Late goal leaves Louth Ladies heartbroken against Wexford
Louth 1-11 Wexford 2-10
The Louth Ladies were left heartbroken after Wexford grabbed a late goal in second half stoppage time to book their place in the Leinster Intermediate Final, following a dramatic finish in the nicely set up Gaelic Grounds, Drogheda on Saturday afternoon last.
With a few minutes remaining, Louth had got themselves in a great position, leading by 1-11 to 1-9, only to be cruelly denied victory, thanks to a quickfire 1-1 from Wexford, including a dramatic stoppage time goal from Bebhinn McDonald, who was a constant thorn in the Louth side.
Early on, Wexford did make it difficult for Louth to get their short kickouts away and led by 0-3 to no score after 7 minutes, thanks to points from Aoife Cullen (f) and a Ciara Banville brace (1 free). One such kickout saw Wexford denied a possible goal by a last ditch tackle from Louth defender Seoda Matthews.
Louth soon settled down, and quickly restored parity, thanks to Ciara Woods and Laura Lynch (f), while Aoife Halligan who had 51 possessions in this match, set up half back Emma Thompson to equalise from play, leaving the game at 0-3 apiece by the end of the first quarter.
Along with Aoife Halligan, the Newtown Blues’ Emma Thompson can also be happy with her day’s work from half back, offering herself as a useful option from the flank at every opportunity. Thompson again and Eimear Byrne did Louth 0-5 to 0-3 ahead after 16 minutes.
Louth did struggle at times to penetrate that Wexford defensive block, with their next score not arriving for another 11 minutes. They did come close to a goal, when a quick free saw Lucy White denied at close range by a fine Siobhan Cloake save.
Despite a disastrous Division 2 league campaign which saw them suffer relegation, Wexford did use their big game experience to stay in contention, with Louth looking to build up ahead of steam at that stage.
Crucially, Wexford grabbed the next score, through Bebhinn McDonald from close range following a patient move to narrow the gap to one point.
A defence splitting kick pass from Aoife Cullen set up first half sub Niamh Cullen to slot over the bar to level the match once again after 26 minutes.
Despite some early problems on the short kickout, Louth’s did win 14 out of 18 of their own restarts, with Amy Murray and Emma Thompson a strong support cast for Aine Breen, Ceire Nolan and Aoife Halligan.
They were back in front when Nolan and Ciara Woods combined for Eimear Byrne to land her second score of the afternoon.
The next kickout saw Louth win a turnover high up the pitch, which saw Woods teed up the league final matchwinner, Laura Lynch who crashed the ball to the net to give Louth a four point lead..
But Wexford responded again to win a free, which Aoife Cullen converted to make 1-6 to 0-6 in Louth’s favour at the break.
Second Half:
One concern from a Louth point of view will be the fact that they failed to trouble the scoreboard for the entire third quarter, which saw them have five shots, with three dropping short.
In that period, Wexford scored 1-2 without reply to lead by 1-8 to 1-6. They also spurned a few goal chances themselves, with Aoife Cullen and Clara Donnelly firing wide.
Following a brace of Aoife Cullen frees, half time sub Ciara Roban who was lively, combined with Ciara Banville to set up Clara Donnelly to fire low passed Louth keeper Rebecca Lambe Fagan for their major.
Roban’s introduction played a key role in Wexford’s attacking play.
Overall, Louth will also rue conceding 2-8 from turnovers, a reminder of how hefty the penalties are for losing possession at this high level of football.
But one thing you cannot question with this Louth team is resilience, and once again they rose to the challenge, raising back-to-back white flags through Aoife Halligan and Aine Breen to level the sides up again at 1-8 apiece.
A key moment in this game saw a last-ditch block from a goal bound Eimear Byrne effort, leading to Bebhinn McDonald giving Wexford a crucial lead at the other end.
Louth looked like they had taken a firm grip on proceedings when a brace of Aoife Russell points put them ahead by one, in moves which saw Russell set up by Roche Emmets’ Louise Byrne.
Ceire Nolan set up sub Grace Hoey to kick Louth two clear with three minutes left and you felt Kevin Larkin’s charges might just see this game out.
However, there was still that danger that Wexford could force a turnover off a short Louth kickout and this proved to be the case, as following that Cullen free, Clara Donnelly turned the ball over from the resultant Louth restart, before setting up Beibhinn McDonald to slot to the net via the post to give the visitors the lead in stoppage time at 2-10 to 1-11.
Louth tried to hit back straight away, but a wonderful tackle from the outstanding Orlagh Kehoe at the back for Wexford saw the visitors seal their place in the Leinster IFC semi finals in dramatic fashion.
Despite this painful loss, Louth can be still proud of their performance, having been without a number of key starters.
Louth: Rebecca Lambe-Fagan; Seoda Matthews, Shannen McLaughlin, Louise Byrne; Emma Thompson (0-2), Áine Breen (0-1), Amy Murray; Aoife Halligan (0-1), Ceire Nolan; Zara Sweeney, Aoife Russell (0-2), Lucy White; Eimear Byrne (0-2), Laura Lynch (1-1), Ciara Woods (0-1).
Subs: Grace Hoey 0-1 for Sweeney (47), Lucy Sheridan for Woods (60), Naoise McConnon for Murray (64).
Wexford: Siobhan Cloake; Aoife Tormey, Katie English, Julia Dempsey; Roisin Hughes, Aisling Halligan, Orlagh Kehoe; Beibhinn McDonald (1-2), Clara Donnelly (1-0); Orlaith Byrne, Anna Hughes, Aoife Cullen (0-5) (5f); Emma Tomkins, Ciara Banville (0-2), Kellyanne Dempsey.
Subs: Niamh Cullen (0-1) for Dempsey (20), Ciara Roban for Byrne (HT), Ameilia Furlong for Tomkins (38), Grace Donovan for Hughes (57).
Referee: Henri Clifford (Co Meath).