Dundalk IT Ladies book place in Lynch Cup semi final with win against ATU Sligo

The DKIT ladies booked their place in the semi final of the Lynch Cup with nine points to spare against a plucky ATU Sligo in Dundalk on Tuesday evening.

This victory sets up a repeat of last year’s Lynch Cup semi final with MTU Cork, who beat the Dundalk side on that occasion, as well as in the opening round of this year’s competition.

However, to their credit, DKIT recovered from that opening round defeat with two impressive home wins to secure a semi final place, scoring an impressive 9-31 in the process.

Despite nine points separating the sides at the finish, ATU Sligo did give the home side plenty to think about, with the Connacht side drawing first blood with the opening goal inside 30 seconds through the excellent Deirbhile Lynch, who amassed 1-6 in this quarter final clash.

ATU’s impressive running of the ball through the hands and breaking lines led to several scoring opportunities, with Ciara Walsh feeding the onrushing Lynch for that opening major, before Ella McNamara gave them a 1-1 to no score lead inside 2 minutes.

This was the only time the visitors led in the entire game, as DKIT came to life, thanks mainly to the exploits of Rachel Casserly.

Casserly who has already helped herself to six goals in this competition, added a quickfire brace, which set DKIT on their way to a 2-5 to 1-2 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Following a somewhat fortunate first goal, Casserly raised her first white flag, before dispatching the ball passed ATU Sligo keeper Lily Vickers to turn the game on its head at 2-1 to 1-1.

In what was a lively opening, DKIT matched their opponents for slick movement of the ball at speed, with Ciara Gilsenan and Abi Keenan (f) increasing their side’s lead to five after 11 minutes.

ATU Sligo gave DKIT another warning, when more hard running, saw Heather Flynn set up Ella McNamara, who was thwarted by keeper Rebecca Lambe Fagan, before Deirbhile Lynch found the range from play to daw the lead back to four.

DKIT heeded this warning, and the lively Aisling Maguire pointed following a clever Rachel Casserly pass, Casserly again turned provider for Abi Keenan who simply could not miss in front of the posts, leaving DKIT 2-5 to 1-2 ahead.

Despite the best efforts of Deirbhile Lynch for Sligo, DKIT managed to increase their lead out to seven by half time, thanks to Abi Keenan (3), and Rachel Casserly, as the home side also punished their opponents on the transition, moving the ball at pace after breaking down a Sligo attack at the other end, with Holly Lambe Sally, Caitlin O’Reilly and Tara Reneghan producing key turnovers in the home side’s defence.

Alongside Casserly and Keenan in attack, Gemma Grimes’ contribution cannot be understated, the ubiquitous Monaghan panellist was heavily involved in a lot of the home side’s attacking play and scores, and on another day, could have finished with a hattrick, after being thwarted by Sligo keeper Lily Vickers on several occasions.

Leading by 2-9 to 1-5 at the break, DKIT impressively amassed that tally from 14 shots at the posts.

Second Half:

As Rachel Casserly and Abi Keenan continued to top up their scoring tallies, DKIT were able to keep their opponents at arm’s length, with the pair ultimately accounting for 2-16 of the Dundalk side’s 2-20 tally.

Arguably the score of the game went to midfielder Vanessa Brennan, who fired over the bar following a barnstorming run on the back of fetching a kickout.

Deirbhile Lynch (3), as well as one each from Rebecca Higgins and Ciara Walsh continued to carry the fight to DKIT, before a late goal from Hannah Prendergast left nine between the sides at the finish, as DKIT comfortably booked their place at the HEC Colleges finals weekend, which sees them face MTU Cork in the Lynch Cup semi final next Friday.

This marked a special night for DKIT sport in general, with the college also winning the Fresher 2 Championship beating MTU Kerry in Carlow in the final. Roche Emmets’ DD Reilly won player of the match in that final, scoring 2-1 on a night where Eamon McEneaney’s side won on a 4-12 to 1-11 scoreline.

Captained by St Josephs’ Cormac McKeown, Kian Duffy (1-3) and Liam O’Hanlon (1-2) scored the other goals on a hugely successful night. Other scorers include Oisin McGorman and John Joe Hughes who scored 0-3 each.

Dundalk IT: Rebecca Lambe Fagan; Sophie Grey, Holly Lambe Fagan, Tara Reneghan; Rosana O’Neill, Caitlin O’Reilly, Katie Lennon; Ciara Gilsenan (0-1), Vanessa Brennan (0-1); Abby Ryan, Gemma Grimes, Abi Keenan (0-9) (8f); Aisling Maguire (0-2), Ciara Lennon, Rachel Casserly (2-7) (5f).

Subs: Megan Benson for Grey (HT), Eimear Finnegan for Lennon (40), Ealaigh Toner for Ryan (43), Katie Lennon for Ciara Lennon (50), Sophie Grey for Reneghan (53), Ciara Lennon for Finnegan (58).

ATU Sligo: Lily Vickers; Grainne Flynn, Grace Esler, Michelle Breen; Sarah Caulfield, Ciara Walsh (0-1), Sarah Breen; Eimear Clune (0-1), Erin Feerick; Heather Flynn, Deirbhile Lynch (1-6) (3f), Hannah Prendergast (1-0); Mia McDonald, Ella McNamara (0-1), Rebecca Higgins (0-2).

Subs: Ciara Brennan for McDonald (HT), Ruby Clune for Higgins (40), Roisin Kerins for Feerick (45).

Referee: Emma Dunne.