Portlaoise edge past Sarsfields in semi-final battle

LOETB LGFA Senior Football Championship s/f 

Portlaoise 4-10 

Sarsfield 3-10 

PORTLAOISE got the better of Sarsfields to book their place in the LOETB Senior Ladies final when they met on Saturday afternoon in Laois Hire O’Moore Park in the first of the double header.

It was rematch of round two when Portlaoise ran out a marginal one-point win which was similar this time around when just a goal separated the sides.

Amy Ring opened the scoring as she pointed a free while Portlaoise went goal hunting from the start when Fiona Dooley set up Ciara Crowley, but Roisin Dowling denied her. It was only a matter of minutes though before Grainne Moran rattled the back of the net.

Emer Conroy and Leah Loughman (free) pointed for their respective sides. Moran converted a free quickly followed by Ellen Healy opening her account from play with Ring converting a second Sarsfields free.

Loughman landed a super score under huge pressure before Crowley sent an incredible ball across the face of goals where Alison Taylor was waiting to palm it in. Dooley pointed after a quick free from Moran before Taylor had a second goal scoring opportunity, but Dowling pulled off a super one-on-one save.

Moran landed a free before Portlaoise were awarded a penalty when Dooley shot and the ball was fouled as the defender handled it on the ground. Moran stepped up and fired into the bottom right corner.

Sarsfields found their rhythm before halftime racking up 1-3 to narrow the gap for the second half. Aoibhe Foyle pointed her first before Conroy set her up to raise their first green flag. Lauren Kearney added her name to the scoresheet while Ring converted another free.

Crowley pointed for The Town before the break which kept their lead at seven, 3-7 to 1-9.

Healy pointed to get the second half under way while Kearney went on a super run and drilled the ball past Keeva O’Reilly.

Ring pointed a free and one from play which left only a goal between the sides entering the final quarter. Kearney added a second point to her tally while a dropping shot from Clare Conlon was dealt with superbly by the fist of Keeva O’Reilly.

Moran pointed her third free pushing three between the sides once again. Kearney was on fire and shot for goal but this time striking the crossbar which Sarsfields mopped up and worked the ball to Conlon to raise a white flag.

Moran stepped up yet again to slot the ball over the bar in the 60th minute.

With only injury time to play, Sarsfields only had goals on their mind and Laura-Marie Maher was unfortunate to brush the right post with a rocket of an effort.

Portlaoise broke up the field at pace and a Moran effort went wide but allowed Dooley to win the resulting kickout and she went straight for goal, making no mistake to raise their fourth green flag.

Sarsfields responded in the exact same manner when second time lucky, Maher slotted the ball into the net making for a tense final minute.

However, Portlaoise remained resilient and held Sarsfields off to book their spot in the county final on Saturday 11 October where they will face St Conleth’s for the fourth year in a row.

SCORERS:

Portlaoise: Grainne Moran 2-4 (1-0 pen, 0-3 fs), Alison Taylor 1-0, Fiona Dooley 1-1, Leah Loughman (0-1f) and Ellen Healy 0-2 each, Ciara Crowley 0-1.

Sarsfields: Aoibhe Foyle 1-1, Amy Ring 0-5 (0-4fs), Lauren Kearney 1-2, Laura-Marie Maher 1-0, Emer Conroy and Clare Conlon 0-1 each.

PORTLAOISE: Keeva O’Reilly; Ella McNulty, Deirdre Phelan, Sarah Fleming; Ciara Crowling, Aishling Saunders, Rebecca Reddin; Fiona Dooley, Ellen Healy; Alison Taylor, Aisling Kehoe, Grainne O’Reilly; Leah Loughman, Grainne Moran, Susie Delaney.

Subs: Lara Culleton for Kehoe (45m), Faye Brown for G. O’Reilly (48m), Shauna Dooley for Loughman (53m).

SARSFIELDS: Roisin Dowling; Ava Lawlor, Aoife Hughes, Sarah Hibbitts; Emer Conroy, Rachel Williams, Grainne Lalor; Aerin Ryle, Amy McCann; Laura-Marie Maher, Becky Williams, Meaghan Dunne; Aoibhe Foyle, Amy Ring, Lauren Kearney.

Subs: Clare Conlon for Dunne (34m), Julie-Ann Bennett for R. Williams (46m), Caoimhe Maher for Ryle (55m).

Referee: Kevin Phelan