St Joseph’s rise from seven down to topple St Conleth’s

St Joseph’s 2-11 

St Conleth’s 1-12 

ST Joseph’s produced a stunning second-half comeback to defeat St Conleth’s by two points and secure top spot in their Laois LGFA Senior Football Championship group at the end of Round 3.

With the prize being a direct route to the semi-finals alongside Timahoe on the other side of the draw, it was all to play for at the top of the table, and St Conleth’s looked to be in control after a dominant first half.

St Joseph’s had the first clear opening when Jane Moore raced through on goal inside the opening minute, but Laura Carroll produced a superb piece of defending to dispossess her. St Conleth’s opened the scoring through Aoibhe Byron, but St Joseph’s responded with a point from Martina Dunne.

The sides then traded chances, with Claire O’Connell making a good save from a Lauren Rowen effort before Niamh Crosby converted a free for St Joseph’s. St Conleth’s began to take control, however. Carroll added a point before Byron won a kickout and found Emma Lawlor, who fisted over.

Byron then added another free before Emily Lacey replied for St Joseph’s. Byron continued to be central to the St Conleth’s attack, converting another free, and St Conleth’s had a golden opportunity to extend their lead when Lawlor got through on goal.

Ava Shanahan produced a superb save to deny her, but Lawlor was brought down as she attempted to get onto the rebound and a penalty was awarded. Byron stepped up and confidently fired the spot-kick past Shanahan. St Conleth’s continued to build their advantage through points from Shifra Havill, Aoife Cummins and Byron.

St Joseph’s finally ended a 16-minute scoring drought when Lacey converted a free, but St Conleth’s went into the interval in a commanding position, St Conleth’s 1-8 St Joseph’s 0-4.

Whatever was said in the St Joseph’s dressing room at half-time certainly had the desired effect. They came flying out after the restart and immediately began to eat into the deficit.

Moore won the throw-in, was fouled and embarked on a brilliant solo run towards the St Conleth’s square before setting up Crosby, who finished to the net. Dunne followed with a point before Moore added another as St Joseph’s suddenly had the momentum.

Lacey then converted after St Joseph’s won the kickout, and the comeback was completed in spectacular fashion when she landed a fabulous two-point free to put St Joseph’s ahead for the first time. St Conleth’s steadied themselves with two Byron frees, but St Joseph’s had found another gear.

Crosby then delivered a ball into Moore, who was taken down inside the square, and another penalty was awarded. This time Lacey took responsibility, making no mistake from the spot to put St Joseph’s firmly in control. Lacey added another free shortly afterwards after St Joseph’s were denied a promising solo-and-go opportunity.

St Conleth’s refused to surrender, and Kim Webster reduced the deficit, before they had another excellent chance to get back into the contest. Naomi Luttrell found herself through one-on-one with Shanahan, but the St Joseph’s goalkeeper stood tall once again to make another fine save.

St Joseph’s then put the finishing touches to their remarkable turnaround when substitute Aoife Kealy, introduced just a minute earlier, popped up with an important point. St Conleth’s pressed for a late response, but St Joseph’s held their nerve to complete a remarkable two-point victory.

The victory means St Joseph’s finish top of the group and go straight through to the semi-finals, where they will join Timahoe in awaiting their opponents. For St Conleth’s, there is still a route to the last four, but they must now negotiate a quarter-final against Portlaoise.

SCORERS:

St Joseph’s: Emily Lacey 1-6 (1-0 pen, 1 tpf, 0-2fs), Niamh Crosby 1-1 (0-1f), Martina Dunne 0-2, Jane Moore and Aoife Kealy 0-1 each.

St Conleth’s: Aoibhe Byron 1-7 (1-0 pen, 0-5fs), Laura Carroll, Emma Lawlor, Shifra Havill, Aoife Cummins, and Kim Webster 0-1 each.

ST JOSEPH’S: Ava Shanahan; Lily Brophy, Emma O’Flattery, Sinead Farrelly; Shannon Maguire, Lorna Butler, Lauren Rowen; Jane Moore, Anna Moore; Abbie Delaney, Emily Lacey, Niamh Crosby; Martina Dunne, Anne Smith, Grainne Dunne.

Subs: Ava Rowen for Farrelly (26m, inj), Emily Moore for M. Dunne (50m), Aoife Kealy for G. Dunne (62m).

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

Subs: Roisin McCourt for Kelly (6m, inj), Naomi Luttrell for O’Halloran (47m), Kim Webster for Carroll (56m).

Referee: Kevin Phelan (St Brigid’s).