GAA TG4 INTERMEDIATE LADIES FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2
Sligo reach quarters after win over London
DAIRE WALSH
SLIGO………………………………………… 3-19
LONDON……………………………………. 1-10
SLIGO will contest the 2014 Intermediate Ladies Football Championship quarter-finals, after Pat Costello’s charges recovered from a shaky beginning at St Peregrine’s to eventually record a comprehensive victory over London in a Round Two Qualifier encounter last Saturday afternoon.
The full-forward line of Denise McGrath, Noelle Gormley and Grainne Carty amassed a combined total of 1-11 between them, and if the Yeats County are to progress further in the competition, they will need big performances from their dynamic inside line.
The margin of victory will certainly provide Sligo with great confidence ahead of their last-eight showdown with Down, but although they eventually got the measure of their opponents, they found the Exiles to be a tough nut to crack during the early exchanges.
With nominal full-forward Lauren Murray playing a withdrawn role deep inside her own half, London frustrated the Sligo attack early on, and thanks to fine efforts by Sinead McCooey, skipper Renee Murphy and midfielder Helen Hughes, Tommy Donohue’s girls held a two-point cushion (0-3 to 0-1) 11 minutes into the action.
Sligo’s sole score during this spell arrived courtesy of Ballymote’s McGrath, but with a 13th-minute Carty point being swiftly followed by a superb solo goal from Emma Hannsbery, the Connacht outfit were starting to turn the screw.
Well-worked contributions from Aine Gormley and Hughes helped London to level matters for a second time, but in a seven-minute spell prior to the interval, a rampant Sligo registered an emphatic 1-6 without reply.
Points from Hannsbery, Gormley, Yvonne Hedigan, Carty (two) and full-back Rachel Monaghan added handsomely to their side’s tally, while London netminder Maria King was powerless in her efforts to stop Gormley finding the net on 26 minutes.
This ruthless scoring burst from Sligo severely deflated the London challenge, although late points by Hannah Noonan (free) and Gormley did at least give them something to build on after the restart.
Seven points (2-8 to 0-7) was a significant advantage, though, and despite cancelling out Gormley and Sinead McTiernan scores for Sligo with singles of their own, the Westerners were always one step ahead of the play.
Tourlestrane’s Carty added a brace of points to her personal haul, before a superb Stephanie O’Reilly three-pointer in the 42nd minute placed the outcome beyond any doubt.
The always-industrious McCooey did add a hard-earned goal for London ten minutes from time, but this only briefly halted the opposition charge, and with McGrath (0-2), Roisin Collery, Elise Codd, Gormley and Sarah Reynolds (0-2) all adding scores inside the closing moments, Sligo eased towards a well-earned win.
Sligo: Emma Cullen; Grainne O’Loughlin, Rachel Monaghan (0-1), Orla McGowan; Aisling O’Gara, Elise Codd (0-1), Sarah Feeney; Sinead McTiernan (0-1), Yvonne Hedigan (0-1); Emma Hannsbery (1-1), Stephanie O’Reilly (1-0), Colley Casey; Denise McGrath (0-3), Noelle Gormley (1-3, 0-2f), Grainne Carty (0-5, 3f). Subs: Roisin Collery (0-1) for McTiernan (38), Sarah Reynolds (0-2) for Casey (50).
London: Maria King; Cait McCarra, Sarah Quinn, Aoife Greene; Niamh Murphy, Ellanna Hackett (0-1), Renee Murphy (0-1); Aoibhinn McKenna, Helen Hughes (0-2); Sinead McCooey (1-1), Hannah Noonan (0-2, 2f), Ciara Dempsey; Aine Gormley (0-2), Lauren Murray, Charlotte Faughnan. Subs: Angela Kenneally for Murray (29), Helen Stephens for Murphy (36), Fiona Morrissey (0-1) for Hughes (39), Laura Gillespie for Dempsey (45), Rosie Cully for Greene (53).
REFEREE: James Flood (Wexford).