No joy for Bray Emmets in difficult Leinster clash

BRAY EMMETS bowed out of the Leinster ladies’ football Junior Club championship with a disappointing defeat to a strong Kilmore side away on Sunday.

Starting on the front foot from the opening minutes, the outcome never really looked in doubt as the hosts proved too hot to handle for the Wicklow Intermediate champions.

They certainly wasted no time getting off the mark. Bray couldn’t get near Maria Byrne all afternoon, but it was especially evident in the opening exchanges.

She opened the scoring in the third minute before raising the green flag 60 seconds later when Ellie O’Connor and Clare Berry linked up before the full-forward found the net.

Alanna Conroy and Aoife Gillen got Bray off the mark, but those scores were soon cancelled out as Byrne supplied Cathy O’Connor to finish into the roof of the net.

Kilmore’s third goal came moments later. O’Connor was again on target, this time finishing low to convert her side’s third inside the opening quarter (3-1 to 0-2).

Bray Emmets grabbed a little bit of control back after that early onslaught. Juliette Fortune fired her effort on goal wide, but Emily Cahill did register a point after the talented Mikaela Shelley supplied her in the 20th minute.

While Kilmore’s goalscoring stalled in the second quarter, they kept Bray at arm’s length with a number of points.

A brace from Lauren Cousins along with points courtesy of Ciara Codd and Clare Berry could only be matched by Aoife Gillen and Shelley singles as Kilmore took a nine-point lead into halftime (3-5 to 0-5).

The hosts began the second-half just like they did the first. Lauren Cousins, Maria Byrne and Emma Cousins all scored early points before Byrne got her second major, finding the bottom right corner to put Kilmore further ahead.

Ciara Codd pointed again before Bray Emmets registered their first score of the half in the 46th minute, when Shelley handpassed over the bar to complete a flowing move from the Wicklow girls.

Bray had a little more success after the water break, just as they had done in the first-half. Shelley, Gillen and Laura Butler all pointed to add a little bit more respectability to their endeavours, but Kilmore closed out the game still well in control of matters.

Maria Byrne collected and finished from point-blank range to seal her hat-trick and, as the hosts unloaded their bench, they found useful impact subs in Lisa Power and Sophie Boxwell who both added scores late on.

A tough defeat on the road for Bray Emmets but their main goal was a return to Senior ranks in Wicklow and they achieved that in style with their county final win over Clara.

KILMORE: Kate O’Reilly; Katie Bates, Kelsea Morris, Beth Malone; Sharon

Kehoe-Cloney, Grace Cardiff, Majella Byrne (0-1); Niamh Moore (capt.), Emma Cousins (0-1); Clare Barry (0-1), Lauren Cousins (0-3), Ellie O’Connor; Cathy O’Connor (2-0), Maria Byrne (3-3, 0-1 free), Ciara Codd (0-2). Subs. - Sophie Boxwell (0-1) for E. O’Connor (43), Lisa Power (0-2) for L. Cousins (49), Emma Hore-Kenny for E. Cousins (50), MaryAnne Sheehan for Malone (53), Hannah White for Kehoe-Cloney (56).

BRAY EMMETS: Catherine Corbett; Saoirse Canavan, Jane Butler, Emma Doyle; Aoife Gillen (0-3), Una O’Grady (capt.), Molly Fitzgerald; Alice Fitzgerald, Alanna Conroy (0-1); Orla O’Keeffe, Mikaela Shelley (0-3), Joanne O’Sullivan; Emily Cahill (0-1), Juliette Fortune, Lauren Rowe. Subs. - Laura Butler (0-1) for O’Keeffe (31), Amy Butler for Fortune (43), Shauna Ryan for Doyle (43), Emily Deveney for Cahill (51).

REFEREE: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow).