Down Senior Ladies Championship Final

Down Senior Ladies Championship Final Annaclone 3-10  Bryansford 3-09 An exciting Final that went right down to the wire with Annaclone emerging victorious thanks to the boot of Ciara Devlin thirty seconds from the final whistle. A draw might have been a fair result but life is full of harsh lessons and Bryansford ladies learned one today. An inability to take scores at vital moments, and lack of concentration when in possession was capitalised upon by the South Down girls. While they celebrated at the end the Ford could only rue this one that got away writes Michael Macartan. The East Down ladies shot into an early lead with three points from Natasha Ferris. In total control for almost ten minutes, a lapse in concentration saw Annaclone’s Grainne Kelly feed on to Mary O’ Hare who drove the ball to the net in the first attack that penetrated the Ford twenty metre line. [caption id="attachment_27457" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="The Annaclone ladies team celebrate. "][/caption] This seemed only to be a blip on the radar as Bryansford racked up two goals and a point within five minutes all scored by Ferris. By the quarter hour Bryansford should have been well out of sight but time and again shots sailed wide of the target. Annaclone made a tactical switch bringing Eliza Downey from midfield to counter the threat of Ferris. This was to neutralise the Ford full forward for the remainder of the half. At the other end the Ford committed seppuku. With only five minutes of the half remaining keeper Emam Joyce fouled the ball and Aileen Pyrers pointed. From the kickout Cushla Mc Neill added another point for Annaclone. With play drifting into added time, an unnecessary foul on Ciara Mc Ardle out on the left wing gave no impression of danger for the Ford. Mary O’ Hare launched a high ball into her forwards but it by-passed all. Joyce raced from her line but for some reason decided to swing a boot at the ball. This back-fired as she missed completely and could only watch as the ball  bobbled to the net. Pyres reduced the deficit ti a single point on the half time whistle. 2.04 to 2.03 in favour of the Ford who hadn’t scored since the fifteen minute. Within two minutes of the restart Pyres and Ciara Mc Ardle had the South Down girls in fromt. The Ford reply was a ‘sister act’ goal with Kathryn Ward’s quick free finding her sister Ciara who found the net. But Annaclone refused to admit defeat. Grainne Kelly and Pyres added a point a piece before Kelly palmed a pass from Ciara Devlin to the net. There was a suspicion of square ball but the goal stood. Over the next three minutes however the Ford seemed to find their ability to score and claimed four points through Ferris (0.02), Claire Fitzpatrick and Shannon Kelly. Time raced by and with three minutes remaining the Ford were leading by a point 3.08 to 3.07 but they didn’t exude confidence. Giving up possession seemed like an addiction and was punished by Mc Ardle and Kelly. Grainne Mc Clean brought the scores back to all square but with seconds remaining Devlin popped up to claim the final scores and victory for Annaclone.. Scorers: Annaclone: M. O’ Hare 2.00 A. Pyres 0.04, C. Mc Neill 0.01, C. Mc Ardle 0.02, G. Kelly 1.02, C. Devlin 0.01 Bryansford: N. Ferris 2.06, C. Ward 1.00, C. Fitzpatrick 0.01, Shannon Kelly 0.01, G. Mc Clean 0.01]]>