How Sligo Ladies qualified for an All-Ireland final

Sligo’s Road to Croker:

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How
Sligo Ladies qualified for an All-Ireland final

Connacht Quarter-final

Sligo 5-13, Galway 0-9 Venue: Tuam Stadium

Sligo began the defence of their TG4-sponsored
Connacht Ladies Gaelic football Junior Championship
in sensational fashion with a 19-points defeat
of Galway (5-13 to 0-9) at Tuam Stadium. This
one-sided quarter-final was effectively over as
a contest five minutes after the interval, when
goals from accurate forward Stephanie O’Reilly
and Imelda McNulty increased Sligo’s lead to 15
points (3-9 to 0-2). Sligo’s first-half goal was
scored by Noelle Gormley, who was set up by Imelda
McNulty, one of two west Sligo players in the
team, as the defending champions comfortably led
by nine points at half-time (1-8 to 0-2). Stephanie
O’Reilly, who tallied 1-7, was Sligo’s leading
scorer, while Noelle Gormley finished with 2-1.
St Mary’s player Niamh Mannion, one of five substitutes
used, scored 1-1. Galway rallied somewhat in the
second period but their second-half total of seven
points seemed pathetic when compared to Sligo’s
second-half haul of 4-5.
Sligo: Katrina Connolly, Fiona Maye, Grainne
O’Gara, Ruth Goodwin, Michelle McGowan, Jackie
Mulligan c, Caroline Currid, Angela Doohan, Bernice
Byrne, Sinead McTiernan, Stephanie O’Reilly (1-7),
Imelda McNulty (1-1), Noelle Gormley (2-1), Aisling
McTiernan, Louise Harte (0-2)
Subs used: Karen Maloney (0-1), Niamh Mannion
(1-1), Therese Marren, Caroline Benson, Valerie
O’Byrne

Connacht Semi-final

Sligo 5-19, Mayo 0-3 Venue: Charlestown

It was nothing but a complete slaughter as Sligo
advanced to the TG4 Connacht Ladies Gaelic football
Junior Championship final following their 31-points
annihilation of Mayo (5-19 to 0-3) in Charlestown.
The winners led by eight points at the short whistle
(0-9 to 0-1), and then really grabbed the game
by the scruff of the neck in the second period.
Four of the six forwards that started accounted
for 2-17 of Sligo’s total, while two others Ð
introduced as substitutes supplied the other 3-2.
Curry youngster Therese Marren helped herself
to a hat-trick. Marren apart, Sligo’s other top
scorers were Cloonacool forward Louise Brett,
who shot 1-8, and Geevagh’s Stephanie O’Reilly,
scorer of 1-5. Mayo’s Clodagh Martin pointed after
28 seconds while it took Sligo seven minutes to
register their first score. But 10 minutes into
the second-half, following O’Reilly’s conversion
of a penalty, the winners’ lead stood at 13 points.

Sligo: Katrina Connolly, Fiona Maye, Grainne
O’Gara, Ruth Goodwin, Michelle McGowan, Jackie
Mulligan c, Caroline Currid, Angela Doohan, Sinead
McTiernan, Noelle Gormley, Stephanie O’Reilly
(1-5), Imelda McNulty (0-3), Louise Brett (1-8),
Aisling McTiernan (0-1), Louise Harte
Subs used: Niamh Mannion (0-2), Therese
Marren (3-0), Helena Haran, Niamh O’Grady, Siobhan
O’Sullivan

Connacht Final

Sligo 4-11, Leitrim 1-10 Venue: Pearse Stadium,
Salthill

This was another day of glory for Sligo’s Ladies
Gaelic football Junior team. Having already gotten
a taste for provincial success, Kathleen Kane’s
side stylishly retained their TG4-sponsored Connacht
Junior Championship title. At Salthill’s Pearse
Stadium they overcame a Leitrim side in the decider
for the second successive year, and, in the process,
booked a place in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Sligo, whose winning margin was 10 points, always
looked comfortable; they turned in a dominant
and assured performance despite some discipline
problems in the second-half. Perhaps what was
most impressive was how such a young side remained
so composed and confident throughout. Ahead by
five points at the interval (3-4 to 1-5), Sligo’s
first-half goals belonged to Angela Doohan, who
scored fortuitously, Stephanie O’Reilly, who scored
spectacularly, and Noelle Gormley, who tapped
home from close-range. O’Reilly was again Sligo’s
leading scorer, while substitute Therese Marren
goaled brilliantly in the second-half.
Sligo: Katrina Connolly, Fiona Maye, Grainne
O’Gara, Ruth Goodwin, Michelle McGowan, Jackie
Mulligan (c), Caroline Currid, Angela Doohan (1-0),
Bernice Byrne, Sinead McTiernan, Stephanie O’Reilly
(1-3), Imelda McNulty (0-1), Louise Brett (0-4),
Noelle Gormley (1-0), Louise Harte (0-1)
Subs used: Valerie O’Byrne, Siobhan O’Sullivan,
Therese Marren (1-1), Karen Maloney (0-1), Yvonne
Roddy

All-Ireland Semi-final

Sligo 7-7, Cork 0-1 Venue: St Loman’s Park, Mullingar

An utterly devastating display by Sligo’s Ladies
Gaelic footballers in Mullingar’s St Loman’s Park
ensured that they would have their day in the
limelight. Sligo advanced untroubled to the TG4-sponsored
Cumann Peil Gael na mBan All-Ireland Junior Championship
final at Croke Park and a clash with Leinster
champions Kildare, last year’s runners-up. Sligo
scored a massive 7-7 (28 points) against a Cork
side that only managed one score a point in a
game that saw ‘Player of the Match’ Stephanie
O’Reilly, Sligo’s full-forward, score 4-4 for
the Connacht representatives. The overwhelmed
Cork side never looked as though they were going
to cause any major problems for a superbly disciplined
and ultra-confident Sligo outfit that completely
dominated this semi-final from its very outset.
The Munster side, who trailed by 16 points at
the interval (5-2 to 0-1) grabbed their only score
when Clodagh O’Driscoll pointed a long-range free
after 25 minutes.
Sligo: Katrina Connolly, Fiona Maye, Grainne
O’Gara, Ruth Goodwin, Michelle McGowan (c), Siobhan
O’Sullivan, Caroline Currid, Angela Doohan (0-2),
Bernice Byrne (1-0), Louise Brett (2-1), Stephanie
O’Reilly (4-4), Imelda McNulty, Noelle Gormley,
Sinead McTiernan, Louise Harte
Subs used: Joanne O’Connell, Helena Haran,
Niamh Mannion, Yvonne Roddy, Caroline Benson

This
article was kindly given to us by The Sligo Weekender
Newspaper