Stepping in the right direction
December 30, 2009It was a decent year for the Louth ladies, who exited the All-Ireland JFC at the semi-final stage before bouncing back in irresistible fashion the following weekend by landing the Leinster junior championship title, beating holders Wicklow in a replayed final at Athy on Sunday September 6.
In addition to collecting that prized piece of provincial silverware, the girls battled their way to a national football league Division Three quarter-final and an All-Ireland junior football championship semi-final. They came up marginally short in both but Dermot Agnew - the man who masterminded those famous All-Ireland wins of 1998 and '99 - certainly got the team moving in the right direction again. There's plenty there to build on next season, when the side will be a year older and wiser…
The Louth girls demonstrated tremendous fitness throughout the year thanks to the contribution of Alo McGrath, and they also benefited enormously from the presence of a united backroom team, with input from Pat Gribben, Pat Mackin, Gabrielle Clarke and Ann Fedigan as well as the manager.
Louth played Limerick in their All-Ireland JFC semi-final at Geraldine Park, Athy on Saturday August 29. The Reds went into the match with high hopes of reaching the decider but ran into an inspired Treaty County corner forward by the name of Dympna O'Brien who helped herself to an amazing 3-9 haul as the Wee County were ousted on a 4-11 to 1-7 scoreline.
In the group stage of the All-Ireland junior championship, Louth had topped Group B, ahead of Derry on scoring difference (though, for some reason a draw was needed to confirm this…). From their three group outings, they managed two wins and a draw. They opened with a 2-8 to 1-5 win over Wicklow in Blessington on July 12 and beat Offaly by 3-12 to 0-2 at Fr McEvoy Park in Round Two on July 26 before drawing with Derry, 0-11 apiece, on August 9.
Geraldines star Gillian McDonnell missed both the All-Ireland semi-final and the Leinster final with a long-term knee injury.
Louth led by 2-5 to 1-7 at the interval - with the goals coming from Sandra Lynch and Catherine Page - and seemed to be coping pretty well, despite the obvious brilliance of Limerick's All Star attacker. However, the sin-binning of inspirational captain Edel McKeown-Sloane for ten minutes near the start of the second half saw the match swing unanimously in the Munster county's favour. The winners hit 1-3 without reply to move five points ahead and only a brilliant save from Louth goalkeeper Caoimhe Breen kept the Wee County in the game. When Edel returned, the Reds faced an uphill task to salvage the match.
With Louth chasing the game, it was Limerick who found another gear in the final quarter as O'Brien almost single-handedly pressurised the Louth backline into submission with a further salvo of 2-1. Louth managed to raise only two white flags in the second half as their challenge evaporated and Limerick progressed to a September 27 All-Ireland final showdown with Antrim at Croke Park.
Louth, 2009 All-Ireland junior ladies football championship semi-final V Limerick: Caoimhe Breen; Emer Brennan, Sarah Quinn, Ciara Rafferty; Grainne Macken, Grace Lynch, Jenny Agnew; Orlaith Kirk (0-1), Sandra Lynch (1-0); Rosanna Heaney (0-2), Catherine Page (1-2), Edel McKeown-Sloane ( 0-1); Susan Byrne, Niamh Reid, Sharon Callan. Subs: Tara Lynch, Laura O'Neill (0-1), Emma Conlon, Patricia Marmion.
The girls now faced the extremely difficult task of dusting themselves down and trying to lift themselves for the Leinster junior final replay against defending champions Wicklow at the same County Kildare venue seven days later. (In the drawn final in Carlow in July, which was a repeat of the 2008 decider, Louth had been clearly the better side but had missed a hatful of chances, including two penalties.) It seemed like an impossible task for the Wee County but they passed with flying colours by storming to a magnificent 2-8 to 2-6 victory, bridging an eleven-year gap by claiming the Leinster crown in dreadful playing conditions.
Most neutrals thought Louth had no chance but Dermot Agnew and company are experienced campaigners, and they had their team fully focused on the job in hand. When it looked as if the game might be slipping away in the final ten minutes as Wicklow stole ahead, Louth's full forward trio fired over a point apiece to bring Wicklow's reign to an end.
The holders led by the slimmest of margins at the break (1-3 to 1-2), but the game turned in Louth's favour when Wicklow lost the services of wing back Niamh Kelly in the scone half for a late tackle.
Top scorer Edel McKeown-Sloane opened Louth's account to cancel out an early Wicklow point. McKeown-Sloane added 1-1 to give the winners a 1-2 to 0-2 advantage after 17 minutes.
The Garden County levelled with a 20th-minute goal and edged ahead with the final point of the first half. Player of the Match Orlaith Kirk (who was also the best player on view in the drawn game on July 19) equalised from a free two minutes after the restart. Wicklow led by two points coming up to the three-quarters stage but Louth stormed back with another McKeown-Sloane goal and a Kirk point to lead by 2-5 to 1-6.
The match seemed to be slipping away when Wicklow converted a 52th-minute penalty to lead by a point but up stepped saviours Susan Byrne, Sharon Callan and Niamh Reid with an excellent point apiece to give the Reds the TG4 Leinster junior championship title for 2009. Leinster President Sean McMullin thanked all those involved on the day, before presenting Louth Captain Edel McKeown-Sloane with the TG4 Leinster junior championship trophy and Orlaith Kirk with Player of the Match award.
Louth, 2009 Leinster junior ladies football champions: Caoimhe Breen; Emer Brennan, Sarah Quinn, Ciara Rafferty; Grainne Macken, Grace Lynch, Jenny Agnew; Orlaith Kirk (0-2), Sandra Lynch (0-1); Rosanna Heaney, Catherine Page , Edel McKeown-Sloane (2-2); Susan Byrne (0-1), Niamh Reid (0-1), Sharon Callan (0-1). Subs: Tara Lynch, Patricia Marmion.
Another high point for Louth ladies football in 2009 came when centre back Grace Lynch made it onto the Bord Gais National League Division 3 Team of the Year. The Stabannon Parnells player was named at centre half back and each player was given a specially-commissioned kit to honour their achievement. The full team was as follows: Emer Miley (Wicklow); Dervla McMaster (Derry), Aisling O hAnnaidh (Wicklow), Sandra Healy (Limerick); Michelle Carey (Roscommon), Grace Lynch (Louth), Olivia Giltenane (Limerick); Caitriona Corr (Kilkenny), Caoilfhionn Deeney (Wicklow); Claire Grehan (Roscommon), Sinead Doyle (Carlow), Ann Marie Carley (Roscommon); Emer Casey (Roscommon), Aine McCusker (Derry), Dympna O'Brien (Limerick).
In the national football league itself, Louth finished second in Division 3A before losing to Wicklow at the quarter-final stage. They defeated Limerick by 3-9 to 3-3 in the first round on February 1 and thumped Offaly four weeks later, 6-9 to 0-4. Another comfortable win ensued against Carlow, 3-15 to 3-5 on March 8, before the Wee County lost their final group game to Roscommon. They had still done enough to reach the knockout stage but unfortunately Wicklow got the better of them in Hollywood on Sunday April 5 (3-8 to 1-12). Five months later, Louth would have their revenge in the Leinster final…
Louth, 2009 ladies national football league Division Three quarter-final V Wicklow: Niamh Reid; Emer Brennan, Sarah Quinn, Irene Hoey; Patricia Marmion, Grace Lynch (0-1), Jenny Agnew; Orlaith Kirk, Sandra Lynch; Roseanna Heaney (0-3), Edel McKeown-Sloane; Grainne Macken (0-1); Susan Byrne (0-1), Catherine Page (0-3), Sharon Callan (0-1). Subs: Gillian McDonnell (1-1), Tara Lynch (0-1), Karen Wynne, Karen Gogarty.
All in all, it was a very encouraging year for ladies football in Louth. The girls showed definite signs of returning to those glory days of the late '90s and captured a vital piece of silverware into the bargain. A decent year by any standards. Tweet
