Boardsmill 1-9 Na Fianna 2-3

Opening round games in championship football are there to be won. Boardsmill did that , but the game was a poor advert for ladies senior football .

The backdrop for the game was set long before Sarah Stanley threw  in the ball as a series of torrential rain showers blew through the venue  30 minutes before the start. These local rivals are no strangers to each other and the eventual winner was going to have to earn the right to claim all 3 points .

Na Fianna started brightly and dominated the early exchanges .Tit for tat points were scored on 4 , 8, 12, & 15 minutes with Susan Kealey pointing twice for the home side and Deirdre Flynn replying for Na Fianna . Shauna Ennis was showing well and threatened to break the  game wide open on 16 minutes only to see her stinging shot deflected wide by Eimear Murray in the home goals.  That miss was to prove costly as Laura Griffin scored a goal with a stunning shot past Leah Devine on 18 minutes. Kim Garrigan had created the space for Griffin to raid in from the right wing by dragging the Na Fianna full back out at the  critical moment . Hannah Cullen replaced Angela Gorey on 26 minutes shortly after Ennis had narrowed the  margin to 2 points.  The half ended in controversy when Garrigan shot to the Na Fianna net only to be called back for an earlier foul in the build up . The subsequent free was missed on a night when the home side squandered some straight forward chances which kept the visitors in touch throughout the game .  Sarah Bagnall and Cliona Murray were prominent for the eventual winners in the opening period. Both teams had great difficulty with ball handling and retention  with Na Fianna coping slightly better than their hosts. The score was 1.02 to 0.3 at the break.

Na Fianna introduced Katie Queeney at half time to counter the growing influence of Helen Regan.  Boardsmill settled the quicker and saw Emma Troy grab a good point after sustained pressure on 33 minutes. Quick thinking from a Kim Garrigan free released Amy Troy to point on 39 minutes with Garrigan scoring herself a minute later . Boardsmill proceeded to squander a number of simple opportunities before Griffin pointed after 49 minutes . The second period had been disrupted by injuries to Andrea Colgan , Aideen Guy and Sarah Bagnall before it sparked back to life with a well taken Erin Leddy goal on 51 minutes for Na Fianna. Claire Coffey had  been switched to the forwards and  further disruption ensued when  Cliona Murray was injured blocking  Coffey's shot after a driving run from the Na Fianna player. Dani O Sullivan was introduced by the hosts and Boardsmill responded with 3 points of their own between the 63rd and 65th minutes to ease them over the winning line. A late goal by Andrea Colgan narrowed the final score but was too late to effect the outcome.

Boardsmill will take comfort from the win but little else . They were best served by Sarah Bagnall  and Kim Garrigan while Rachel Troy, Aideen Guy, Cliona Murray, Helen Regan and Laura Bagnall all contributed to their eventual victory. Na Fianna were best served by Shauna Ennis, Deirdre Flynn and Claire Coffey .

Boardsmill: E Murray , S Bagnall, C Murray, N McEvoy, R Troy, C Ashe, A Guy, H Regan, S Kealey (0.3), E Troy (0.1), M Murray, L Bagnall, K Garrigan (0.2), L Griffin (1.01), A Troy (0.1). Subs D O Sullivan for Murray

Na Fianna: L Devine, A Byrne A Gorey , E Coffey, T Geraghty , C Coffey , SJ Farrelly , A Colgan (1.0), A Slattery , E Leddy (1.0) S Ennis (0.1) A Ennis,  D Moroney , C Neary , D Flynn (0.2), Subs H Cullen for A Gorey , K Queeney for C Neary

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