St. Michaels 1-12, Royal Gaels 1-11.
A point from play from Alicia Curtis in the second minute of injury time handed the St. Michaels ladies a ticket into the 2015 Coca Cola ladies intermediate championship final on Saturday September 19th in Paddy O'Brien Park in Navan after an absorbing game of football between two evenly matched teams in ideal conditions in Carlanstown last evening.
Indeed it was heart stopping stuff for the home supporters as this was another thrilling performance from a team that never gives up.
Unfortunately for Royal Gaels their season is over, but credit must go to each one of their players for putting in a splendid hour of football and for making this an exciting game from start to finish but they will acknowledge the fact that they had several opportunities in the closing minutes to secure a victory but they shot wide on each occasion. Royal Gaels were out of the blocks first with a well taken goal after only 5 minutes, Megan O'Brien opened the St. Michaels account a minute later but the visitors added three more points from play to lead by 1-4 to 0-3 at the end of the opening quarter.
Marion Farrelly slotted over the home sides second point after good work from Megan O'Brien. Sinéad McCormack was next on the scoreboard with a point for St. Michaels and the home side were denied a goal and then a point chance in the one move when Marion Farrelly's attempt came back off the bottom of the post and when Ella Reilly collected the rebound her attempt came back off the cross bar to the safe hands of a Royal Gaels player. Sharon Callaghan made no such mistake on 21 minutes after receiving from Alicia Curtis she rattled the bottom corner of the net to level the match for the first time at 1-4 apiece. Royal Gaels however finished the half the stronger adding 4 more points to lead at the interval by 1-8 to 1-4.
Marion Farrelly opened the second half with a point in the first minute as O'Brien was once again the provider, but the Gaels replied immediately with an effort that came off the upright and over the bar to maintain their 4 point advantage. An incredible 15 minute display by St. Michaels followed which saw them begin 4 points in arrears to lead by one on 48 minutes through points from Farrelly 0-2, Harte 0-2 and McCormack 0-1. The introduction of Seona Lynch two minutes into the second half caused havoc in the visitors defence as her darting runs and lay-offs resulted in the majority of those scores. Royal Gaels however never panicked and they were back on level terms on 51 minutes and a minute later they split the posts for the lead point once more.
Aisleen Harte levelled the match for the fourth and final time on the 55th minute mark and for the remaining 5 minutes of normal time both sides looked for the winner with the visitors enjoying the majority of the chances, however great defensive work by Áine Sheridan, Mary Clinton and Elaine Coyne prevented the Gaels from getting through for the all important killer goal and with extra time looming Alicia Curtis popped up at the other end and fired over the winning point in the second minute of injury time. There was still time for the visitors to draw level once more but they fired two attempts wide of the posts as the clock slowly ticked towards the final whistle after nearly 5 minutes of genuine injury time.
St. Michaels had many hero's on the field last night so I'll not name individuals as this was an out and out team performance laced with loads of true grit and courage. Well done to both sets of players for a wonderful game of football and congratulations to the St. Michaels girls in booking a place in the final. .
St. Michaels team & scorers: Lorraine Curtis, Marita Rogers, Mary Clinton, Elaine Coyne, Áine Sheridan, Hayley Doyle, Mary Carpenter, Sinéad McCormack 0-2, Marion Farrelly 0-4, Alicia Curtis 0-1, Megan O'Brien 0-1, Ellen Cassidy, Ella Reilly, Aisleen Harte 0-4, Sharon Callaghan 1-0.
Subs: Seona Lynch for Ella Reilly, Patricia Owens for Mary Carpenter, Lisa Connolly for Marita Rogers.
Referee: Sarah Stanley.
Report and photo Pascal Reilly.
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