09 September 2003 AIB Leinster Ladies Club IFC Quarter-Final Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! AIB Leinster Ladies Club IFC Quarter-Final The Saints go marching on……. By Cóilín Duffy (Official Laois GAA Website) www.gaa.ie/laois St. Conleth’s (Laois) 2-9 St. Loman’s (Westmeath) 1-7 In an exciting, pulsating encounter played at St. Loman’s grounds Mullingar on Sunday last St. Conleth’s advanced to the semi-final stages of the Leinster Ladies IFC. Thankfully the rain cleared before the throw-in and the small crowd in attendance were treated to a good game of football even if at times the game was slowed down by the sizeable amount of frees. The home side got off to the better start with two points from Carol McKinley in the opening minutes. Tracey Lawlor got the visitors off the mark with a point in the fourth minute. But then St.Conleth’s were rocked when a speculative shot from Rhona Murtagh for St. Loman’s seemed to be going over the bar but the ball ended up in the back of the net and suddenly St. Loman’s were ahead by four points. Tracey Lawlor and Amy Matthew exchanged points before St. Conleth’s turned on the style in the final fifteen minutes of the opening half. A point from Claire O’Connell in the 15th minute was followed up with a well taken goal by Sandra Ramsbottom in the 20th minute and a point from Tracey Lawlor in the 25th minute which gave the combination team of Emo and Portarlington parishes a one point lead at half-time. Half-Time: St. Conleth’s 1-4 St. Loman’s 1-3 St. Loman’s settled down after the restart and points from Amy Matthew and Stephanie Kelly in the 2nd and 4th minutes of the second half regained the lead for St. Loman’s but Tracey Lawlor had the side’s level with almost seven minutes gone into the half at 1-5 apiece. St. Loman’s then had the chance for a second goal minutes later but Stephanie Kelly shot wide from close range for the Westmeath girls. Claire O’Connell and Carol McKinley exchanged points and the sides were on level terms for the fourth time in the game at 1-6 apiece. The game began to liven up as a contest in the closing quarter as both sets of supporters keenly urged on their sides from the stand. Claire O’Connell edged the visitors in front in the nineteenth minute with a well taken long range point and it was a lead St. Conleth’s were not to lose despite strong pressure from the Mullingar side. Lianne Fallon (9) passes to Tracey Lawlor for St. Conleth’s despite the close attention of the St. Loman’s Andrea Martin Photo By Cóilín Duffy Tracey Lawlor gave the visitors a two point lead five minutes from full-time. Amy Matthew clawed back with a point for St. Loman’s but it wasn’t enough as the St. Conleth’s girls stood tall in the closing stages. They finished superbly firstly with a pointed free from Tracey Lawlor a minute into injury time. Then an expertly taken goal from Gemma Wilson almost four and a half minutes into injury time sealed victory for St. Conleth’s. They will now face either the Wexford or Longford champions in two weeks time. Full-Time Score: St. Conleth’s 2-9 St. Loman’s 1-7 St. Conleth’s: Catherine Territt, Maria O’Reilly, Sinead Murphy, Lizzie Keogh, Claire Whelan, Tracey Fallon, Fionnuala Gleeson, Catriona Murphy, Lianne Fallon, Sandra Ramsbottom (1-0), Claire O’Connell (0-3), Laura Fallon, Emma Bracken, Tracey Lawlor (0-6), Louise Whelehan. Subs: Cassie Dunne for C. Territt (HT), Gemma Wilson (1-0) for L. Whelehan (HT), Sarah McCormack, Charlotte Murphy. St. Loman’s: Aisling Laide, Elaine Galvin, Aoife Davitt, Claire Gorman, Aileen Martin, Andrea Martin, Katie Heslin, Rhona. Murtagh (1-0), Amy. Matthew (0-3), Emma. Martin, Janita. Cosgrove, Carol. McKinley (0-3), Katie. Flanagan, Stephanie. Kelly (0-1), Leona Archibold. Referee: S. Sinott (Dublin) Share this Article 0 0