Senior Ladies’ Championship

Donaghmore / Ashbourne vs Dunboyne

Time:                            7:30 PM

Date:                            23  June 2010

Venue:                          Dunboyne

Referee:                        John Mc Loughlin

HT            Donaghmore / Ashbourne            2-7            Dunboyne         1-9

FT            Donaghmore / Ashbourne            5-18            Dunboyne         4-14

The Senior Ladies’ Football team assured themselves of Senior football next year by overcoming old rivals Dunboyne in a high- scoring, nail-biting tie in Dunboyne yesterday evening. Captain Catriona O’ Shaughnessy made the decision to play uphill in the first half when we won the toss, and it turned out to be a very sound one !

Donaghmore / Ashbourne went on the offensive straight from the throw-in, with Catriona O’ Shaughnessy racing up to score inside the first minute of the match. A second shot on goal went straight into the goalie’s hands, but the next  shot was coolly put over the bar by Hayley Lawton. Dunboyne came back directly, with a brace of points in quick succession. Dunboyne were putting tremendous pressure on our defence, with Sorcha showing particular flair, and Grainne showing great composure to run interference for the other defenders. Dunboyne  put over two points, one a free, and put one goal in the net before Donaghmore / Ashbourne’s composure returned. Ciara Dixon’s kickout from goal went to first Catriona O’ Shaughnessy , who linked up seamlessly with Caroline Brothwood and Hayley Lawton, who fired in a shot for our first goal of the evening. Caroline turned provider for Catriona, who slotted over another point. Our kick-out was scooped up by Dunboyne, but all attacks were repelled by some fantastic defending from Sorcha Murtagh and Aoife O’ Rourke, including multiple point-blank blocks. Shauna Hutton had her hands full with the Dunboyne number 11 Clare Barker in check. Kyna O’ Connor replaced Grainne Field,  and did her part in the defensive effort, winning some frees in the process. Dunboyne scored two unanswered points before some sweet interplay between Claire Flaherty, Karen Menton and Hayley Lawton resulted in another goal for Hayley. Some over-robust Dunboyne defending resulted in a free near the 21 metre line, taken by Caroline Brothwood, straight to Catriona O’ Shaughnessy for another point. For the last 5 minutes of the match or so, the two sides traded points – one for Dunboyne, one for Caroline Brothwood, another Dunboyne, another Donaghmore point courtesy of Catriona and Caroline getting the ball to Claire Flaherty, another Dunboyne, then finally Catriona. The scores at the break were separated by the smallest margin – 2-7 to 1-9.

After the break, Grainne Field replaced Kyna O’ Connor, and first blood in the second half went to Dunboyne, with a point a few minutes after the re-start. Our defence continued in the same vein as the first half, with Sorcha Murtagh, Niamh Mooney and Anna Reidy getting in some terrific blocks and defensive play. Both Aoife O’ Rourke and Grainne Field were able to cut through the field to get the ball forward, then laying it off for the forwards. Ciara Dixon made a great save from the next Dunboyne attack, then her kick-out went to Maire O’ Shaughnessy, who worked the ball up to Karen Menton, then to Rachel Fenton, who stuck the ball in the net for our third goal ! The home side regained possession from our kick-out, and responded immediately with a point at the other end.  Donaghmore / Ashbourne  worked  the ball forward, with some slick interplay between Catriona O’ Shaughnessy, Karen Menton, and Caroline Brothwood, who slotted in our fourth goal of the evening. This was followed up by another point from Catriona at a seemingly impossible angle, but it went over anyhow ! Danielle Mongan  came on for Karen Menton, and entered straight into the fray, with a killer pass to Rachel Fenton, who clocked up our fifth goal, and her second of the evening ! Hayley Lawton turned provider for Danielle Mongan , with a fine pass which resulted in a point, then followed up with a point of her own. Dunboyne managed to break the stranglehold for long enough to put over two points, before Catriona clocked up another point, to leave quite a gap in the scorelines, of 5-11 to 1-13 in the vistors’ favour.  Dunboyne persistence in camping in our half then paid off, with a goal .  Action then moved to the home team’s half, with Hayley Lawton and Catriona O’ Shaughnessy scoring a point each, followed by a pointed free from Danielle. Ciara Lee Jenkinson replaced Rachel Fenton at this point  - and immediately sprung into action with another point ! Ciara Dixon had to make another stop at the Donaghmore end, then another point from Catriona O’ Shaughnessy. Totally against the run of play, Dunboyne managed to bundle the ball into the Donaghmore net on one of the very rare occasions when Ciara in goal was unprotected. Sophia Byrne came on, to replace  Mary Kate Benville, who was back to her speedy best in passing and distribution.  Hayley Lawton added another point to her tally after receiving a great pass from Maire O’ Shaughnessy. Dunboyne made a last-ditch effort in the dying minutes of the game, resulting in a fluke goal which spilled into the net, and a final point. The two goals in the last 7 minutes of the match reeled in our lead considerably, but Donaghmore / Ashbourne still ran out the winners with a final score of 5-18 to 4-14.

Team and Scorers

Donaghmore / Ashbourne

C. Dixon, S. Murtagh, N. Mooney, A. Reidy, S. Hutton, A. O’ Rourke, G. Field, M. O’ Shaughnessy, C. Flaherty (0,1), C. Brothwood (1,1), C. O’ Shaughnessy (0,9), MK Benville, H. Lawton (2,4), K. Menton, R. Fenton (2,0). Subs K. O’ Connor for G. Field, D. Mongan (0,2 – 1f)  for K. Menton, , Ciara Lee Jenkinson (0,1) for R. Fenton, S. Byrne for MK Benville

Dunboyne

C. Hurson, A. Gleeson, O. O’ Connor, T. Clarke, K. Bourke, P. Doherty, AM Moffat, F. Mernagh, A. Mc Geown, J. Kavanagh, C. Barker, E. Brady, D. Blaney, A. Thompson, F. O’ Neill.