Louth Ladies denied at the death despite poor second half showing

Leinster LGFA Intermediate Championship Group B Round 2

Louth 2-6 Offaly 1-11

A second half slump proved costly as the Louth Ladies suffered their first defeat of the Leinster Championship at the hands of Offaly.

The Wee County went into the break in front thanks to two goals from Aoife Russell, but the home side replied massively after the restart.

They outscored them 1-5 to 0-2 for the next 30 minutes and despite a late rally of two points and another goal chance for Russell hitting the crossbar in the dying moments of the contest, this tie ultimately belonged to the girls from the Faithful County.

In the first half, tactics for both sides quickly became apparent. Offaly looked to solo the ball, a direct running style from the likes of Amy Gavin Mangan, Emma Maher and Emer Nally helping their side get into scorable positions. One such run from Nally seeing the home side take the lead after just two minutes.

Their lead lasted barely 60 seconds, as Louth replied with a goal. Laura Collins hitting a pitch perfect long diagonal ball into the awaiting arms of Russell. The Glen Emmets clubwoman duly glided past her markers and fired home past Kelly Cunningham.

From the resulting kickout they nearly bagged a second goal, as Ciara Woods intercepted it before teeing up Collins. But Cunningham would make the first of many great saves throughout the afternoon, as Louth focused on raising green flags.

Throughout the opening half, this was their main tactic. Pick off Offaly attacks and then get the ball into Russell as often as they could, given her ability to force her way through tacklers.

They also had plenty of bodies back defending, with Ceire Nolan and Katie Doheny acting as extra defenders, with just four, or sometimes less, forwards staying camped in the Offaly half.

It was vital she was playing well as Kate Flood and Lauren Boyle, two of the county’s most prolific forwards, were late absentees, having been named to start. Flood did end up appearing later in the half, after an injury to Mia Duffy.

Despite having plenty of the ball, Louth were not clinical. Three efforts came up short while another four went wide. Plus, Cunningham made another big save from Russell late in the half. From 14 scoring attempts, they took just four. Albeit two were goals.

After the goal, Offaly outscored Louth 0-5 to 0-1, four of those efforts coming from play via Nally, Emma Maher, Nicole Buckley and a free from Rosin Cockram. Solo running once more playing a large part of their attack.

Yet it was still the visitors that went into the break in front. Collins grabbed her second of the day deep into injury time, before a late goal from Russell on 34 minutes.

This time it was Flood who was the provider with the diagonal ball, before another killer solo run led to the green flag. It left Kit Henry’s troops two points in front, 2-2 to 0-6 at half time.

With an ever-increasing wind and an effective supply of high balls incoming for Russell, you would’ve thought conditions were ideal for Louth to push on from here. But instead, it was the home team that kicked on.

While frees were hard to come by in the opening period, Offaly ended up drawing nine of them in the Louth half of the field following the restart. In comparison, Louth were only awarded two. Both of which came very late into this contest.

It was a frustrating half for Louth supporters as the possession stakes was relatively evenly distributed. The Girls in Red were even strong around the centre too, having only lost one of their own kickouts in the second half, which didn’t happen until injury time. All while forcing two turnovers from Offaly restarts.

They were getting forward, but with extra bodies defending and added pressure, the Wee County could no longer pick out Russell. Instead, they were being turned over, as Offaly forced mistakes and loose passes. And they duly countered at pace, keeping the pressure on Louth.

After trading early efforts from Niamh Rice and Cockram, five of the next six scores went the way of the Faithful County. The biggest of these being a goal on 42 minutes.

A lovely team move involving Emma Hand and Nicole Farrelly eventually saw Nally getting onto the ball. She was brought down in the square, leaving referee Angela Gallagher with no option but to point to the spot. The penalty calmly slotted home by Cockram to put Offaly back in front.

Things went from bad to worse when a high challenge on Hand resulted in Ceire Nolan being sent to the sinbin on 53 minutes, meaning Louth spent the next 10 minutes down to 14 players.

Yet they showed plenty of resolve, notching two points in injury time from Collins and Flood to leave themselves in with a shout of winning at the death. But to do so they needed a goal.

The green flag came close to being waved on 68 minutes. Hard work from Collins teeing up substitute Lucy Whyte. Her close-range effort was blocked down, but it still ended up being recycled back to Aoife Russell, whose rocket was only denied by the crossbar.

Seconds later the full-time whistle was blown, greeted by dubious cheers from the home bench. It leaves Louth desperately needing a win over Westmeath this weekend in the final round of fixtures.

The tie will be played at the home of Ballinlough GAA Club in Meath (throw in 5PM), as the Wee County have given up home advantage to allow the game to be played on Saturday. Thus, avoiding a clash with the Men’s historic Leinster Final and allow those who wish to do so to support both teams.

Louth: Rebecca Lambe Fagan; Ceire Nolan, Eilish Hand, Eimear Murray; Caithlin O’Reilly, Seoda Matthews, Shannen McLaughlin, Katie Doheny; Aine Breen, Aoife Halligan; Laura Collins (0-4, 0-1 free), Niamh Rice (0-1), Mia Duffy; Ciara Woods, Aoife Russell (2-0). Subs: Kate Flood (0-1) for Duffy (27), Rachel Berth for Doheny (39), Abi Keenan for Rice (50), Lucy Whyte for Woods (61), Roisin Maguire for O’Reilly (64), Holly Lambe Sally for Nolan (64).

Offaly: Kelly Cunningham; Kaytlin Flynn, Ava Dolan (0-1), Anna Grehan; Nicole Farrelly, Saoirse McGuinness (0-1), Michelle Mann; Emma Maher (0-1), Amy Gavin Mangan; Roisin Ennis (0-1), Emer Nally (0-2), Eve Kelly; Emily Bailey, Nicole Buckley (0-1), Roisin Cockram (1-4, 0-3 frees, 1-0 pen). Subs: Emma Hand for Kelly (HT), Rosin Mealiff for Maher (44), Saorah Doyle for Flynn (60).

Referee: Angela Gallagher (Dublin)