ON THE ROAD TO CROKER
The Offaly lady footballers made the long trip to Carrickmacross on Sunday to meet Derry in the TG4 Ladies Junior Football Championship All-Ireland Semi-Final and travelled in a confident frame of mind as they had previously beaten their opponents by 1-20 to 1-1 in the second round of the championship.

Any hope that Derry had of pulling off a shock when they learnt that Offaly would have to line out minus the services of the influential Hannah McMahon, Orlagh Heavey and Lorraine Keena were quickly put to rest as this Offaly side set about the task of booking their place in the All-Ireland final on September 29th in a determined fashion.

From the throw-in Offaly were on top and quite easily could have won this game by a far bigger margin were it not for the heroics of Briegeen Cassidy in the Derry goals who denied Offaly at least another two goals.

This was a very impressive performance by Offaly with every player including the five substitutes used contributing handsomely to the win.

From the start Offaly went on the attack and after only twenty seconds a neat one-two between Linda Sullivan and Siobhan Flannery created an opportunity for Siobhan, but she sent her effort narrowly wide.
Derry knew they were going to be under a lot of pressure and for the majority of the game had thirteen players behind the ball, but this did not deter the Faithful ladies who set about the task of getting scores on the board early.
In the 5th minute Mairead Daly won a Derry kick-out and she worked the ball up to Amy Kerrigan who had her shot saved by Briegeen Cassidy, but the ball rebounded to Niamh Malone who sent it over the bar.
A wonderful move that involved Siobhan Flannery, Treasa McManus, Amy Kerrigan, Niamh Malone and Emma Dalton saw Offaly awarded a free that was sent up to Siobhan Flannery by Amy Kerrigan, with great skill passed it onto Linda Sullivan who worked the ball out to Aoife Norris who sent it over the bar.
The Faithful ladies moved three points clear in the 8th minute when Linda Sullivan pointed a free won by Amy Kerrigan.
Offaly continued to dominate and in the 11th minute Brigeen Cassidy came to the rescue of Derry when she pulled of a great save to deny Linda Sullivan a goal at the expense of a '45.
The resulting '45 was sent in to Mairead Daly by Siobhan Flannery who sent it sailing over the Derry crossbar. Mairead was on target again for Offaly in the 14th minute when she pointed a free.

The first Offaly goal came from a great passage of play from a line ball from Amy Kerrigan which was collected by Siobhan Flannery who passed it back to Amy, Amy linked up with Linda Sullivan who sent the ball in low to Mairead Daly who sent it flying to the back of the Derry net.
The gap between the sides was stretched to nine points in the 16th minute when Elaine Sullivan sent over a lovely point from play after Amy won a free.
Matters got worse for Derry in the 20th minute when Niamh Malone sent the ball to the back of the Derry net after good work by Michelle Guinan, Amy Kerrigan, Mairead Daly and Linda Sullivan.

It was certainly all over for Derry a minute later when Offaly scored their third goal of the first half.
A wonderful pass from Christine McDonnell picked out Amy Kerrigan who in turn sent the ball across to Linda Sullivan who sent it flying to the back of the Derry net.

The gap between the sides was extended to sixteen points in the 22nd minute when Christine McDonnell and Niamh Malone created the opening for Linda Sullivan to send over a fine point.

The Faithful ladies scored their fourth goal of the first half in the 24th minute when Aoife Byrne worked the ball down to Niamh Malone, who sent it on to Christine McDonnell, Chris sent a lovely ball onto Aoife Norris who with pin point precision picked out Amy Kerrigan who then sent the ball on to Elaine Sullivan who left it resting in the back of the Derry net.

The first Derry score of the match came in the 26th minute and it was a goal from the boot of Kate Holly who sent a high ball in towards the Offaly goals and the flight was slightly misjudged by Laura Devery and the ball ended in the back of the net.
The final score of the first half went to Offaly and it was a wonderful point from Linda Sullivan after good work by Treasa McManus, Emma Dalton, Christine McDonnell, Emma Corcoran and Siobhan Flannery.



SECOND HALF
The first score of the second half went the way of Derry after fifty seconds when Katy Holly pointed after good work by Ciara Moore, and Nuala Browne.
But Offaly were quickly back in their stride and a Linda Sullivan solo run won them a free which was converted by Mairead Daly after two minutes of play.
Good defensive work by Aoife Byrne in the fifth minute saw her work the ball out to Amy Kerrigan who sent the ball up to Mairead Daly to set up Emma Dalton up for a wonderful point.


The fifth Offaly goal came from Captain Siobhan Flannery who cut in along the end line and from a very acute angle drilled it to the back of the Derry net. This goal came from a wonderful passage of play from Mairead Daly and Aoife Norris. The management introduced Orla Daly, Claire O'Brien and Kym Furey to the action and within 30 seconds of being on the pitch Kym Furey had got her name on the score sheet with a point after Amy Kerrigan had worked the ball in to her.
Kym added another point a minute later, when Amy Kerrigan was fouled.
Offaly were reduced to fourteen players when Christine McDonnell was sin binned for ten minutes.
With seventeen minutes gone in the second half Offaly went further ahead when Kym added another point from a free won by Elaine Sullivan.
The lead was stretched further in the 18th minute when Amy Kerrigan sent the ball up to Claire O'Brien who fisted it over the Derry crossbar.

With ten minutes of normal time remaining in the game, Emma Dalton and Emma Corcoran combined well to create the opening for Amy Kerrigan to slot the ball over the Derry crossbar.
This was followed by the introduction of Offaly substitutes Shauna Farrelly and Sinead Daly to the action.
The final Offaly score of the half came in the 24th minute and it was a super point from Elaine Sullivan after good play that involved Kym Furey, Emma Dalton, and Claire O'Brien.

Derry got their third score of the match in the 26th minute when Ciara Moore pointed a free won by Rachel Walls.
As they bravely continued to battle away Derry had the final say in the scoring when in the 60th minute Katy Holly pointed a free she had won herself.

Final score Offaly................5-16 Derry..................1-3.


OFFALY PANEL;
Laura Devery, Aoife Byrne, Catherine Bennett, Michelle Guinan; Emma Corcoran, Emma Dalton, Christine McDonnell; Treasa McManus, Siobhan Flannery (Capt); Elaine Sullivan, Amy Kerrigan, Niamh Malone; Mairead Daly, Linda Sullivan, Aoife Norris. Kelley Cunningham, Claire O' Brien, Kym Furey, Orla Daly, Meabh Coleman, Shauna Farrelly, Sinead Daly, Ciara McCormack, Ciara Brady, Katie Killeen, Donna Murray, Becca Gorman.

Subs,
Orla Daly for Siobhan Flannery (37 mins), Claire O'Brien for Linda Sullivan (37 mins), Kym Firey for Mairead Daly (37 mins), Shauna Farrell for Emma Dalton (52 mins), Sinead Daly for Treasa McManus (52 mins).

SCORERS
Linda Sullivan (1-3, one free), Mairead Daly (1-3, one free), Elaine Sullivan (1-2), Niamh Malone (1-1), Siobhan Flannery (1-0), Kym Furey (0-3, two frees), Emma Dalton (0-1), Claire O'Brien (0-1), Amy Kerrigan (0-1, Aoife Norris (0-1).


Offaly will now play Wexford in the All Ireland Junior final which takes place on September 29th in Croke Park.

Anyone wishing to obtain tickets for the All Ireland final can contact ;
[email protected] or text 087 216 4752 with you details and number of tickets required. Tweet

Most Read Stories