Page 9 - INTO THE WEST - March-April 2018

LIDL LADIES NFL DIVISION 1 FINAL
Dublin girls deny Mayo again
Sarah Rowe of Mayo scores her side's first goal from a penalty.
Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/ Sportsfile
Dublin .................3-15 CMayo ...................1-10
By EMMA DUFFY
opened their account.
The goal came through a
it was, of course, a repeat of the 2017 TG4 All-ireland senior decider, in which the Sky Blues triumphed by 12 points at Croke Park after a flurry of late goals.
SCORERS – Mayo: S Rowe (1-5, 2f, 1p), G Kelly (0-2, 2f), F Doherty, N Kelly, G Kelly, S Cafferky (0-1
each).
DUBLIN: C Trant; M Byrne, D Murphy, L Caffrey; S McGrath (K
Murray, 38), L McGinley (J Dunne, HT), N Collins; L Magee, O Carey (S Goldrick, 52); N Owens (H O’Neill,
58), N McEvoy, L Davey (C S, 37); S Finnegan, N Healy, S Aherne (capt.).
MAYO: R Kearns: E Lowther, S Tierney (capt.), N O’Malley (O Conlon, 24); M Corbett, D Cald- well (S Mulvihill, 45), D Hughes (S Howley, 38); A Gilroy, C
But again, Mayo’s fight could not be faulted, while Sarah rowe’s 1-5 perform- ance was one of the standout perform- ances.
From the get-go, Aherne took the game by the scruff of the neck and was too much for the Mayo defence to handle.
off a massive save and niamh Collins – who impressed throughout – cleared the rebound off the line.
With 10 minutes on the clock, the St Sylvester’s sharpshooter had 1-3 to her name before the Westerners had even
The sides traded scores while Aherne’s pristine free-taking continued, dublin’s powerful support play well and truly coming to the fore. Under pressure between the posts, rachel Kearns managed to keep the deficit down with a fantastic double save to deny Laura McGinley.
7th-minute penalty, after nicole Owens was fouled in the area, and Aherne coolly slotted home to give dublin the dream start.
APTAin fantastic Sinéad Aherne finished with 1-9 as 2017 TG4 All- ireland senior champions dublin
Olwen Carey and niamh McEvoy tagged on further points before Fiona doherty finally
got the ball rolling for Mayo. Peter Leahy’s
side had a goal
chance soon
after but Ciara
Trant pulled
added a first-ever Lidl Ladies national Football League division 1 title to their cabinet.
never gave up with rowe clock- ing up a few more scores.
There were 11 points in the difference as the final whistle sounded in Parnell Park, with Mick Bohan’s charges crowned champions for the first time, following Cork’s five-year reign as holders.
But dublin saw the game out accordingly, their dominance
Goals from Aherne, Laura McGinley and 2017 Player of the year noelle Healy, along with a dominant performance from start to finish, meant that Mayo hearts were broken once again in a national showpiece.
Scorers for dublin: S Aherne (1-9, 5f, 1p), n Healy
shining through right until the death.
(1-1), L McGinley (1-0), n Owens (0-2), O Carey, n
McEvoy, L davey (0-1 each).
Moments later though, the same player had the ball in the back of the net after some brilliant build-up work from Lyndsey davey, to make it 2-9 to 0-4 with 27 minutes on the clock.
Fiona McHale of Mayo in action against Laura McGinley of Dublin.
Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/ Sportsfile
McManamon; F McHale, F Doherty, S Cafferky; N Kelly, Rowe, G Kelly (A Dowling, 49).
REFEREE: B Rice (Down).
S
As the minutes ran down and half time approached, Sarah rowe hit a penalty while Kelly added a free but davey had the final say to leave the score 2-10 to 1-5.
Mayo manager Peter Leahy looks on at the action. Photo by Tom Beary/Sportsfile
Sinead Cafferky and Kelly clawed scores back but by this stage, there was too much to do. Aherne’s masterclass before the posts continued with Owens also contributing, but in fairness to Mayo, they
On the restart, it was business as usual for dublin, Healy producing a lung- bursting run and blistering finish as
she slotted home dublin’s third goal.
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