0-4 F), Sarah Byrne 2-2, Lucy Mulhall 0-1, Aoife Gorman 0-1.
Moorefield: Kate Hannon 1-3 (0-2F), Kayleigh Humphries 1-3,Aisling Curley 1-0, Hannah Quirke 0-1, Mary Hulgraine 0-1, Dearbhail Kelly 0-1, Carrie Pedley 0-1.
Shauna Birmingham, Ciara Stokes, Sarah Hogan, Emily Hadden, Emily Mulhall, Niamh Kenny, Aimee Maher, Jessie Byrne, Aoife Gorman, Sarah Byrne, Jackie Kinch, Ciara Byrne, Rachel Byrne, Laura Hogan, Loretta Gilbert. Subs: Sinead Byrne for Ciara Stokes, Lucy Mulhall for Loretta Gilbert.
Niamh Doran, Shauna Doyle, Ciara Regan, Sheena O’Brien, Aisling Curley, Emma Harney, Ciara Conaty, Kate Hannon, Amber Masterson, Dearbhail Kelly, Carrie Pedley, Kayleigh Humphries, Mary Hulgraine, Hannah Quirke, Leanne Curran. Subs: Michelle Curley for Ciara Conaty, Emma Curley for Kate Hannon, Sarah Murray for Carrie Pedley, Samantha Cullen for Sarah Murray.
Barry Redmond (Wex- ford).