Louth Ladies land first league win in style

Louth helped themselves to six goals as they deservedly landed their first league win, with this away victory over Laois in Crettyard on Sunday afternoon.

This win saw Louth kick on after what was a positive showing in their opening round defeat to promotion fancied Cavan last week, with the two-pronged attack of Kate Flood and Laura Collins working a treat for the Wee County, the pair scored a brace of goals each, as the visitors went goal crazy in this impressive victory.

Another forward to impress was Eimear Byrne, whose exploits go far beyond the one point beside her name on the scoresheet.

The St Mochtas’ star finished with 20 possessions, having been a useful outlet for the long kickout. She is also credited with a number of assists for key scores over the hour.

Last week, Louth’s defensive organisation made life difficult for Cavan in large parts of the game, and Kevin Larkin’s side once again proved difficult to break down, as Laois struggled to penetrate the visitor’s structured defence, which forced the home side to move the ball laterally from one flank to the other, and shoot from awkward angles.

Laois managed 0-5 from 14 first half shots, and 1-10 from 24 in total.

This shape saw Louth turn a lot of Laois attacks over, with Eilish Hand, Eimear Murray and Shannen McLaughlan all shining, supporting the impressive midfield of Aoife Halligan and Aine Breen, both of whom once again worked tirelessly throughout.

Halligan was once again in the thick of it, finishing with 33 possessions, while Breen had 27 over the hour.

The pair were also supported by third midfielder Ceire Nolan, whose customary energy and mobility made her perfect for the role.

The Wee County got off to the perfect start, when a turnover from a Laois attack, led to Kate Flood collecting a pinpoint Shannen McLaughlan kick pass, almost 20 metres from the Laois goal, and her shot managed to fly over the head of Laois keeper Naomi Luttrell, before bouncing into the roof of the net for Louth’s first goal inside 90 seconds.

Laois began to settle down but were having to rely on the shooting of Emily Lacey and Emma Lawlor to gain inroads into Louth’s lead.

Two points from Lacey and Emma Lawlor (f), left a point between the sides by the 6th minute.

A clever move involving Shannen McLaughlan, Aine Breen, Eimear Byrne, and Aoife Russell saw Ceire Nolan win a close range free, which was converted by Flood to keep Louth’s noses ahead.

But credit to Laois, as they did treat their home supporters to some accurate score taking, with another Emily Lacey point following neat interplay from Andrea Moran leaving it at 1-1 to 0-3 in Louth’s favour by the end of the first quarter.

Louth continued to withstand pressure from Laois, who tried to press up on their opponents as they moved the ball out of defence on their short kickout.

Another fine strike from Lacey levelled things up, before Louth broke away for a crucial score in this league clash.

After getting the ball away from a short kickout through the hands, a fine footpass from Aine Breen found Eimear Byrne in space, with two Louth attackers facing one Laois defender.

Byrne found Laura Collins, who calmly slotted to the Laois net to give Louth a three point lead after 20 minutes.

Eimear Byrne traded points with Emily Lacey, before Louth struck again for their third major of the afternoon, when Lucy White fired low to the Laois net, assisted by Louise Byrne who collected a defence splitting kick pass by Laura Collins to switch the play from right to left, and Louth led by 3-2 to 0-5 with four minutes left until the break.

Goal crazy Louth raised their fourth green flag when an attempted point by Kate Flood looped over keeper Naomi Luttrell and into the net, and Louth led by nine by the 30th minute.

Another Flood free gave the Wee County a somewhat surprising ten point lead at the break.

Most of those who were in attendance would agree that Louth deserved the lead at the break, with their structured defence matched by their clinical streak in attack, amassing seven scores from nine first half shots.

Second Half:

Expecting a second half backlash from their opponents, Louth continued to be solid in their shape, with two points from the excellent Shannen McLaughlan and Laura Collins, cancelling out an early strike from Emily Lacey, who in fariness did not deserve to be on the losing side.

Laois who had 14 players on the field for the first 10 minutes of the second half following the late first half yellow card for captain Andrea Moran, did point again through Lacey.

However, Louth all but sealed the points, when they added their fifth goal. When Eimear Byrne intercepted a Laois kickout, her lofted pass was gathered by Laura Collins, who cheekily lobbed the ball over the head of Luttrell and into the Laois net.

Moments after she came onto the pitch, Rachel Leonard collected another Laois kickout, before lobbing the ball over the Laois keeper for Louth’s sixth major, as the Wee County led by 6-5 from 0-7 by the end of the third quarter.

Despite a late scoring salvo, which included a deflected Emily Lacey free finding the Louth net, the outcome of this game had long been decided, as Louth deservedly took home the points, for their first win under new manager Kevin Larkin.

Louth: Rebecca Lambe Fagan; Eimear Murray, Eilis Hand, Rachel Beirth; Holly Lambe Sally, Shannen McLaughlan 0-1, Louise Byrne; Aine Breen, Aoife Halligan; Aoife Russell, Eimear Byrne 0-1, Lucy White 1-0; Laura Collins 2-1, Kate Flood 2-2 (2f), Ceire Nolan.

Subs: Rachel Leonard 1-0 for Russell (45 mins), Caitlin O’Reilly for Beirth (48 mins), Ciara Woods for White (52 mins), Mischa Rooney for Collins (55 mins), Caoimhe Boyle for Louise Byrne (56 mins), Zara Sweeney for Eimear Byrne (58 mins), Katie Doheny for Nolan (59 mins), Lucy Sheridan for Halligan (62 mins), Vanessa Brennan for Breen (62 mins).

Laois: Naomi Luttrell; Sinéad Farrelly, Maeve Phelan, Aoife Cummins; Ciara Crowley, Faye McEvoy, Shifra Havill; Fiona Dooley, Andrea Moran; Jenny Murphy, Emily Lacey (1-7), Lauren Kenny; Eva Galvin, Emma Lawlor 0-3 (2f), Grainne Moran.

Subs: Ciara Burke for Murphy (HT), Aisling Fitzpatrick for Moran (Moran (50 mins), Lauran Walsh for Havill (53 mins), Kate Jacob for Crowley (58 mins), Ellen O’Byrne for Lawlor (55 mins).

Referee: Raymond McBride (Co Dublin).