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Written by DonAsh GAA   
Thursday, 07 May 2009 13:23
Donaghmore/Ashbourne vs Royal Gaels

Venue:        Killegland West
Time:        8:15
Date:        05 May 2009
Referee:    R Mc Manus

HT    Donaghmore/Ashbourne    2-3    Royal Gaels    1-3
FT    Donaghmore/Ashbourne    2-9    Royal Gaels    1-3

Team:

Alison Fitzgerald, Sorcha Murtagh, Aine Ni Mealoid, Roisin Williams, Karen Menton, Grainne Field, Aoife O’ Rourke, Jenny Moran (1,2), Catriona O’ Shaughnessy (0,1) , Eva Mc Neilis(0,1) , Mary-Kate Benville, Maire O’ Shaughnessy, Lizzy Lynch (1,2) , Alison Leahy, Ailish Moran (0,1). Subs Lisa Macken, Kyna O’ Connor, Michelle Johnson, Aisling Doherty (0,2) , Aideen Kenny, Jeannie Donnelly, Hayley Jenkinson

This match was effectively a semi-final, as winning would see us in the Final vs Senechalstown, a loss would mean a play-off with Dunboyne for the other Final slot. We were playing against the gale-force wind in the first half, which was blowing diagonally across the pitch, in towards  the clubhouse – it made shooting for scores very difficult for both teams.

We started off brightly, with Eva winning the throw-in,  running parallel with Mary- Kate and Jenny to get the ball upfield, and inside a few minutes Jenny put the ball in the net for our first score of the evening – goal Donaghmore/ Ashbourne. We won the kickout,  and Jenny lobbed the ball back in to score a point. We tended to keep the ball low, as the wind was liable to whip it in all directions if we got any height on it.  Maire and Mary- Kate got the ball to Lizzy, who scored a fine goal. We won the kick-out, but  during the midfield tussle we lost possession and Royal Gaels scored two points before we re-asserted ourselves , getting the ball up to Lizzy who added a point to her tally. This time, the opposition won their own kick-out and  notched up another point.

At this point, Niamh came on for Karen.  Midfield was quite congested with defenders and attackers alike, so when the ball was sent up into space on the right wing, Ali L was alone and unmarked. This happened so quickly that no Gaels defenders had time to get back, so it was Ali L and the Royal Gaels goalie one-on-one, so the goalie tried to stop Ali with a “clothesline tackle” . The goalie was sin-binned for ten minutes for this offence, but the wind caught the resulting free kick and sent it way wide. Royal Gaels were very fast getting the ball down to our square, where they managed to squeeze in a goal. We won the  resulting kick out, and Jenny scored another point just before half-time, to leave the sides Donaghmore/Ashbourne 2-3 to Royal Gaels 1-3.

At half-time, Kyna came on for Maire, and Aisling for Ali L. We were now technically with the wind. We continued pressing forward, with Eva getting the ball up to Lizzy for Lizzy’s second point of the evening.  We followed this up with a well-taken solo point from Eva, which was low enough for it not to veer off course. Royal Gaels won possession from a line ball which whipped out over the line after kick-out. This was sent back in and the opposition had a point-blank shot on goal, but Alison made a great save. We won our kick out, and got the ball upfield where Aisling and Ailish got a point each in quick succession. At this point, Aoife was running for the ball when she seemed to get a spasm in her calf or a hamstring problem, but it turned out to be bad cramp. Shelly came on for Aoife, and we then concentrated hard on holding what we had, with Niamh and Aine getting a warning for over-robust defending ! We rounded off the evening with a point each from Aisling and Catriona, to leave the final score at 2-9 to 1-3, with Royal Gaels having failed to score in the second half.

We meet Senechalstown in the League Final, to be played in Walterstown on Saturday the 9th of May, throw-in at 7:30 PM.