Mama Mia as Laois go goal crazy against Longford
Mia Branagan finds the back of the Longford net from the penalty spot, just one of four goals the Graiguecullen girl scored in the Leinster LGFA minor semi-final at Ratheniska on Saturday Photo: Denis Byrne
Laois 7-3
Longford 2-13
LAOIS are into the Leinster Ladies MFC 'B' final at the expense of Longford after a crazy game in dreadful conditions. Graiguecullen's Mia Branagan was extraordinary in front of goal, finishing with a total of 4-2, while Timahoe's Niamh Dundon scored one great goal and set up another two.
The game had been originally scheduled for the LOETB Centre of Excellence, Portlaoise, but heavy rain forced a change of venue to Annanough to coincide with the U/16 semi-final, only to be moved for a third time across to Ratheniska.
Despite a seven-point defeat to Wicklow, wins over Wexford and Louth were enough to ensure Laois came through their group in top spot, earning themselves a home semi-final. Longford competed in the ‘A’ section of the championship but dropped down to the 'B' after defeats in their group against to Dublin, Kildare and Meath.
Laois got off to a dream start with Branagan scoring 1-1 in the opening 90 seconds. Michaela Hand got Longford off the mark with a pair of frees, but Laois were in for a second goal after just ten minutes, made by the hard work of Dundon and finished well by captain Fay Brown.
There were then two penalties in as many minutes midway through the half, with Hand converting for Longford before Branagan responded in kind with her second goal of the day. Anna Mulligan added a point, but Longford dominated the second quarter with a score each from Zara Drake, Lara O'Connor, Rachel Keenan and Erin Murphy, cutting the gap to just two points, with Laois leading 3-2 to 1-6 at half time.
Branagan and O'Connor swapped scores after the restart but then came an absolutely insane passage of play that ultimately decided the game, with the teams producing five goals in ten minutes - four of which came from Laois.
It all started with a goal from Aisling Cawley with Dundon once again on the assistant, but barely two minutes after raising the green flag Cawley was shown a yellow card and sent to the sin bin for ten minutes. Laois responded as well as possible when Branagan fired home her side's fifth goal, completing her hat-trick in the process.
Longford introduced Clodagh Reilly off the bench, who was barely on the field when she rattled in an impressive 1-1 in under 60 seconds. But a brilliant piece of intelligent play from Branagan followed soon after as she picked the pocket of Longford goalkeeper Aoife Murphy before tapping in her fourth goal of the afternoon.
A shell-shocked Longford pulled a point back, but the hosts were relentless as Adrian Slevin's team rattled the net one more time, with Dundon deservedly getting her name on the scoresheet and doing so in style with a sublime finish. In the ten minutes Cawley was off the field Laois managed to outscore the visitors 3-0 to 1-2, leaving themselves nine points up heading into the fourth and final quarter.
Clodagh Reilly and Erin Murphy kicked two points each in the last ten minutes of the game to reduce the deficit to five points, but Laois did well to closed out the tie, running out worthy winners in the end.
The final is set for Saturday next, 26 April where Laois will face Wexford in the final after they beat Meath 1-15 to 1-14 after extra time as well as the drama of free kicks.
SCORERS:
Laois: Mia Branagan 4-2 (1-0 pen), Faye Brown, Aisling Cawley and Niamh Dundon 1-0 each, Anna Mulligan 0-1.
Longford: Clodagh Reilly 1-3 (0-2fs), Michaela Hand 1-2 (0-2fs), Erin Murphy 0-4 (0-3fs), Lara O'Connor 0-2, Zara Drake and Rachel Keenan 0-1 each.
LAOIS: Abi Swift (St Paul’s); Caoimhe Fitzpatrick (Portlaoise), Katie O’Reilly (St Brigid’s), Sarah McDonald (Portlaoise); Kathlyn Timmons (Graiguecullen), Clodagh Fingleton (Park/Ratheniska), Abbey Louise Byrne (Portlaoise); Lara Culleton (Portlaoise), Faye Brown (Portlaoise);Anna Mulligan (Portlaoise), Niamh Dundon (Timahoe), Kaylah O’Mara (Ballyroan); Aisling Cawley (Killeshin), Katie Grant (The Heath), Mia Branagan (Graiguecullen).
Subs: Laoise Dunne (Ballyroan) for Mulligan (49m), Poppy Duff (Park/Ratheniska) for Cawley (54m).
LONGFORD: Aoife Murphy; Lauren Maguire, Amber McGrath, Caitlin Derwin; Shauna Burke, Kayla Masterson, Elizabeth Kearney; Grace Tierney, Mia Kiernan; Maria Hayden, Zara Drake, Rachel Keenan; Lara O'Connor, Michaela Hand, Erin Murphy.
Subs: Clodagh Reilly for Kiernan (39m), Ella Jackson for Derwin (56m), Emily O'Reilly for O'Connor (56m).
REFEREE: Barry Redmond (Wexford)
