04 August 2009 All Ireland Senior Championship Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! All Ireland Senior Championship Round one 2.8.09 (Michael Forde Leinster PRO) Laois 0-15 Tipperary 0-3 Laois’s title hopes remain on track, after they ran out convincing winners over Tipperary on Sunday last in a rain soaked O’Connor Park, Tullamore. Laois lined out their strongest possible team including Treacy Lawlor, Lawlor wearing the number 27 shirt, slotted seamlessly in to the corner forward position, and there were no signs of doubt over her recent leg injury as she competed tirelessly for her team. Laois were quickest out of the traps, and were four points clear after fifteen minutes, the O’Moore players continued to apply the pressure in the second quarter, opening a gap of seven points at the break (0-9 to 0-2). Tipperary needed to get the second period off to a good start, and in the ninth minute Gillian O’Brien thought that she had found the opening that her side needed, until Fallon in the Laois goals stuck out a leg to deny O’Brien, with Patricia Fogarty blocking the rebounded shot down. Laois added a further four points before Treacy Lawlor fired over two late points to bring their first round game to a successful end. Having won the TG4 all Ireland Intermediate title in 2008, the step up to senior was a step too far for the Premier county on the day, the O’Moore girls dominated from start to finish, with their number eleven Aileen O’Loughlin pulling the strings in the half forward line. O’Loughlin was first to open the Laois account when her side were awarded a penalty within two minutes of the throw in by referee Declan Corcoran, but the number eleven’s goal attempt sailed over Nora Noonan’s bar to register Laois’s first point of the game. Tipperary can’t be criticised for not trying, they battled hard through out the game, in particularly their back line trio of Anne O’Dwyer, Maeve Corcoran and Cliona O’Dwyer who protected Noonan’s goal line, keeping the Laois forwards goalless for the entire game. However the Laois forwards were happy to pick off points, with six of the O’Moore players getting on the refs score sheet, their top scorer Mary Kirwan tagging on a total of four points, and Kirwan was very unlucky not to raise the green flag in the seventeenth minute when her goal attempt rebounded off the bottom of Noonans right upright and was deflected out for 45m free. Tipperary’s only response came seven minute from the end, Edel Hanley tapping over her first score of the game to light up the number three on the O’Connor Park score board. The Laois mentors brought on Emer Fitzpatrick, Grace Weston, Lisa Dunne and Cathriona Fogarty in the final quarter to give as many players as possible a run out on the day, in preparation for their meeting with Mayo next weekend in the second round, the Connacht side will be a tougher test for the O’Moore girls, both sides last met in the Bord Gais Energy NFL last March in O’Moore Park , where they shared the spoils 1-12 apiece on the day. Leinster Council President Séan McMullin presented Laois’s Lorraine Muckian with the TG4 player of the match trophy. Laois scorers; Aileen O’Loughlin 0-3, Treacy Lawlor 0-3(2f), Mary Kirwan 0-4(2f), Angela Casey 0-2, Martha Kirwan 0-2, Noirin Kirwan 0-1. Laois: T. Fallon, L. Muckian, M. McEvoy, M.O’Grady, P.Fogarty, A. Quigley, A. Casey, E. McEvoy, A. Moore, N. Kirwan, A.O’Loughlin, M. Kirwan, T. Lawlor, M. Kirwan, M. Dunne. Subs: Emer Fitzpatrick for Mary Kirwan, Grace Weston for Martina Dunne, Lisa Dunne for Ann Casey and Cathriona Fogarty for Martha Kirwan. Tipperary: N.Noonan, A.O’Dwyer, M. Corcoran, C.O’Dwyer, A.O’Dwyer 0-1, T.McManus, S. Costello, A.McDermott, J. Grant, G.O’ Brien 0-1, A. O’Gorman, S. Lambert, C. Peters, Edel Hanley 0-1f, C. Walsh. Subs: Barbara Ryan for C. Peters, Siobhan Crotty for G.O’ Brien. Referee: Declan Corcoran (Roscommon) Share this Article 0 0