Tipperary scoring drought in either half leads to home defeat against a strong Cavan effort

Lidl Ladies National Football League - Division 2 - Round 2

Tipperary 1-9

Cavan 1-15

By Michael Heverin

Two barren spells, the first twenty minutes when they scored just one goal, and twenty-five minutes in the second half when they failed to score, proved costly for Tipperary in their Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 2, Round 2 defeat to Cavan at Clonmel Sportsfield on Sunday.

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It was a disappointing result for Tipperary following their impressive opening day win in Wexford. Cavan were the second promoted side that Tipp faced in the space of a week and they proved a different proposition and were well worth their six-point win.

They had the outstanding player on the field in full forward and team captain Aishling Sheridan, who kicked four superb points from play.

Once again it was Aherlow’s Emma Morrissey who was the home side’s star performer, scoring the first-half goal, her third in two games, as well as two points from play. However, the Tipp attack failed to match that of Cavan and the unavailable Lauren Cunningham, one of the best performers on her debut a week earlier in Enniscorthy, proved to be a big loss.

The attack was further weakened in the twentieth minute when Moyle Rovers’ Kirsty Crotty Ryan was withdrawn with a leg injury immediately after she had scored a fine point.

Tipperary’s first point came in the twenty-first minute from Anna Carey, put through by Morrissey, and their second from Kirsty Crotty Ryan left the visitors 0-7 to 1-2 ahead at the break.

Tipperary had begun to settle in the second quarter, but their momentum was shattered when Cavan won the second-half throw-in and Clara Lynch burst clear to hit a superb goal within fifteen seconds.

Tipperary then upped their game again and had the margin back to a single point, 1-8 to 1-7, eleven minutes into the half, but Cavan dominated the final quarter. Tipp failed to score for twenty-five minutes until they scored two late points in injury time.

“Cavan were definitely the better team,” admitted Tipp manager David Power after the game. “The first ten minutes were very poor and we looked nervous for whatever reason. The goal settled us down but then they got on top again. Their goal seconds into the second half was a crucial moment.”

He also targeted one area where he wants to see improvement. “We have to be more physical, win the dirty ball, and then we won’t concede some of the soft scores that we did concede.

"They won the dirty ball and we didn’t, and we have a lot of work to do on that. We need to be pressing higher and that will come over the next few weeks. It’s very much a work in progress.

"We weren’t at it in the first ten minutes and that’s not good enough. But the big positive is that we kept playing and probably left a few more chances behind us,” he said.

Cara McCaffrey, from a free after four minutes, and Deirbhile Lynch, from play in the next move, opened the scoring for Cavan, who looked threatening in every play and spurned at least two good goal chances. Instead, it was Tipperary who found the net first and it was no surprise that it came from the side’s most influential player over the first two games, Aherlow’s Emma Morrissey.

Cavan hit back with three points in three minutes, two from Aishling Sheridan and an Ella Sheridan free after Tipp had failed to keep three players in the opposition half.

Then two points in five minutes got the home support in good voice, Morrissey put Anna Carey clear and the Clonmel Commercials girl hit a lovely score, before Crotty Ryan added a second.

Another Sheridan free and a lovely score from Catherine Dolan gave Cavan a two-point interval lead, 0-7 to 1-2. That became five points fifteen seconds into the second half with Clara Lynch’s goal.

Tipp then outscored the Breffni girls by five points to one over the next ten minutes as they looked like they could turn the game around. Emma Morrissey hit an immediate response to the Cavan goal and team captain Anna Rose Kennedy followed up with another. A brilliant weaving run from Morrissey won a free that Anna Carey converted.

Tipp were now playing their best football of the game and Morrissey put Clara English through to score, with Morrissey then pointing a free after she had been fouled. The only Cavan score in that time came from Catherine Dolan, to leave Cavan one point ahead, 1-8 to 1-7, eleven minutes into the half.

But then, with Tipp down to fourteen players following a yellow card for Heather Spillane, Cavan hit the next six points without reply as they took total control, from Aishling Sheridan, Micaela Fitzpatrick, Deirbhile Lynch, Muireann Cusack and two from Ella Sheridan, one a free, to lead 1-14 to 1-7 deep into injury time.

Nine minutes of injury time were played following second-half injury delays, with Anna Rose Kennedy pointing Tipp’s first score in twenty-five minutes and Anna Carey pointing a free following a foul on Kennedy, either side of a Sheridan point for Cavan. Kennedy was an inspirational leader for Tipperary in difficult circumstances and she continued to take the fight to Cavan.

It doesn’t get any easier for Tipperary with a trip to Mayo this weekend, with the Connacht side drawing away to Cavan in the first round and following up with a comprehensive win over Wexford.

Tipperary: Lauren Fitzpatrick (Ballymacarbry); Tara Hoare (Templemore), Maria Curley (Templemore), Nora Martin (Sliabh na mBan); Shona Lang (Brian Borus), Laura Morrissey (Brian Borus), Sarah English (Ardfinnan); Niamh Martin (Sliabh na mBan), Anna Rose Kennedy (Aherlow, 0-2); Clara English (Ardfinnan, 0-1), Emma Morrissey (Aherlow, 1-3, 0-1f); Heather Spillane (Fethard); Ava Ryan (Moyne/Templetuohy), Anna Carey (Clonmel Commercials, 0-2, 0-1f), Kirsty Crotty Ryan (Moyle Rovers, 0-1). 

Subs used: Angela McGuigan (St Sylvester’s) for Crotty Ryan (20); Ellen Moore (Moyne Templetuohy) for Lang (HT); Katelyn Downey (Boherlahan Dualla) for C English (46); Emma Cronin (Moyle Rovers) for Hoare (53); Aoibhe O’Shea (Mullinahone) for Spillane (58); Nicole Shelly (Mullinahone) for S English (63).

Cavan: Evelyn Baugh; Cara McCaffrey (0-1), Sinead Kelly, Emma McIntyre; Zara Fay, Christina Charters, Sinead Greene; Deirbhile Lynch (0-2), Ciara Boylan; Keri McCormack (0-1), Ella Sheridan (0-4, 0-3f), Catherine Dolan (0-1); Niamh Keenaghan, Aishling Sheridan (0-4); Clara Lynch (1-0). 

Subs used:  Cara McDonnell for McIntyre (36), Micaela Fitzpatrick 0-1 for Boylan (40), Muireann Cusack 0-1 for McCaffrey (44), Ellyanna Madden for Keenaghan (58), Katie Mai Reilly for C Lynch (62).

Referee: Gerard Canny (Mayo)

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