Boardsmill 1-11 Dee Rangers 2-5

Boardsmill and Dee Rangers kicked off their league campaigns with a competitive and entertaining game in Boardsmill on Sunday last.

Vinny Guy, the Boardsmill manager was satisfied with the application of the home team in what was largely and experimental line up .The manager's hand had been forced to some extent  as three of his players were recovering from their Giles cup  success in Tralee the previous day. Nonetheless , Emma Troy,  Laura Bagnall and Laura Griffin all contributed to a good team performance.

Dee Rangers opened the scoring through their highly influential full forward Kelly Farrelly . It took the hosts a few minutes to settle  but they soon replied  with  Troy, Griffin and Susan Kealey  registering points from play.

Dee Rangers demonstrated their own resilience and fashioned an excellent goal from Becks Goodwin after 15 minutes. Farrelly tagged on 2 further points to see the north Meath outfit ahead by 3 points with 8 minutes remaining in the half.  Much of  Boardsmill's  approach work was overly elaborate which allowed Dee Rangers to limit their scoring opportunities . That said Griffin (2) and Troy pointed for the hosts in the final minutes of the half before Laura Bagnall shot to the net after good approach work between Amy Troy and Susan Kealey.  The half time score read Boardsmill 1.06 Dee Rangers 1.03. with both teams regretting not taking the range of chances that they created.

The second period was a much tighter affair . Boardsmill had introduced Ciara Ashe and  Michela Stellini for Maeve Murray and Laura Garrigan  and reshaped their attack with Griffin moving to centre forward and Stellini slotting into midfield . Kealey pointed while under pressure and Griffin followed up with  a free to extend the hosts lead in the first 5 minutes of the half.  The next 15 minutes saw defences completely on top  and the game was delayed due to injuries to Dee Rangers full Back O Duff and their keeper during this period of the game . Griffin nudged the hosts further in front with a free after 20 minutes  but  the visitors responded quickly with a Farrelly free.
The game sprang to life when Lisa Young ghosted into space and slotted to the  Boardsmill net to leave 2 points between the sides as full time approached . There was significant injury time played during which Ciara Ashe and Griffin finished off the game for the hosts while Goodwin responded for Dee Rangers . The full time whistle sounded soon after with the Mill girls running out 3 point victors 1.11 to 2.05 .

Boardsmill were best served by Laura Griffin while Laura Bagnall and Emma Troy gave strong performances despite their  exertions over the previous two days in Tralee. The demands on club players is evident this early in the season when daylight is short. McEvoy, S.Bagnall and L. Bagnall were all withdrawn in the second period as they had  to prepare for  another  game later that evening. Those substitutions certainly disrupted the game for the hosts. However  supporters could only  have been impressed by the display from their full back line of Niamh McEvoy Cliona Murray and Kealey Hannon  in the opening period. There were also notable contributions from Amy Troy in the first half and Aideen Guy in the second period.

Next up for Boardsmill will be Wolfe Tones in  a repeat of last year's championship semi final.

Boardsmill: A Ramirez, N McEvoy, C Murray, K Hannon, E Troy (0.2), M Hegarty, A Guy, R Griffin, L Griffin (0.6), S Bagnall, M Murray, L Bagnall (1.0), A Troy, L Garrigan, S Kealey (0.2).
Subs  M Stellini, C Ashe (0.1), D O Sullivan, S McLoughlin, H Tuite, B O Toole,   W Farrell , T Hannon , K Garrigan,  P Dorian , S Dowling

Tweet

Most Read Stories