Kildare ladies top Group A with hard-fought win against Wexford

TG4 Leinster Intermediate Championship Group A Round 3

Kildare 5-8

Wexford 2-9

Kildare have secured a home semi-final against Louth with a superb win over Wexford in their last game of Group A in the Leinster Intermediate Championship.

Despite the final score, it was far from plain sailing for the fancied favourites from Kildare.
It was a nervy start to the game filled with mistakes in both handling and passing. The atmosphere lifted when Róisín Byrne intercepted a pass from the Wexford goalkeeper and coolly lobbed the ball over the now out of position Leanne Moore. The perception at the time might have been that the goal would settle the anxious opening for the visitors.

It didn’t and Kildare failed to kick on from there. Wexford would fire back with two goals within three minutes of each other towards the end of the first half. The first being an exceptional finish into the top corner from Caoilfhíonn Ní Nuallain.

The second Wexford green flag would come from a long ball into Aisling Murphy. Murphy slapped a long and searching ball into the full-forward line over Mary Hulgraine to give Wexford a three-point lead.

Kildare looked shell shocked and the home side were continuing to pour on the pressure.

Kildare would get one last chance to redeem themselves before the half-time whistle as a Wexford attack broke down at the other end.

Róisín Byrne, the shining light of Kildare’s poor first half, kicked off the final move. Byrne found Lara Curran who played a superb handpass into an advancing Trina Duggan.

Duggan squared it to the player that started the move Róisín Byrne, who slotted the ball past Leanne Moore in the Wexford goal. A great move and an example of what Kildare are capable of.

At 2-3 a piece, the sides went into the dressing room as they left it in the first half, all square.

Even at level scoring you felt Kildare would kick on, not so much from what they had shown on the pitch but rather knowing that the management team would make adjustments at the break.

Diane O’Hora did make changes at the break, removing corner-forward Ellen Dowling and bringing on Gráinne Kenneally. Kenneally operated further back the pitch, giving Kildare more numbers in defence which allowed them to build from there.

It remained tense as the game restarted but Kildare seemed to have ironed some of the sloppiness that had put them on the back foot in the first half.

Kildare would get the first major breakthrough as Claire Sullivan drove at the heart of the Wexford defence. Sullivan finished superbly into the bottom corner to give her side the lead once more. It was also a first senior score for the Kildare stalwart and what a crucial time to get it.

The sides exchanged scores following Sullivan’s goal as Wexford kept themselves within arms reach of the leaders. That was in large part due to the contribution of Chloe Fox. The Wexford corner-forward had an excellent game and registered an impressive 0-6 on the day.

Kildare would be next to threaten the goal as Róisín Byrne sent Ciara Price through. Price went to shoot but was fouled in her attempts to do so and the referee rightly signalled for a penalty.

Trina Duggan would make the trip forward for the penalty. Duggan is not known for her scoring but you wouldn’t know that from the emphatic penalty that she took. The Suncroft player rifled the ball into the bottom-left corner.

The goal two minutes from the end gave Kildare some breathing room in this game for the first time.

Half-time substitute Gráinne Kenneally covered an incredible amount of ground in her 30 minutes of football. Kenneally would get a chance to add a goal to her performance late on. She did so in some style too as she smashed a superb effort into the net past the Wexford goalkeeper.

Kildare were not their usual cohesive selves, perhaps a product of missing captain and leader Grace Clifford following her injury against Longford. But Kildare got the job done and secured the home semi-final they wanted.
For the Lilywhites it is all’s well that ends well as they face Louth next week.

Scorers: Kildare, Róisín Byrne 2-4, (0-3 frees), Claire Sullivan 1-0, Trina Duggan 1-0 (1-0 penalty), Gráinne Kenneally 1-0, Roisin Forde 0-2, Ruth Sargeant 0-1, Aoife Rattigan 0-1.

Wexford, Chloe Fox 0-6 (0-3 frees), Caoilfhíonn Ní Nuallain 1-1, Aisling Murphy 1-0, Beibhinn McDonald 0-1, Ciara Banville 0-1.

KILDARE:Mary Hulgraine; Lara Gilbert, Laoise Lenehan, Aoife Clifford; Lauren Burke, Ruth Sargeant, Sarah Munnelly; Claire Sullivan, Aoife Rattigan; Trina Duggan, Neasa Dooley, Roisin Forde; Ellen Dowling, Róisín Byrne, Lara Curran. Subs: Mia Doherty for Sarah Munnelly (25 minutes), Gráinne Kenneally for Ellen Dowling (Half-time), Ciara Price for Roisin Forde (42 minutes), Lauren Murtagh for Lauren Burke (54 minutes), Orlaith Sullivan for Neasa Dooley (54 minutes), Fiona Troute for Lara Curran (59 minutes).

WEXFORD: Leanne Moore; Aisling Halligan, Shauna Murphy, Katie English; Bernie Breen, Roisín Murphy, Sarah Harding Kenny; Amy Walsh, Ciara Banville; Beibhinn McDonald, Áine Lacey, Clara Donnelly; Chloe Fox, Aisling Murphy, Caoilfhíonn Ní Nuallain.Subs: Catríona Murray for Áine Lacey (28 minutes), Karen Tomkins for Amy Walsh (45 minutes), Emma Tomkins for Aisling Murphy (54 minutes).

Referee: Kevin Phelan (Laois)