20 November 2006 Clare Ladies Board Press Release Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! Clare Ladies Board Press Release 18/11/2006 County Minor A Semi-Final St. Joseph’s Miltown 3 – 5 The Banner Ladies 2 – 7 Reigning champions and red hot favourites Miltown can thank both their lucky stars and a brilliant individual second half performance from Fiona Lafferty that just about saw them through after a tremendous joust with the banner in this exciting county championship semi-final played in Coolmeen on Saturday. Wind assisted in the opening half the Banner piled on the pressure and showed scant regard for the reigning champions. Early pressure was rewarded with two pointed frees from the boot of Niamh O’Dea. Miltown were as sixes and sevens in this early period as the banner completely dominated affairs up the middle. Staunch defending and some wayward banner shooting threw Miltown a lifeline however they looked in deep trouble on fourteen minutes when referee James Murrihy pointed to the penalty spot following a foul on the inrushing Catríona Connellan. Cool as you like midfielder Mary Tierney stepped forward and dispatched a low drive to the left hand corner of the net. The Banner followed this up with another Niamh O’Dea point and were coasting at this stage. The Ennis girls were to be soon rocked however when a breakaway Miltown move saw Niamh Reddan crash the ball home for a tonic of a goal. The Banner continued to press forward however and had an excellent Tierney point from play before they conjured up a defence splitting movement which saw corner forward Megan Hough get through for an excellent goal on twenty four minutes. Niamh O’Dea was to add another point from a free a minute later before Miltown struck again. Following a close in free which came back off the posts a goalmouth scramble ensued and when the Banner failed to clear Aisling McCaw was on hand to force the ball home past despairing banner keeper Sharon Bradley. The half time whistle sounded shortly afterwards leaving the score at the break 2 – 5 to 2 – 0 in favour of the Banner. Miltown scarcely deserved to be still in touch at this stage such was the dominance of the Ennis girls in the opening half and the two goals that they poached against the run of play were to prove vital as the game wore on. Miltown need a good start to the second half if they were to retain their minor title and they could not have dreamed for a better one than what they got. Directly from the throw in they secured possession and drove forward at the Banner with Sandra picking out Fiona Lafferty and Lafferty dispatched an unstoppable shot to the back of the Banner net. Game on in earnest with only two points between the teams. The banner were not for giving in easily though and had the next two scores on thirty three and thirty eight minutes from the unerring boot of Niamh O’Dea. The Banner were still dominating at this stage but many of their attacks were wasteful with the final pass often going astray. The superior physical strength and fitness of the Miltown girls now began to show and between the fortieth and fiftieth minute Fiona Lafferty rattled over three points without reply (two from frees – one of these a hotly disputed decision which referee Murrihy ordered to be retaken when the initial kick rebounded off the upright to safety). The Banner were now struggling to get the ball out of their own half yet they defended grimly and still held a one point advantage with five minutes remaining. On fifty six minutes Sandra Malone cut up the right wing to score an excellent equaliser and two minutes later Miltown’s hero of the day Fiona Lafferty put her team ahead with a super match winning point from play. A short time later referee Murrihy sounded the final whistle to the delight of the Miltown team. The Banner ladies were naturally devastated. Goals win matches and Miltown’s two goals either side of half time were the killer blows that sunk the Banner. Credit both teams however for an excellent game of football. Miltown now proceed to meet Cooraclare in this years ‘A’ final while the Banner have the consolation of a ‘B’ final contest against Wolfe Tones na Sionna. For the winners there were good displays from Fiona Lafferty, Sandra Malone, Lorraine Griffin, Tara Glynn and Niamh Reddan. The Banner had great displays from Niamh O’Dea, Sarah Hoey, Naomi Carroll, Laura Brennan, Niamh Martin and Eimear O’Connor. Miltown: Catherine Shannon, Claire Curtin, Lorraine Griffin, Helen Burke, Tara Rynne, Marie Lenihan, Sharon Rynne, Sandra Malone (0-1), Tara Glynn, Niamh Reddan (capt.) (1-0), Edel Hynes, Niamh Coyne, Aisling McCaw (1-0), Fiona Lafferty (1-4), Jean Talty. Subs: Suzanne Murphy for Sharon Rynne, Katie Curtin for Tara rynne. The banner: Sharon Bradley, Niamh Martin, Rachel McGann, Laura Brennan, Shonagh Enright, Sarah Hoey, Niamh Cavanagh, Mary Tierney (1-1), Eimear O’Connor, Naomi Carroll, Marie Raftery, Niamh O’Dea (0-5), Lorna Higgins, Catríona Connellan (0-1), Megan Hough (1-0). Sub: Lauren Dooley for Marie Raftery. Referee: James Murrihy Share this Article 0 0