Played in breezy conditions in Kilrush on Saturday evening, this was a result that was in doubt up until the final whistle. Eire Og got of to a great start with some early pressure creating a goal for Shauna Keane. Kilrush responded with two goals and a point before Orla Devitt glided through the middle on more than one occasion to score 2-04 which included two frees. Sophie Hanna also scored a goal Kilrush steadied the ship just before the break when they scored 2-02 to bring themselves to within a goal of the visitors at half time on a scoreline of 4-04 to 3-03. Eire Og who played with a strong breeze in the first half, would need to increase their work rate for the second half. Maria Redmond played well in goal, while Laura Brown, Aoife Sheehan, Elana Bradley and Orla McMahon were getting through some good work around the field.
The second half started well for the visitors with Shauna Keane scoring two points and Sarah Cullinan hitting the net to leave Eire Og in a good position on the forty minute mark. However, Kilrush refused to give in on their home turf and scored 2-02 without reply to put them in the lead for the first time with ten minutes left on a scoreline of 6-06 to Eire Og's 5-06. At this stage Eire Og looked to be in trouble, but they used their experience to work the ball well to the forward line where Shauna Keane scored a breakaway goal to level the scores. Minutes later Keane was yellow carded for a less than impressive tackle on the Kilrush wing back. This gave the advantage to Kilrush and they pushed on in search of the score that would take them ahead again. However some great defending by Laura Brown, Aida Griffey, Sarah Redmond and Sinead Mulcahy kept Kilrush at bay. With Orla McMahon, Louise Kirwan, Orla Devitt and Sophie Hanna working tirelessly around the middle, Devitt scored 1-1 to give Eire Og the lead going into injury time. Kilrush piled on the pressure in the final minutes and scored a goal to reduce the lead to one point, but they could not find that final point to equalise. Referee Michael Talty blew the final whistle after three minutes of injury time with Eire Og winning by the minimum. The Eire Og team showed great character in the second half to battle back from being a goal down. More performances like this will be required if they are to have any chance of winning the league this season.
Scorers:
Shauna Keane 2-02
Orla Devitt 3-05
Sophie Hanna 1-00
Sarah Cullinan 1-00
Player of the Match: Orla Devitt
Congratulations to Aida Griffey who will retain captaincy for the coming league campaign.
Training takes place on Monday 14th at 7pm.
Round 3 of the league has been provisionally set for the bank holiday Easter Monday at home vs Coolmeen. The winners of this match will top the group.
