Kildare edged out by Armagh

Kildare edged out by Armagh

TG4 All Ireland Championship Venue: Sarsfields Park Newbridge Date:
Sunday 22 July 2007 Time: 3:30

Kildare 0 – 12 Armagh 2 – 9 Score at Half Time: Kildare 0-6 Armagh
1-5

Kildare were edged out by Armagh in this close hard fought game
on Sunday. The pitch in Sarsfields was soft but dry in the first
half but by the time Kildare had he use of the wind for the second
half the heavens had opened and the half time downpour left pools
of water all over the pitch and Kildare’s attempts to open up the
visitors in the second half often floundered in those pools. Kildare
had to line out without inspirational Captain Kate Leahy who picked
up a foot injury during the week in a freak work accident while
Carol Bergin did not make it back from holiday and Aodhin McBride
had not recovered sufficiently from flu. The game opened with a
wide from each side before Maria Moolick and Sinead Melia created
the chance for Simone Gilabert to knock over the opening point after
three minutes. Armagh replied instantly with an Aileen Matthews
free. Noelle Earley was then halted as she raced through and Simone
kicked her second from the free but again Kildare gave away possession
and a free and Matthews again levelled it up. Brianne Leahy kicked
a glorious long range point after excellent work by Noelle Earley
and Elaine Dillon and Aisling Jennings doubled the lead from a free
after Hazel Mulligan was tugged.

Just when Kildare seemed to have gained control Armagh struck for
a goal. An attack up the right seemed to have been stopped but Maebh
Moriarty fed the ball back to Mairead Tennyson who lobbed from the
right wing and the ball carried over Catriona Dolan and dropped
in at the far post. The reply from Kildare was instant. Noelle Earley
fielded the kick out transferred to Aisling Jennings who was bearing
down on the Armagh goal when she was upended but was up to knock
over the free. Then KIldare missed two handy chances for points,
one a thirty metre free before a quick line ball Elaine Dillon to
Aisling Jennings was laid off to the on running Noelle Earley who
got clear but slipped as she shot from the 13 metre line and the
shot lacked the power to beat the Armagh keeper who scrambled it
clear. Armagh celebrated the let-off with a brace of points, the
first from midfielder Caroline O’Hanlon and the second , another
Aileen Matthews free which could well have been Kildare’s. Just
on the break the sides swapped points as Maria Moolick laid on the
chance for Noelle Earley for Kildare and Armagh’s Mags McAlinden
slotted over after latching onto a break as Maria Moolick got in
a last ditch tackle on Mairead Tennyson who had goal on her mind.

The second half opened slowly as the teams tried to adjust to the
heavy rain and sodden pitch and the only score of the first ten
minutes was an Aisling Jennings point after a long accurate Brianne
Leahy pass. Kildare did press hard but strong Armagh defence kept
then at bay and when Armagh did mount a sustained attack Caroline
O’Hanlon and Aileen Matthews potted frees after ten and fourteen
minutes. Tracy Noone had now joined the fray at corner forward but
it was Brianne Leahy who got her team back on track with another
long range point which was quickly followed by Sinead Melia’s first
“Senior” Kildare point as Elaine Dillon again did the spade work
and then on fifty minutes Kildare were level as Tracy Noone exchanged
passes with Hazel Mulligan before releasing Simone Gilabert who
pointes with her left foot from tight on the end line in the left
corner. Again Kildare concede a handy free from which Aileen Matthews
put Armagh back in front but Simone Gilabert levelled it up again
after fifty four minutes, pointing a free won by Acting Captain
who had battled her way eighty yards up field. An Armagh hand deflected
a Kildare clearance over the line at half way but Limerick referee
Derek Byrne over-ruled his linesman and awarded the kick to Armagh
and when the ball was worked through Mags McAlinden got through
to smack home another Armagh goal. Kildare piled on the pressure
and when Aisling Jennings lobbed in a free Armagh full back Dervla
Toal clawed it out from under the cross bar and with no forward
reacting to the break she recovered to play it out of danger. Celia
Hogan, Noelle Earley and Brianne Leahy then combined to send Aisling
running through but her shot was just too high and was over the
bar. A last desperate attack from Kildare saw a stray pass intercepted
and Armagh worked their way upfield and when play was switched across
midfielder Caroline O’Hanlon was on the stop to lob over and the
long whistle sounded on Kildare’s chances.

This was a very encouraging Kildare performance against a very strong
physical team and there were excellent displays from emergency full
back Celia Hogan, Aisling Holton Aoife Herbert and Maria Moolick
in defence. Brianne Leahy and Noelle Earley shaded midfield field
while in attack Elaine Dillon worked very hard as did Aisling Jennings,
Hazel Mulligan, Simone Gilabert and Sinead Melia did very well on
her first outing. Armagh had great defensive displays from full
back Dervla Toal, Caoimhe Marley, Sinead McCleary and Bronagh O’Donnell
for a spell in the second half. Caroline O’Hanlon worked well at
midfield with her running always difficult to track while up front
Mags McAlinden on the “forty”, Maebh Moriarty and Aileen Matthews
were best.

Scorers: Kildare Simone Gilabert 0 – 4 (0 – 2 Frs) Aishling Jennings
0 – 4(0 – 2 Fr) Brianne Leahy 0 – 2 Noelle Earley 0 – 1 Sinead Melia
0 – 1 Scorers: Armagh Aileen Matthews 0 – 5 (Frs) Mags McAlinden
1 – 1 Mairead Tennyson 1 – 0 Caroline O’Hanlon 0 – 3 (0-1Fr)

Teams

Kildare 1 Catriona Dolan 2 Aishling Holton 5 Celia Hogan 4 Aisling
Lambe 19 Aoife Herbert 6 Donna Berry 7 Maria Moolick 8 Brianne Leahy
(0-2) 9 Noelle Earley (0- 1) 23 Sinead Melia (0-1) 11 Aishling Jennings
(0-4) 12 Elaine Dillon 17 Hazel Mulligan 14 Simone Gilabert (0-4)
15 Sharon Conway Subs Tracy Noone for S Conway (37 min) Cliona Dowling
for H Mulligan (57)

Armagh 1 Fionnuala McAtamney 2 Caoimhe Marley 3 Dervla Toal 4 Orla
Murtagh 5 Rhona O’Mahony 6 Bronagh O’Donnell 7 Sinead McCleary 8
Alma O’Donnell 9 Caroline O’Hanlon (0-3) 10 Mairead Tennyson (1-0)
11 Maighdhlin McAlinden (1-1) 12 Shauna O’Hagan 15 Maebh Moriarty
14 Laura Brown 13 Aileen Matthews (0-5) Referee: Derek Byrne (Limerick)

Report By: Tom Ryan