Gale-force drama in Clarecastle as Laois Ladies lose out to The Banner

The Laois Ladies made the trip down to Clarecastle GAA on Sunday afternoon to face Clare in Round Four of the National Football League. A gale-force wind whistled down the state-of-the-art 4G astroturf surface. 

Laois seemed to have the aid of the wind in the first half, but it also made shooting from angles rather difficult as it blew in a diagonal direction down the field. It was unfortunate for Laois as Clare managed to score three goals while against the wind. 

Anna Healy pointed the opening score of the game as she won the Laois kickout on the D and ran the whole length of the pitch before striking between the posts. Emily Lacey then followed up by pointing a free. 

Clare’s Eabha O’Driscoll opened the scoring from play for the home side, and Lacey replied from a free once again. The first green flag of the contest came when Lauren Conway found a gap in the Laois defence and side-stepped Eimear Barry to kick into an open net. 

The away side replied strong as the wind took hold of a Lacey shot and guided it into the top right corner of the net. Laois then won the resulting kick out which allowed Katie Donoghue raise a white flag. 

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Disaster struck for Laois as The Banner County rattled the net twice in the space of two minutes. O’Driscoll squared the ball to Ellie Hanrahan, allowing her to palm it to the net. Clare then won the Laois kick out, where Conway was fouled in the square, meaning Chloe Moloney would step up and fire past Barry, but this remained their final score of the half in the 18th minute. 

Laois took control and made the most of the wind advantage, kicking five points in a row to see the half out. Donoghue had a goal-scoring opportunity when she fired a quick free towards goal, but Rebecca Sexton was alert to deny her. Laois’ five points came courtesy of Shifra Havill, Eva Galvin, a Donoghue free and two from Lacey, one from a placed ball, which saw Laois take a two-point advantage to the dressing rooms at half-time (1-9 to 3-1). 

Stephen Duff’s side started strong, kicking into that ever-present wind. Galvin found the back of the net after Havill collected the throw-in and found Laura Marie Maher, who, in turn, found Galvin to rattle the ball past Sexton. Galvin then pointed only minutes later, after a fantastic turnover. 

Moloney was then awarded a free for Clare and played a one-two with Conway to then point. Moloney went on to kick a free in the following passage of play. Galvin pointed again for Laois in the 42nd minute, but this would prove to be their final score of the contest. 

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Much like Laois did in the opening half, Clare took complete control with the wind on their backs, aiding them along the way. Moloney pointed two frees, which narrowed Laois’ lead to just three points. Having been dispossessed on their kick-out, Barry redeemed herself and pulled off an outstanding save from a Theresa Collins shot. 

Laois just couldn’t seem to find momentum, and each attack was broken down early on, allowing Clare attack at pace. A long ball was played into Amy Sexton, and she made no mistake in finding the top corner of Barry’s goal. With the sides level, it was the home side who managed to finish it out as Moloney and Hanrahan both raised white flags, to give Clare a two-point win

Laois now face into their final home game of the league against Roscommon on Sunday, March 1, where a win will be essential to avoid a dreaded relegation battle. 

FINAL SCORE

Clare 4-7

Laois 2-11

SCORERS —Clare: Chloe Maloney 1-5 (1-0 peno, 0-3 frees), Ellie Hanrahan 1-1, Amy Sexton and Lauren Conway 1-0 each, Eabha O’Driscoll 0-1. Laois: Emily Lacey 1-4 (0-3 frees), Eva Galvin 1-3, Anna Healy, Shifra Havill, Katie Donoghue, and Lauren Kearney 0-1 each. 

CLARE: Rebecca Sexton; Lucy Power, Rebecca Doohan, Shauna Melican; Aisling Kelly, Joanna Doohan, Emer Burke; Caoimhe Cahill, Aine Slattery; Sinéad Considine, Caoimhe Harvey, Lauren Conway; Eabha O'Driscoll, Chloe Moloney, Ellie Hanrahan.

Subs: Theresa Collins for O’Driscoll (40 mins), Louise Cleary for Burke (47 mins), Aishling Crowe for Slattery and Amy Sexton for Melican (Both 51 mins) 

LAOIS: Eimear Barry (Shanahoe); Ciara Byrne (Portlaoise), Aishling Saunders (Portlaoise), Sinead Farrelly (St Joseph’s), Andrea Moran (Ballyroan), Mary Cotter (St. Conleths), Anna Healy (Park Ratheniska); Faye Mcevoy (Ballyroan), Fiona Dooley (Portlaoise); Ciara Crowley (Portlaoise), Shifra Havill (St. Conleths), Katie Donoghue (Timahoe); Emily Lacey (St. Joseph’s), Eva Galvin (St. Conleths), Laura Marie Maher (Sarsfields). 

Subs: Lauren Kearney (Sarsfields) for Farrelly (29 mins), Lorna Butler (St Joseph’s) for Moran (33 mins), Sarah Larkin (Timahoe) for Donoghue (52 mins), and Aoibhe Byron (St Conleth’s) for Lacey (60 mins).

Referee: Patrick Smith (Waterford)