Louth LGFA club | The Pats defeat Cooley to began their bid for three consecutive Ladies SFC wins

St Patricks began their bid for three consecutive Louth Ladies Senior Championship wins with this hard-fought victory over local rivals Cooley Kickhams in Fr McEvoy Park on Friday night last.

In a repeat of last year’s championship semi-final, and 2023’s final, this was a game which struggled to produce the usual fire and brimstone normally associated with these clashes, with moments of quality hard to come by.

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Early on, it was the free taking of sharp shooter Kate Flood which got the Pats up and running.

Flood who recently announced her retirement from inter county football following Louth’s All Ireland Junior Championship success, kicked two early frees for her side, before a turnover from defender Ellen Barry saw the lively Niamh Holland fire low to the Cooley net to leave the Pats 1-2 to no score ahead after the first quarter.

Cooley, struggled to move the ball out of their own half in that opening quarter, but a delightful switch of play by Ciara Boyle led to Laura Traynor landing Kickhams’ first score after 16 minutes, before Emma McCarragher following neat set up play left three between the sides with 5 minutes left until the break.

Kate Flood who operated largely in midfield for her side, got on the end of a neat passing move involving Chloe Barry, Carrie Keenan and Grace Treanor, before sweetly striking over the bar from play.

Forward Treanor, who operated largely around the middle sector, despite lining out at number 13 for the Pats, finished with 36 possessions for her side, a team which also included Louth captain Aine Breen, who finished with 32 possessions herself.

A Niamh Holland free left the defending champions five ahead at the break, in a game where both sides were wasteful in attack, with the Pats finishing with 0-4 from 10 shots in open play, while Cooley amassed 0-8 from 19 shots overall, with the absence of Lauren Boyle, noticeable in the final third.

Second Half:

The second period saw the Pats largely keep their opponents at arm’s length, despite their inefficiency from play.

Aside from a precise passage of play in transition, which saw Saoirse Butterly and Aine Breen combine for the energetic Tara O’Callaghan to fire over from close range, the Pats were largely reliant on the free taking of Niamh Holland to maintain that five point lead in the second period.

In response, Cooley Kickhams turned up the heat, with Niamh Rice starting to see more of the ball.

The point taking of Eibhlin Rice was an undoubted bright spark for the home side, while Lucy White who was quite well marshalled by St Patricks’ Ellen Barry, managed to break free of the Pats cover to fire over the bar on the run, with Cooley trailing by 1-6 to 0-4 with 47 minutes on the clock.

St Patricks’ Ellen Barry also came close to a major when her effort flew wide in a move involving Grace Treanor and the athletic Naomh Butterly, whose ability to run with the ball through the lines stood out, finishing with 30 possessions from half back.

That second period saw Cooley manage to penetrate through that Pats defence, as they ran at them with Niamh Rice as expected, at the forefront of this.

However, Cooley will reflect on missed frees at key moments, as well as goal chances, with Pats keeper Rebecca Lambe Fagan on hand to deny the marauding Niamh Rice from close range with her foot, a move which saw Niamh’s sister Eibhlin fire over the bar via the crossbar, leaving four between the sides with 7 minutes left.

Niamh Holland (free) stretched that lead out to five again, as the Pats continued to weather the Cooley storm.

Cooley’s hopes of taking a share of the spoils were dashed after they failed to convert a penalty and despite late scores from Eibhlin Rice and sub Cliodhna Hannify, the Pats once again saw off their local rivals to get their bid for three in a row off on a winning note.

St Patricks: Rebecca Lambe Fagan; Anna Whyte, Deirbhile O’Doherty, Meabh Butterly; Naomh Butterly, Saoirse Butterly, Ellen Barry; Aine Breen, Kate Flood (0-3) (3f); Aine Butterly, Chloe Barry, Carrie Keenan; Grace Treanor, Tara O’Callaghan (0-1), Niamh Holland (1-4) (4f).

Subs: Melissa O’Hanlon for Aine Butterly (45), Ella White for Keenan (53), Aisling Dunne for Chloe Barry (53), Kayleigh Goss for Holland (57).

Cooley Kickhams: Coirin Rice; Jessica White, Claire Donnelly, Niamh Donnelly; Sarah Walker, Laura Traynor (0-1), Shannon Walker; Aoife McDaid, Niamh Arnold; Emma McCarragher (0-1), Lucy White (0-1), Aine McDonald; Ciara Boyle, Eibhlin Rice (0-4) (1f), Niamh Rice.

Subs: Katie McDonald for Arnold (34), Hazel Malone for Niamh Donnelly (41), Ciara Quinn for Traynor (50), Cliodhna Hannify (0-1) for Sarah Walker (50), Katie O’Rourke for McCarragher (60).

Referee: Stephen Devlin.