St Conleth’s pushed all the way by Park/Ratheniska

St Conleth’s 3-10 

Park/Ratheniska 1-13 

ST Conleth’s have their second win in this year’s LOETB Senior Football Championship, but it wasn’t without some nervy moments as Park/Ratheniska pushed them all the way on Monday evening.

Park/Ratheniska had trailed by 12 points approaching half-time, but managed to get back to within two points with five minutes remaining. However, St Conleth’s three first half goals ultimately proved decisive in Ratheniska.

Last year’s finalists came into the game having beaten Sarsfields in Round 1, while Park/Ratheniska were defeated by St Joseph’s in their opening game.

Monday evening’s result means the final round of fixtures in Group B will see St Conleth’s face St Joseph’s for top spot and a semi-final place, while Park/Ratheniska and Sarsfields will clash with the winner progressing to the quarter-finals and the losers facing the relegation final.

Five minutes had gone before the first score arrived, with Marie Byrne rattling the back of the Park/Ratheniska net to give St Conleth’s the dream start. Ellen O’Byrne got the home side up and running with Niamh O’Halloran replying at the other end. Grace Cunningham added Park/Ratheniska’s second point before Keeva Fingleton nearly found the net, only for her effort to cannon off the crossbar.

Park/Ratheniska were made to rue that miss as St Conleth’s scored 1-3 without reply to take full control of the contest. O’Halloran added another point before Laura Carroll got her name on the scoresheet. St Conleth’s second goal came from the resulting kick-out, with O’Halloran catching the restart and playing a one-two with Eva Galvin before the former palmed the ball into the net.

They almost had a third goal from Shifra Havill, only for a superb defensive interception by Clodagh Fingleton, who cleared the ball off the line and over the bar. Laura Crawford finally ended St Conleth’s scoring run, but they managed another 1-2 before the break. Galvin was first denied by Eimear Brennan before she split the posts.

Centre-back Mary Cotter was the goalscorer as she danced through the Park/Ratheniska defence and was left with a simple finish past Brennan. O’Halloran added her third point of the half and at this stage, it looked like St Conleth’s would run away with the game.

Credit to Park/Ratheniska, they managed to raise a green flag just before half-time to reduce St Conleth’s lead to nine points. O’Byrne played a lovely pass into Crawford, who finished to the net. St Conleth’s led 3-6 to 1-3 at the interval.

Park/Ratheniska picked up where they left off after half-time, with Crawford from a free and O’Byrne further reducing the deficit. Carroll’s second point halted the Park/Ratheniska momentum, but only momentarily as they scored three more points in succession. Anna Healy, Crawford and O’Byrne from a free all raised white flags and suddenly they were only five points behind.

Aoibhe Byron scored a free before Galvin missed a big goal chance. Emma Lawlor and Byron combined to send Galvin through, but she missed the target and left Park/Ratheniska still in with a chance of getting a result. Lawlor pointed off the bench to put St Conleth’s seven ahead, but the next five points went the way of Park/Ratheniska.

Mia Delaney played a diagonal pass for Adah Ramsbottom to score and then Delaney added a point of her own. Crawford added two more scores to her tally and O’Byrne did likewise with a free. Just two points separated the sides with 55 minutes on the clock.

St Conleth’s managed the closing stages well and went three ahead when Carroll raised her third white flag of the evening. They had a late chance to get a fourth goal, but Lawlor couldn’t find the required finish. The final round of fixtures will be played on Sunday, September 6.

SCORERS:

St Conleth’s: Niamh O’Halloran 1-3, Marie Byrne and Mary Cotter 1-0, Laura Carroll 0-3, Aoibhe Byron (f), Emma Lawlor, Shifra Havill and Eva Galvin 0-1 each.

Park/Ratheniska: Laura Crawford 1-5 (0-3fs), Ellen O’Byrne 0-4 (0-2fs), Mia Delaney, Adah Ramsbottom, Anna Healy and Grace Cunningham 0-1 each.

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

Subs: Emma Lawlor for Havill (36m), Naomi Luttrell for Fox (50m), Sinead Coffey for Cotter (59m), Kim Webster for Byron (59m).

PARK/RATHENISKA: Eimear Brennan; Poppy Duff, Niamh Dunne, Sophie Delahunt; Tara Byrne, Aine Nolan, Aoidean Delaney; Anna Healy, Keeva Fingleton; Adah Ramsbottom, Laura Crawford, Grace Cunningham; Rachel O’Connell, Ellen O’Byrne, Clodagh Fingleton.

Sub: Mia Delaney for O’Connell (42m).

Referee: Marian Hayden (Carlow)