Geevagh have no answer in Connacht senior clash
KILKERRIN/CLONBERNE GEEVAGH 12-18 1-3
This was bound to affect them as they were forced to rearrange their formation so early in the game.
Within minutes the winning side were a goal to the good courtesy of a brilliant strike from their magnificent full forward Louise Ward.
She finished with a personal tally of 5-3 and was at the vanguard of most of their attacks of note.
Stephanie O’Reilly countered with a fine point for the Sligo girls after Jemma Brehony set up the chance.
Then Annette Clarke found the net for the winning side from a penalty after Louise Ward was fouled.
The next stanza of the game saw the eventual winners’ display some brilliant combination play leading to Hannah Noone scoring a sublime goal
Geevagh showed that they were capable of prising open the Kilkerrin-Clonberne defence when they attacked.
Nora O’Reilly found the net on eight minutes when Jemma Brehony left the ball on a plate for her.
The ensuing play saw the Galway girls extend their lead with some champagne football.
Louise Ward scored two further goals, with Olivia Divilly also raising a green flag.
Geevagh moved Jemma Brehony to full forward and this helped to give them more purpose in an attacking sense.
They added two points from Elaine O’Reilly (free) and Sinead McTiernan.
But the winners’ added another major from Louise Ward before the break to leave them leading by 7-6 to 1-3 at half time.
Wind-backed Kilkerrin-Clonberne were totally dominant after half time.
They attacked incessantly and added scores at will. So pronounced was their superiority that they held the Sligo ladies scoreless and added a further 5-12 to their tally.
In addition, they introduced several of their substitutes into the fray without any diminution in their performance.
To be fair to Geevagh they continued to take the game to the Galway side and because of some poor shooting they failed to add further scores to their tally.
Nicola Ward kicked two goals for the impressive winners’ during the half, with Ann Marie O’ Boyle, Olivia Divilly, and Louise Ward all raising green flags.
On this performance Kilkerrin-Clonberne will take some beating against anyone.
But they could easily be lulled into a false sense of security because of such a facile victory.
Geevagh will be disappointed but they needn’t be as they were pitted against a really fine side in Kilkerrin-Clonberne.
Geevagh had comprehensively defeated St Nathy’s in the county final with some fine performances on the day but last Saturday wasn’t to be their day as they were up against a dominant force. Kilkerrin-Clonberne team;
L Murphy;
A McStay, S Mee, C Dunleavy;
C Costello, N Ward (2-0), H Noone (1-2);
S Divilly (0-1), L Gannon;
O Divilly (2-6,1f), A Clarke (1-3,1pen), C Miskell (0-1); L Noone (0-1), L Ward (5-3), A Mahony.
Subs used; A M O’ Boyle (1-0) for H Noone; S Gormally for S Mee; D Bracken (0-1) for L Ward; A Costello for A Mahony; C Boyle for C Costello.
Geevagh team;
A Sweeney;
M Supple, Y Fraser, R Breheny;
J Brehony, N Brehony, C Mulvaney;
S McTiernan (0-1), B Byrne;
S Reynolds, S O’Reilly (0-1), K Cullen;
S Maxwell, E O’Reilly (0-1f), N O’Reilly (1-0). Subs used; N Ryan for Y Fraser (inj); M Davey for S Maxwell; M Mostyn for K Cullen; S McTiernan for N O’Reilly; S Moran for R Breheny.
*Player of the match: Louise Ward is the choice. She was absolutely brilliant from start to finish, and finished with a grand total of 5-3.
Referee: G Carmody (Ballaghadereen) SLIGO ladies goalkeeper Noelle Gormley has once again been nominated for an All-Star award.
The net minder, who put in a fantastic campaign for Sligo this season, was among the names published in the 2017 TG4 All Star Nominees yesterday afternoon.
Noelle was also nominated last year for an All-Star.
Sligo LGFA were commending her for getting nominated. They said: “Congratulations Noelle on your All-Star nomination. So well deserved after the exceptional year you had.” The winners will be announced on November 25th.
The Sligo LGFA is holding its dinner dance this Friday in the Clayton Hotel. Teams honoured on the night include this year’s Connacht winners and the U14 All-Ireland finalists. For tickets, contact Keith Gilroy on 0862247868.