St Pat’s will take some stopping

ST PATRICK’S CLARA 5-14 0-8

ST Patrick’s came away from Laragh with a comfortable victory on Friday night against Clara in the Ladies Senior football championship to make it two wins from two for the side.

This was Clara’s first bout in the championship after a long wait. St Pat’s defeated Bray Emmets last time out on home soil.

It was a tense start to the game with the away side getting the better of the opportunities although they had five wides in the first five minutes.

Clara were defending well early on as they prevented their opponents from creating easy chances.

Their defence was eventually broken on five minutes as midfielder Niamh McGettigan darted through and fired over Aoife Byrne into the roof of the net.

The majority of St Pat’s good play was coming through McGettigan with her attacking play impressive.

Heather Cullen pointed for the Laragh outfit straight after the goal, but Pat’s extended their lead to four through Sarah Delahunt and Aishling Hayden.

Pat’s had a succession of goal chances from Rose Fagan and Rioghna McGettigan but the defence put in some impressive blocks and Aoife Byrne in the home goal made a good double save.

Clara did show some good play in the opening stages but couldn’t create any goal openings to catch up on their opponents.

Pat’s got their second goal through Jess Lyons 18 minutes in as her low drive went under the legs of Byrne.

They added a third four minutes later Erynn O Brien got in on the act as she finished well into the top right corner of the net.

Caitlin Olohan showed off her pace many times in this half as she drove at the defence.,

St Pat’s midfielders Niamh McGettigan and Sarah Delahunt were causing all sorts of problems as they got into advanced positions to hurt the Clara defence.

They were attacking in numbers on many occasions also which Clara struggled to cope with.

Just before half time Clara were dealt further misery as Maria Hogan was given her marching orders after going in for a tackle with her foot as an opposition player bent over to pick up the ball.

A couple of minutes later St Pat’s were awarded a penalty after Erynn O Brien was pulled back. Captain Sarah Delahunt stepped up to take it, and her strike was unstoppable into the corner, with keeper Byrne rooted to the spot.

The half time whistle was blown with the scores 4-4 to 0-4. It could have been a larger advantage for the Wicklow Town side as they registered nine wides in the first half.

For all Clara’s good play, they struggled to create chances further up the field.

Katie Miley and Aishling Hayden traded points at the beginning of the second period, before Hayden pointed for the fourth time in the game.

The away side were always very quick on the break, with them again committing many numbers up the field.

Again, Clara were promising in stages but couldn’t manufacture any goal efforts.

St Pat’s scored their fifth goal on 39 minutes as Saoirse O Reilly Jnr’s deflected effort looped into the net.

O’Reilly came alive in the second half with some rapid movement and always looked energetic.

Clara failed to pick the right pass on a few occasions as Pat’s regained possession very easily for the home side’s liking.

Pat’s did take some very good scores throughout the game with Jess Lyons and Aishling Hayden added a couple of points to their side’s tally.

They did pull away towards the end of the half with several consecutive points. They did add another seven wides to their first half tally to take it to 16 for the game, which may disappoint the side.

They also killed off the game very well as they kept possession for long periods as Clara were just chasing shadows.

Katie Miley and Heather Cullen were bright sparks for Clara in the second half with both adding to their sides score total.

The home side can take a lot of positives from the game, with some play that was good to watch. They have a very young side also so this will be good experience for the youngsters.

In the end it was a comfortable win for St Pat’s, who will take some stopping.

Scorers: St Pat’s – Aishling Hayden 0-6; Sarah Delahunt 1-2 (1f); Niamh McGettigan 1-2; Jess Lyons 1-2 (1f); Erynn O Brien 1-0; Saoirse O Reilly Jnr 1-0; Laura Manley 0-1; Zoe Armstrong 0-1.

Clara – Katie Miley 0-5 (3f); Heather Cullen 0-2; Sarah Miley 0-1

Jen Lyons; Sorcha Doyle, Saoirse O Reilly Snr, Lucy Dunne; Sarah Evans, Rose Fagan, Kate Hennessy; Niamh McGettigan, Sarah Delahunt; Laura Manley, Aishling Hayden, Jess Lyons; Erynn O Brien, Rioghna McGettigan, Saoirse O Reilly Jnr. Subs: Zoe Armstrong for Hennessy (HT) Subs not used: Aine Cahill, Luci Hobbs, Naoimh O Brien

Aoife Byrne; Emer Byrne, Eimear Doyle, Nicola Souster; Katie Kennedy, Samantha McCoy, Ava Carter; Laura Clarke, Sarah Miley; Kerrianne Murphy, Caitlin Olohan, Heather Cullen; Lauren Carter, Katie Miley, Maria Hogan. Subs: Orla Byrne for L Carter (47 mins, inj); Sue Brady for Doyle (54 mins); Carrie Gahan for A Carter (54 mins); Neasa Olohan for Murphy (54 mins)

Cathy Forde