Kildare Ladies make light work of Longford to secure semi-final spot

Leinster Intermediate Championship Group A Round 2

Kildare 3-14

Longford 2-5

A win was once again expected from Kildare in their second Leinster Intermediate Championship group game against Longford. That is most certainly what they delivered as they completed a very professional performance to beat a game Longford.

It was a far from an ideal start for the Lilywhites as captain Grace Clifford exited proceedings after just a couple of minutes with an injury. Clifford is an integral part of this side as a footballer and leader on the field. All involved will be hoping the injury is not as bad as was feared at the time.

It would be Clifford’s usual partner in midfield Aoife Rattigan that would get Kildare’s first score of the afternoon with a fine point. A fitting first score after the injury as it would be Rattigan who more than stepped in this game in the absence of her usual partner in the middle of the park.

It was a day of stepping up from this Kildare squad with the notable absence of star Róisín Byrne meaning that a huge source of Kildare attacking firepower would be missing. Speaking to Diane O’Hora post-game, Byrne’s injury and absence appears to be a precautionary measure ahead of Wexford next week.

Lara Curran would be the player to take the mantle against Longford as she registered an impressive 0-7 and was near perfect in her set-piece efforts on the day.

Kildare caused Longford endless problems early on with their sharp attacking play. It was all close quarters stuff with short and quick hand passes cutting open the visitors at will.

More than once on the end of these Kildare moves was Roisin Forde, not always a starter but the Leixlip player made her case for even more minutes today with three superb points.

The gap was widening all the time as Curran and Forde kept the scoreboard ticking over in the first half. That gap would be further extended from an unlikely source as Neasa Dooley faked to shoot before offloading to an on-rushing Ruth Sargeant who smashed the ball into the roof of the net. It was Sargeant’s first senior score for Kildare but you wouldn’t know that from the nature of the finish.

Kildare entered the break with a commanding lead at 1-9 to Longford’s solitary Grace Shannon point.

Despite the score, it would be Longford who started the second half the brighter of the two. The visitors grabbed a goal of their own not long after the restart when a ball looped over the Kildare defence was falling to Clodagh Lohan who slapped it past Niamh Barnes in the Kildare goal.

The Longford resurgence was short-lived as Kildare put to bed any hopes of a comeback. Neasa Dooley broke through the opposition defence just four minutes later and coolly finished underneath Riane McGrath for a super goal. Not the usual scoring output from Dooley as she operated in a slightly deeper role on the day, but a goal and an assist showed that she still had plenty of influence on this game.

The next score of the game would also be a goal as Ellen Dowling hit the net with an excellent long range that nestled right into the bottom corner. The effort had the ‘keeper scrambling but Dowling arrowed the ball into the corner giving McGrath little chance to stop it.

It wasn’t until 10 minutes into the second half before a white flag was raised. That was achieved by Longford’s Grace Shannon after 41 minutes with a fine score.

Longford would get another goal as Kildare sought to close out this game, Clodagh Lohan got free once again to bag another goal for her side with just two minutes to go. Lohan smashed the ball underneath the advancing goalkeeper for her second of the day.

Kildare kept the scoreboard ticking to close out a comfortable win and guarantee a semi-final spot in the Leinster Intermediate Championship in brilliant fashion.

Speaking after the game, Kildare manager Diane O'Hora expressed her pride in her side's performance.

She said, “I am absolutely delighted with the way that we played today. The work rate of the player was absolutely superb and nearly every person got game time.”

Scorers:

Kildare, Lara Curran 0-7 (0-4 frees), Roisin Forde 0-3, Neasa Dooley 1-0, Ellen Dowling 1-0, Ruth Sargeant 1-0, Aoife Rattigan 0-2, Gráinne Kenneally 0-1, Holly Tyrell 0-1.

Longford, Clodagh Lohan 2-1, Grace Shannon 0-4 (0-3 frees).

KILDARE: Niamh Barnes; Lara Gilbert, Laosie Lenehan, Aoife Clifford; Trina Duggan, Ruth Sargent, Sarah Munnelly; Grace Clifford, Aoife Rattigan; Claire Sullivan, Neasa Dooley, Roisin Forde; Ellen Dowling, Amy Larn, Lara Curran. Subs: Mia Doherty for Grace Clifford (3 minutes), Gráinne Kenneally for Neasa Dooley (38 minutes), Lauren Burke for Aoife Clifford (38 minutes), Lauren Murtagh for Sarah Munnelly (38 minutes), Holly Tyrell for Ellen Dowling (44 minutes), Fiona Troute for Trina Duggan (49 minutes), Molly O'Loughlin for Claire Sullivan (56 minutes).

LONGFORD: Riane McGrath; Shauna McCormack, Leanne Keegan, Emma Doris; Caoimhe McCormack, Maria Kelleher, Grace Kenny; Grace Shannon, Eimear O'Brien; Hannah Glennon, Caoimhe Lohan, Katie Crawford; Ashling Cosgrove, Clodagh Lohan, Ciara Mulligan. Subs: Teni Alaba for Eimear O'Brien (Half-time), Katelyn McKeon for Hannah Glennon (52 minutes), Emily Reilly for Maria Kelleher (55 minutes), Edel Sheehy for Caoimhe Lohan (59 minutes).

Referee: Marion Hayden (Carlow)

Game at a glance

MAIN PLAYER

LARA CURRAN

In the absence of Róisín Byrne, Lara Curran was the player to pick up the scoring left slack left by Byrne. Curran was reliable with her free-taking and also added three points from play to a complete a fine performance.

TURNING POINT

Kildare had this game well in hand from early on but they could have a turning point in their season through the injury of captain Grace Clifford. Clifford is an exceptional footballer and leader, all involved with this team will hope the injury is not as serious as initally feared.

TALKING POINT

A noticeable element recently has been Kildare's strength and depth in this squad. The players who have come in have been performing superbly.

WHAT NOW?

Kildare now look ahead to the final game of their Group A campaign against Wexford. The final fixture is undoubtedly Kildare's toughest so far as they travel away to Wexford. The top two in each group will earn a semi-final spot.