Three Point Win for Carlow Minors
Three Point Win for Carlow Minors
March 18, 2019
Leinster Minor Championship
Carlow vs Louth
Bro Leo Park
18/3/2019
Half Time: Carlow 1-04, Louth 2-09
Full Time: Carlow 5-08, Louth 3-11
The match opened at a frantic pace with the ball travelling up and down the pitch a few times before the scoreboard was dented. And it was Louth who made the first mark on the game, their number 12 Roisin Crowe kicking a fine team score. The Louth forwards set a high press for Carlow's kick outs, and made it very difficult for Maggie Forde in the Carlow goal to find an easy option, a turnover high up the field led to a second Louth point. Then a long kick out found wing forward Sarah Doyle who powered down the sideline to play a 1-2 with full forward Shauna O Neill before registering Carlow's first score.
Carlow would go on to create some excellent inroads in attack, but were let down by the final pass in too many situations, with Louth counter-attacking well and with great speed, to create pockets of space in the Carlow backline with full forward Niamh Rice being central to much of their good work, as they added 1-5 from their number 14, while Carlow responded with a pair of points from Sarah Doyle and a goal, when the industrious Aoife Roche lobbed the keeper with her left foot, and in a goalmouth scramble, Beth Everson got the ball over the line to add to a Shauna O Neill point and bring the Carlow tally to 1-4 at the half, with an impressive Louth scoring 2-9 in the same period.
In the second half, Louth added an early goal from Kara McKeever to push their lead out further, Carlow responded soon after when excellent defensive work from Jasmine Brennan Dowling and Niamh Murphy led to an overlap on the right side, some clinical passing leading to a Shauna O Neill goal, drilled to the bottom corner. Carlow began to press the kick outs more and make it more difficult for Louth to transition the ball. Ferocious defending from Beibhin O Brien and Orla Sawyer down the left flank, intercepting crucial passes and turning play over gave Caoimhe O Neill and Aoibheann Brennan in Carlow's engine room the platform and service to carry the ball with menace into Louth territory. Excellent distribution lead to Sarah Doyle firing over the keeper for another goal, to narrow the deficit. Excellent play from Michaela Delaney at centre forward (who came alive in the second half) was rewarded when she fired over a well-worked point, and then in was Aoife Roche who intercepted a kickout and supplied Shauna O Neill, her shot clattering the crossbar, but Beth Everson was on hand to slot the rebound home and reduce the margin to 3.
Louth pressed and excellent work on the inside by Aisling Tooher and Dominika Stephanova kept the Louth forwards out, Ciara Farrell at wing back was then set free, her break from defence finding Sarah Doyle, who supplied Aoife Roche to rifle a shot to the roof of the net to give Carlow the lead for the first and only time in the game, and some intense work rate from Beibhin O Brien, Laura Kearney and captain Caoimhe O Neill meant they held firm to claim what seemed a very unlikely result at many points in the game.
An excellent display of character and resilience in the second half from the whole group were at the heart of this great result, and the girls from both sides should be very proud of the skills, energy, passion and intensity on display today.
Thanks to Carlow's Lorcan O'Toole for this report from this afternoon's Minor Championship.
Pic via Carlow LGFA FB