Laois ladies must beat Wicklow to avoid relegation after Cavan loss
Laois's Mia Branagan readies to ass this ball against Cavan Photo: Paul Dargan
Laois ladies will have to beat Wicklow next weekend if they are to preserve their Intermediate status after suffering a nine-point defeat to Cavan in Sunday's All-Ireland Intermediate Relegation Qualifier at Athlone GAA.
The loss means Laois are now just 60 minutes away from dropping to the Junior ranks, less than a year after contesting the 2025 All-Ireland Intermediate final against Tyrone.
Facing into a strong breeze during the opening half, Laois made the ideal start. Sarah Larkin opened the scoring after three minutes before a foul on Emily Lacey allowed Shifra Havill to double the advantage from a free. However, those scores inside the opening five minutes proved to be Laois' only contribution before the interval.
The next 10 minutes were largely dominated by midfield exchanges, with both sides enjoying possession but struggling to create clear-cut chances. Laois found it particularly difficult to break out from defence as Cavan's aggressive press repeatedly forced turnovers from Eimear Barry's kick-outs.
Cavan eventually got off the mark in the 16th minute when Katie Mai Reilly pointed before Ella Sheridan followed up with a converted free. Half-back Sinead Greene edged Cavan in front shortly afterwards.
Laois almost found a way back into the contest when Mia Branagan was denied by goalkeeper Evelyn Baugh, but Cavan quickly punished them at the opposite end. Ella Sheridan converted another free before a dangerous delivery into the square dropped kindly for Aishling Sheridan, who rifled the ball into the roof of the net.
Ella Sheridan added a third free before half-time to leave Cavan 1-5 to 0-2 ahead at the break.
Laois were hoping to make full use of the breeze after the restart, but those hopes were dented almost immediately as Ella Sheridan landed two more frees to stretch Cavan's advantage to eight points.
The O'Moore County finally found the breakthrough they needed when Sarah Larkin reacted quickly to release Ciara Crowley, who squeezed her finish beyond Baugh to reduce the deficit to five with 25 minutes still to play.
Any hopes of a sustained comeback were short-lived as Cavan responded in emphatic fashion. Barry produced an excellent save to tip Niamh McCorry's goal-bound effort over the bar, but the resulting pressure eventually told. Just a minute later, Sinead Greene blasted Cavan's second goal into the top corner to restore complete control.
Laois' frustrations deepened when they were penalised for failing to keep three players inside the Cavan half, allowing Ella Sheridan to convert the resulting free.
Emily Lacey finally got off the mark with a point from play before adding a free, while substitute Ellen O'Byrne landed the game's only two-pointer to briefly reduce the margin to six entering stoppage time.
However, Cavan finished strongly. Aishling Sheridan added two late points before captain Shauna Lynch completed the scoring as Cavan ran out deserved winners on a day that leaves Laois facing a winner-takes-all relegation final against Wicklow next weekend.
Ella Sheridan 0-6 (0-4fs), Aishling Sheridan 1-2, Sinead Greene 1-1, Katie Mai Reilly, Niamh McCorry and Shauna Lynch 0-1 each.
Ciara Crowley 1-0, Emily Lacey (0-1f) and Ellen O’Byrne (1tp) 0-2 each, Shifra Havill (f) and Sarah Larkin 0-1 each.
Evelyn Baugh; Zara Fay, Shauna Lynch, Ailbhe Kennedy; Lucy Crowe, Kate McIntyre, Sinead Greene; Micaela Fitzpatrick, Muireann Cusack; Keri McCormack, Ella Sheridan, Catherine Dolan; Niamh Keenaghan, Aishling Sheridan, Katie Mai Reilly.
Eimear Corcoran for Kennedy (8 mins, inj), Niamh McCorry for Cusack (ht), Deirbhile Lynch for Fitzpatrick (50m), Ciara Boylan for Corcoran (52m), Rebecca McLoughlin for E Sheridan (61m).
Eimear Barry (Ballinakill); Deirdre Phelan (Portlaoise), Sinead Farrelly (St Joseph’s), Mary Cotter (St Conleth’s); Faye McEvoy (Ballyroan), Andrea Moran (Ballyroan), Lara Culleton (Portlaoise); Sarah Larkin (Timahoe), Anna Healy (Park/Ratheniska); Jenny Murphy (Timahoe), Shifra Havill (St Conleth’s), Ciara Crowley (Portlaoise); Laura Marie Maher (Sarsfields), Emily Lacey (St Joseph’s), Mia Branagan (Graiguecullen).
Fiona Dooley (Portlaoise) for Larkin (38m), Katie Donoghue (Timahoe) for Murphy (38m), Ellen O’Byrne (Park/Ratheniska) for Maher (38m), Aoife Gorman (Timahoe) for Crowley (43m), Aishling Fitzpatrick (The Heath) for Branagan (50m), Lauren Rowan (St Joseph’s) for Culleton (57m).
Barry Redmond (Wexford)
