St Conleth’s hit back from six points down to see off Sarsfields

St Conleth's 3-14 

Sarsfields 4-4 

ST Conleth's opened up their SFC campaign with an impressive seven-point victory over Sarsfields in Courtwood on Wednesday night. It took the winners 12 minutes to get going, but when they clicked, they were very impressive, their running game was brilliant with Sarsfields struggling to keep them at bay.

For Sarsfields, they will be disappointed as they led by six-points early on, but they went 22 minutes without a score and in the end, it cost them.

It was the home side that got the opening score through the boot of Aoibhe Byron to put her side into the lead.

The response from Sarsfields was a brilliant one as Amy Ring found the first goal of the game with a tidy finish.

They then followed it up with a point from Meaghan Dunne and then she found the back of the net for Sarsfields for their second goal to put them firmly in control early on.

This sparked St Conleth's into life; they added two quick points from Aoife Cummins and Eva Galvin to eat into the Sarsfields lead.

After the kickout from Galvin's point, St Conleth’s pushed up on the kickout and got joy from it, Sinead Coffey won the ball where she fed Galvin who found Aoibhe Byron who found the back of the net to leave a point in it after 16 minutes 2-1 to 1-3.

There was no stopping St Conleth's now with Claire Fox coming to the fore, she quickly levelled the game with a massive point and then she found St Conleth's second goal after a brilliant run from Laura Carroll who found Fox to dispatch it to the net.

Byron and Marie Byrne added further points as St Conleth’s were now playing full of confidence.

There was still time for a third goal of the half for St Conleth's through Laura Carroll to leave them leading 3-6 to 2-1 at the break.

Sarsfields would need a fast start to get back into this encounter, they got the first point of the half from Amy Ring which ended their 22-minute wait for a score.

But St Conleth's responded once more and kicked the next three points through Marie Byrne, Sinead Coffey and Aoibhe Byron as they remained in control.

Sarsfields stayed battling and would get their third goal of the game as they pushed Laura Marie Maher up the field and it paid dividends as she found the back of the net to give her side some hope.

Ring added another point to her tally to narrow the gap to six points 3-9 to 3-3 with 18 minutes left on the clock.

Sarsfields were now starting to get a bid of momentum, but Aoibhe Byron extinguished their hope with two more points, one from a free and the other one from play.

The seventh goal of this end-to-end game came through Sarsfields sub-Ciara O’Neil to reduce the gap back to five points.

But St Conleth's settled once more and would kick three points in a row through Marie Byrne, Laura Carroll and Shifra Havill to make sure their side were coming away with a win.

Amy Ring finished the scoring of the game as St Conleth's were deserving winners. St Conleth's now face an away tie with Park-Ratheniska while Sarsfields face St Joseph's in the next round of fixtures.

SCORERS:

St Conleth's: Aoibhe Byron 1-5 (0-3fs), Laura Carroll and Claire Fox 1-1 each, Marie Byrne 0-3, Aoife Cummins, Eva Galvin, Sinead Coffey and Shifra Havill 0-1 each.

Sarsfields: Amy Ring 1-3 (0-2fs), Meaghan Dunne 1-1, Laura Marie Maher and Ciara O'Neil 1-0 each.

ST CONLETH'S: Claire O'Connell; Melissa Donnelly, Ruane Hunt, Becky Fenlon; Aine Haberlin, Mary Cotter, Aoife Cummins; Aimee Kelly, Shifra Havill; Marie Byrne, Claire Fox, Laura Carroll; Sinead Coffey, Eva Galvin, Aoibhe Byron.

Subs: Niamh Cullen for Coffey (38m), Ola Halstrup for Fenlon (52m), Naomi Luttrell for Galvin (59m).

SARSFIELDS: Roisin Dowling; Jayne Hyland, Ciara Hughes, Ava Lawlor; Emer Conroy, Laura Marie Maher, Sarah Hibbits; Amy McKane, Rebecca Williams; Lilly Conroy, Amy Ring, Orlaith McEvoy; Lily Mae Conroy, Meaghan Dunne, Grainne Lalor.

Subs: Ciara O'Neil for Mae Conroy (27m), Julie Anne Bennett for L Conroy (37m), Maeve McDonald for Hyland (46m).

Referee: Robbie Moran (Graiguecullen)