Louth LGFA club | Fechins Ladies progress to Leinster final

St. Fechins Ladies are making history again as they earned their place in the Leinster Club Championship final with a win over Skryne in Monasterboice on Saturday afternoon.

The Ladies from Louth had to gear up as Skryne staged a comeback to level the match deep in the second half. But captain Orla McEvoy led the way with a point to put them ahead again.

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Skryne opened the scoring with a fine point from play. With the wind on their back, Fechins then began their driving runs on the Skryne defence with points from Orla McEvoy, Leanne Devery and Ava Briscoe.

Ava Briscoe added two more points, one from a placed ball, before Skryne got their second point of the match. Ceire Nolan, with a great burst of speed, pointed from play, and Ava finished the half with another from a free.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the home side as they were guilty of a number of shots falling both short and wide of the mark.

However, they went into halftime with a five-point lead, and only time would tell if this would be enough, as the visitors would have the wind at their backs in the second half.

Half time: St Fechins 0-7  Skryne 0-2

Skryne’s half-time team talk seemed to have galvanised the team as they came out with renewed determination and the wind at their backs.

They scored four unanswered points, one from free, to leave just one between the sides ten minutes into the half.  Some high tackles from Skryne resulted in a yellow card being issued and a penalty being awarded.

Ava, who had put one away in the county final, stepped up to take the shot, but unfortunately, it went high and wide on this occasion. This was followed by another wide from a placed ball as the side struggled with the wind.

A second tackle saw Skryne lose a second player to the sinbin as their discipline slipped, as they gave away unnecessary frees.

Fechins made a number of substitutions to freshen the side, but it was Skryne who pointed from a free to level the score at 24 minutes, much to the delight of the visiting supporters.

Orla McEvoy got her second point of the match and her side's first of the second half late in the game, but in true captain fashion, it galvanised her side. Two-point frees and a further from play from Ava secured a four-point win for the Fechins.

The second half was not without its drama; a tackle on Fechin's Alice Johnson saw the ball leave her hand and roll into the net, but following long discussions with her umpires, the goal was disallowed.

Another shot was also disallowed as it was deemed that Ava Briscoe was over the end line before passing the ball.  Skryne well into injury time made a push on goal, but it too was deemed void as the player was in the square.

Some great defending in the dying minutes kept Skryne at bay with the final two shots wide of the mark, and a place in the final was secured.

Powerful performances from all on the pitch, Molly Savage making a great save from a long-range shot, as well as leadership efforts from captain Orla McEvoy, Anna Redmond, Rachel Beirth, Céire Nolan, and Roisin Kavanagh, with great support from all players.

The two-week break will give the team a well-needed rest as they have played four weekends in a row, including the county final. They will play Kildare side Balyna on 8th November, venue and time TBC.

Team: Molly Savage, Moya Corrigan, Anna Redmond, Orla Brennan, Leanne Devery 0-1, Rachel Beirth, Lana Devine,  Céire Nolan 0-1, Orla McEvoy 0-2, Alice Johnston, Ava Briscoe 0-7 (4f), Roisin Kavanagh, Hayley McDonnell, Rebecca Howell, Caoimhe Hynes.

Subs: Sara Moore for Alice Johnston, Erin McDonagh for Lana Devine, Sarah Cooney for Becky Howell, Niamh Kearney for Rachel Beirth.

Referee: Sinead McHugh.