LGFA All-Ireland IFC | St. Fechins progress to semi-final

The sun came out to shine down on the teams on a fresh, blustery November morning in Drogheda on Sunday morning.

Fechins lined out with the same starting 15 as they have in previous matches, including their two well-travelled teachers, Roisin Kavanagh and Sara Moore, who came in from Dubai in what has been nearly a weekly round trip since the County Louth Final in early October.

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Holloway Gaels were an unknown quantity with former county and Dublin players, as well as a former hockey international.

Cagey is the best term to use for the first half of this encounter, where the Leinster Champions met the all-British Champions. It took till the 12th minute for Deirdre Duke from Holloway to get the first point of the match from play.

An earlier free taken by Fechins Ava Briscoe dropped short but was deemed to be a square ball. Both sides are playing a very defensive strategy, leaving it very difficult to create chances.

However, on the resumption of play, a pass from captain Orla McEvoy to an incoming Hayley McDonnell resulted in a deflected point, as Holloway Gaels' number one got a hand to the effort and it went over the bar.

Following a wide from Holloway, the kick-out from Molly Savage was caught and passed to Ceire Nolan, Roisin Kavanagh took it down the line and passes to a well-placed Hayley McDonnell, who gets her a second point of the match at the quarter-way stage.

It turned out to be the final score of the half as both sides were guilty of many turnovers and missed passes.  Holloway had their second wide of the half at the 19-minute mark as the wind picked up across the pitch.

A foul on Ceire Nolan resulted in a free on the 45m line, which Ava Briscoe hit short but failed to find her teammate. The resulting ball saw Holloway on the attack, but again was turned over.

After a foul on Hayley, Ava's subsequent shot went wide with Fechin's first wide of the half. Sara Moore came on to replace Lana Devine just before halftime.

A shot on goal from Moya went wide of the mark, Fechin's second in succession. For the remainder of the half, neither side was able to add to their tally. Although the scoreboard wasn’t busy, there were plenty of attacking runs and serious defending.

Half time: St Fechins 0-2 Holloway 0-1  

On the resumption, the first score comes early on as Ava Briscoe, Fechin's top scorer, points from a placed ball after a foul on Céire Nolan.

Holloway had their first scoring chance of the half go wide, but quickly corrected that with a point a minute later from Meg Woods.

Similar situation up the other end, as there was a wide from play, but two minutes later, Roisin Kavanagh, following many hand passing moves, puts it over the bar to put two between the sides.

A ball sent into the square from Ava Briscoe was slapped towards the goal by a well-positioned Sara Moore, but it was a slow ball, and the goalkeeper handled it easily and cleared her lines.

A foul in a scorable position saw Deirdre Duke make easy work of it and pointed to bring her tally to two points and the third for her side.

From the kick out, Órla McEvoy was fouled and takes the resulting free from the midfield area, and then runs on into space, receives the pass from Céire Nolan and pops it straight over the bar.

Again, with more pressure on the Fechins' backs, they give away another free, which was converted to leave one between the sides again, Fechins 0-5 to Holloway 0-4 at the 20-minute mark.

Holloway Gaels defender, Ellen Byrne, receives a yellow card after a high tackle on Céire Nolan. A pass from Hayley McDonnell to a travelling Roisin Kavanagh sees her get her second point of the match.

The kickout was caught expertly by Céire Nolan and passed to substitute Sara Moore, who made no mistake in putting it between the uprights.

Fechins now have a three-point gap and a little breathing space, 0-7 to 0-4 with eight minutes left on the clock.

Holloway had a number of chances from placed balls go wide before Ceire Nolan got herself on the scoreboard with a point from play on the 29th minute.

Sara had a half chance of a shot on goal, but it came off the woodwork, and the resulting shot went wide of the mark. Holloway Gaels weren’t finished as the clock ticked down and added a point from a play, off the boot of  Emer Loughlan.

Fechins made a late change as Sarah Cooley came on for Rebecca Howell. With only three between the sides, a foul which was brought in, in front of the Fechins' goals.

With the goals lined, Fechin's player, Ava Briscoe, saved the resulting shot, which was cleared by Moya Corrigan, who was subsequently fouled as she attempted to get away from her goal line.

In a rare miskick from Fechins' goalkeeper, the ball went over the sideline again. Holloway went on the attack as they were back up to 15 on the pitch, but again Fechin's backs turned over, and there were great scenes as the final whistle went.

With scores coming from six different players, there will be plenty of positives coming out of Sunday's win.

Fechins continue to make club history in what has been an amazing journey, starting with their County Championship win against the Pats in early October.

With another short turnaround, the Fechins have home advantage as they play the Connacht Champions, Galway’s Caltra Cuans, next weekend, day and time to be confirmed.

St. Fechins: Molly Savage, Moya Corrigan, Anna Redmond, Orla Brennan, Leanne Devery, Rachel Beirth, Lana Devine, Ceire Nolan (0-1), Órla McEvoy (0-1), Alice Johnson, Ava Briscoe (0-1, 0-1f), Roisin Kavanagh (0-2), Hayley McDonnell (0-2), Rebecca Howell, Caoimhe Hynes.

Subs: Sara Moore (0-1) for Lana Devine, Sarah Cooney for Rebecca Howell.

Referee: Ray McBride (Dublin).