Louth LGFA fall to Westmeath defeat in championship opener
Louth 3-9 Westmeath 3-12
Louth LGFA's return to intermediate championship football ended in defeat to Westmeath in an entertaining TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship clash at the Integral GAA Grounds in Drogheda, this afternoon.
The Wee County made the perfect start when Eimear Byrne opened the scoring after just 40 seconds with the first attack of the game.
The lead lasted less than a minute, though Westmeath struck for an early goal as Anna Jones picked out Katie Kilmurray, who finished confidently past Louth goalkeeper Rebecca Lambe-Fagan.
The hosts nearly responded with a goal of their own five minutes later as Amy Murray's long-range effort crashed off the crossbar and Ciara Woods gathered the rebound, but her follow-up effort drifted wide.
Westmeath gradually settled, and points from Anna Jones and Vicky Carr stretched their lead before Sara Dillon found the net in the 15th minute to make it 2-2 to 0-1.
Louth responded immediately, and just a minute later, Ciara Woods raised a green flag at the other end to cut the gap, and Laura Lynch followed from a free to make it a three-point game.
The Reds were growing into the game, and Byrne was unfortunate to see another goal chance flash narrowly wide.
Lynch added further frees before the interval, while Lucy White produced an excellent turnover in the middle third during a competitive opening half.
Despite trailing by a goal at the break, Louth remained firmly in contention after a fairly even first half.
Half time: Louth 1-4 Westmeath 2-4.
Westmeath opened the second half scoring through Lucy McCartan, but Louth struck back in style.
Ceire Nolan twisted one way and turned her defender the other before firing goalwards, and a deflection helped the ball into the net, suddenly leaving only a point between the teams.
The visitors answered immediately when Aoife Keegan's high delivery caused problems, and Jones got the decisive touch to punch the ball to the net for Westmeath's third goal.
That score gave the Lake County breathing space, and they began to edge ahead with points from Jones, Rebecca Higgins and Keegan.
Louth continued to battle, however, with Nolan, Aoife Russell and Lynch all finding the target and as the game entered the final quarter, they mounted a determined comeback.
Captain Áine Breen landed an excellent point before White added another to reduce the deficit to three.
Then came the moment that looked like rescuing something for the home side when White went on a brilliant solo run before blasting the ball into the roof of the net to level the game with two minutes left on the clock.
With momentum now on Louth's side, Westmeath dug deep as substitute Caoimhe Kilmurray edged them back in front almost immediately before Sarah Dillon added a fisted point from close range.
Dillon then landed another score in stoppage time to complete the scoring and secure a hard-earned win for the visitors.
Louth can take plenty of positives from their first outing of the campaign despite the defeat.
They showed great character to fight back on several occasions and pushed one of the competition favourites right to the finish.
Attention now turns to next Sunday's winner-takes-all meeting with Monaghan in Castleblayney with both teams chasing a place in the quarter-final.
Full time: Louth 3-9 Westmeath 3-12.
Louth scorers: Ciara Woods 1-0, Ceire Nolan 1-1, Lucy White 1-1, Laura Lynch 0-4, 0-4f, Eimear Byrne 0-1, Aoife Russell 0-1, Áine Breen 0-1.
Westmeath scorers: Anna Jones 1-4, 0-3f, Sarah Dillon 1-4, Rebecca Higgins 0-2, Vicky Carr 0-1, Lucy McCartan 0-1, Aoife Keegan 0-1, Caoimhe Kilmurray 0-1.
Louth: Rebecca Lambe-Fagan; Seoda Matthews, Hally Lambe-Sally, Rachel Beirth; Amy Murray, Shannen McLaughlin, Louise Byrne; Áine Breen (c), Aoife Halligan; Aoife Russell, Ceire Nolan, Lucy White; Ciara Woods, Eimear Byrne, Laura Lynch.
Subs: Grace Hoey on for Ciara Woods (43'), Sophie Everitt on for Laura Lynch (51'), Katie McDonald on for Louise Byrne (59'), Lucy Sheridan on for Aoife Russell (60').
Westmeath: Aoife Temple; Lara McCartan, Lucy Power, Fiona Coyle (c); Phillipa Ruane, Sarah Murphy, Chloe Kelly-Gonoud; Anna Jones, Vicky Carr; Aoife Keegan, Lucy McCartan, Tracey Dillon; Katie Kilmurray, Sarah Dillon, Rebecca Higgins.
Subs: Caoimhe Kilmurray (0-1) on for Katie Kilmurray (50).
Referee: Ray McBride (Dublin).