Naomh Mearnóg/St Sylvesters 3-14 Lisnaskea 4-1

Naomh Mearnóg/St Sylvesters 3-14 Lisnaskea 4-1

Congratulations to the combined ladies team on reaching
the All Ireland Intermediate Final – Nov 26th or Dec 3rd – against
Inch Rovers, Cork – watch for details and plan to make this a big
day out for all the Syls/Mearnóg support.

Lisnaskea Emmets were the opponents who were on a high after winning
their first ever Fermanagh senior championship and then going on
to win the Ulster Intermediate club championship. That victory was
over Crossmaglen Rangers of Armagh who had six players on the Armagh
senior panel which came very very close to winning the All-Ireland
senior championship in early October.

Lisnaskea themselves had six players on the Fermanagh senior team
so a difficult contest was anticipated.

Syls/Mearnóg had the aid of a very strong wind in the first
half so a big lead was going to be required by half-time. Syls/Mearnóg
began well with early points from Deirdre McGill and Emma Dunne.
A goal from Lisnaskea’s most dangerous forward, Caroline Little,
came out of the blue and one sensed that a major struggle was on
hand. Three points in a row from the sweet left boot of Katie Slattery
restored the lead to Syls/Mearnóg and a goal in the 15th
minutes from Sinead Aherne stretched the lead to 6 points. All seemed
to be going to plan but a ten minute period without a score by either
side followed. The play was becoming quite physical at this stage
as Lisnaskea ‘dug in’ in defence. Syls/Mearnóg shot some
poor wides but space was at a premium in a crowded Lisnaskea half
of the field which led to shooting under pressure by the forwards.
A third Deirdre McGill point in the 26th minute broke the scoring
deadlock and a further four points followed before half-time to
give Syls/Mearnóg a lead of 1-11 to 1-00.

An 11 point half-time lead looked sufficient despite the strong
breeze unless Lisnaskea were to go on a goal spree. A good start
was essential for them and they didn’t disappoint their large group
of supporters with a first-minute goal. Syls/Mearnóg responded
with a great attacking move which saw them strike the crossbar and
post but no score resulted. Lisnaskea returned to their opponent’s
half of the field and went very close to scoring another goal but
for a finger-tip save by the goalkeeper, Cliodhna

O’Connor, which kept out a Lisnaskea shot which looked to be about
to cross the goal-line. She rose to deliver a pass to one of her
colleagues and a sweeping move along the left wing with some brilliant
passing saw Karen Kennedy finish to the net. Katie Slattery followed
with a point and the storm had been weathered, or so it seemed.
The play had continued to be on the rough side as the referee allowed
a lot of physical contact which resulted in pulling and dragging,
particularly from the home side.

Retaliation led to Syls/Mearnóg being reduced to 14 players
mid way through the half and afurther sin-binning soon afterwards
left 13 players to face the onslaught. For all Lisnaskea’s possession,
they were unable to get the necessary scores as the Syls/Mearnóg
defence stood firm and the attack always threatened to score on
the break. Lisnaskea did get two late goals

but Karen Kennedy countered with one for Syls/Mearnóg and
it was all too late for Lisnaskea.

This was a fine all-round performance by Syls/Mearnóg and
they played controlled passing football throughout.

There was great support once again from the Sylvesters U-11 squads
who played two games beforehand against local schools (and won both).
Thanks to Eddie and Ann Ó Mordha and the parents who travelled.
Thanks also to the large number of club members who travelled and
made themselves heard throughout the game.

Scorers: K Kennedy (2-01), S Aherne (1-02), D McGill (0-05), K
Slattery (0-04), E Dunne (0-01) and K Joyce (0-01).

The All-Ireland final will be against Inch Rovers of Cork who had
acomfortable victory over Parnells (London) in London. Inch Rovers
have had impressive results in the series too so another tight Cork/Dublin
struggle this year in women’s football is expected. So far, Cork
lead 2-1, the one being Dublin’s U-16 All-Ireland victory captained
by Niamh McEvoy. The game

will be at a neutral venue on Sunday, 26th Nov or Sun, 3rd Dec.
Details are expected to be finalised by Croke Park during the week.

 

Conlon ,Ainne Brennan ; Team Management; Barry Cooney,
Mike Kirwan, Gerry Moran.