Louth ladies crowned Leinster Junior champions

Louth are TG4 Leinster Junior champions for 2024, following this deserved victory over Carlow, avenging their opening round defeat against the same opponents a few weeks ago.

In any competition where a final is contested between two sides who already faced off a few weeks earlier, it is often the team who lost out the first time who strangely have momentum on their side, they can learn from previous mistakes, and come up with a plan to stifle opponents who beat you the first time around.

This proved to be the case for Paul Hanlon’s side who were boosted by the return of influential defender Eilis Hand, for her first start since returning from a cruciate ligament injury sustained last year.

In a game which took time to get going, the opening score did not arrive until the 9^th minute when a long ball over the top from Aine Breen, saw Kate Flood tee up Niamh Rice who casually stroked over the bar.

The best chance both sides had of scoring was in the transition, whenever they turned the ball over in defence, Carlow who were looking to win back to back Leinster championships, broke at speed through the hands, to bag the opening major after 11 minutes.

A long Carlow kickout circumvented the Louth press, with Niamh Forde laying the ball off to the onrushing Rachel Sawyer who fired the ball high to the net, scoring her third goal in two games against Louth in this Leinster championship, having scored 2-1 when the sides met in the first round.

When Sawyer found the range moments later, you got the feeling that this was déjà vu for the Wee County.

One noteworthy feature of this game early doors was that Carlow kickout. Despite Louth trying to force the press on their restarts, Carlow managed to win 23 out of 26 kickouts over the hour, with several scoring opportunities coming on the back of them.

However, Carlow will rue their profligacy in attack, only managing 3 scores from 13 first half shots, and 6 out of 21 overall, which also saw the lively Sara Doyle denied by the crossbar in that first half.

Despite this, Louth still managed a scoring spurt of their own, with a passing move involving Aoife Russell and Ciara Woods, resulting in Kate Flood firing over from play. Aoife Russell’s relentless running from box to box was impressive, with the Glen Emmets player touching the ball 22 times over the hour.

A fine turnover from captain Aine Breen saw Russell set up Russell who found Niamh Rice who held off her marker to fire to the bottom corner to give Louth the lead at 1-2 to 1-1 after the opening quarter.

In a half where both sides saw attacks break down, coupled with Carlow’s wayward shooting, the next score did not arrive until first half stoppage time, with Rice again pointing following decent play by Aoife Russell and Louise Byrne. Rachel Sawyer did end Carlow’s wait for a score to temporarily close the gap.

Carlow were also reeling from losing influential Cliodhna Ni Sé to a sin bin in that half, with Louth losing Mia Duffy to the same fate a few minutes later.

Alongside Aoife Russell, Aoife Halligan’s influence on proceedings cannot be understated either, finishing with 23 possessions, and deservedly picking up the player of the match award.

The Roche Emmets player combined with Holly Lambe Sally, to set up another fine score from Aoife Russell to give Louth that upper hand at the break at 1-4 to 1-2.

However, that lead could have got bigger for the reds, only for Russell’s goal bound effort to be denied with a heroic diving block by Niamh Murray of Carlow.

Second Half

Carlow came out for the second half with intent, and a fine score by Sara Doyle not long after the restart closed the gap to the minimum following good work by Edel Hayden.

Doyle repeated the dose moments after Kate Flood converted a free for Louth, to once again leave a kick of the ball between the sides inside 35 minutes.

However, by the end of the third quarter, Carlow would be reduced to 13 players, with referee Eoin O’Neill issuing yellow cards to Sara Doyle and captain Ruth Bermingham for fouls on Ceire Nolan and Holly Lambe Sally respectively.

Sandwiched in between those sin bins, Kate Flood cutely lobbed Carlow’s keeper Nicole Hanley in what is becoming her signature finish to give Louth a crucial four point buffer at 2-5 to 1-4.

The wheels seemed to come off for Carlow at that stage, as they tried everything to get back into the game, including bringing in sub Megan Townsend into the square, as they tried to go more direct, moving Rachel Sawyer to a deeper role.

Without Doyle, and minus young talent Maeve O’Neill, Carlow ran out of ideas, and Louth pressed home that advantage, with the outstanding Aoife Halligan getting a point that her play deserved, having gone close to scoring a goal following one of those trademark lung bursting runs from midfield moments before.

Rachel O’Connor Leonard made a telling contribution off the bench, slotting over two scores from play, in between a Kate Flood free, as Louth pressed home their advantage to gain revenge on their opponents, and more importantly win the Leinster Junior Championship for the first time since 2019, which also saw them beat Carlow on that occasion.

This is a win which should instil confidence into this Louth side, as they hope to make a swift return to the Intermediate ranks at the first time of asking in the upcoming All Ireland series.

With Elis Hand returning to the fold following a long-term injury, alongside Ceire Nolan who also returned from a similar cruciate injury, manager Paul Hanlon is beginning to get his best side out on the field, which has not always been the case this year.

Louth: Rebecca Lambe Fagan; Seoda Mathews, Louise Byrne, Eimear Murray; Holly Lambe Sally, Eilis Hand, Ceire Nolan; Aoife Halligan (0-1), Aine Breen; Mia Duffy, Eimear Byrne, Aoife Russell (0-2); Niamh Rice (1-2), Kate Flood (1-3), Ciara Woods.

Subs: Lucy White for Matthews (41), Claire McDonald for Lambe Sally (55), Rachel O’Connor Leonard (0-2) for Woods (57), Carrie Keenan for Russell (63).

Carlow: Nicole Hanley; Sineád McCullagh, Anne Roche, Aoife Carroll; Bronagh Nolan, Niamh Murphy, Niamh Forde; Róisín Bailey, Clíodhna Ní Shé; Ruth Bermingham, Edel Hayden, Sara Doyle (1-2); Tara Lyons, Emma Coogan 0-1, Rachel Sawyer (0-3),

Subs: Ella Molloy for Lyons (40), Megan Townsend for Nolan (40), Beibhin Nolan for McCullagh (44), Siofra O’Neill for Carroll (49).

Referee: Eoin O’Neill (Co Laois).