Down Ladies travel to Limerick for a win to get into all-Ireland junior championship
TG4 All Ireland Junior Championship 2023
Round 3
9th July 202
Limerick 1-08. Down Ladies 1-13.
Down Senior Ladies travelled to Newcastle West for Round 3 of the TG4 All Ireland Junior Championship on Sunday.
This match was the decider on who would top the table in Group A and ultimately determine who Down will meet in the All-Ireland Junior Semi-Final.
The match was an end-to-end battle from the first whistle.
The Mourne Ladies won the throw in and Natasha Ferris pointed the first score from a free in the 1st minute.
The Limerick Ladies attack responded to this but put the ball wide. Some good interplay from the Down attack of the Duffy sisters, Orla Swail and Aimee O’Higgins worked the ball up the field and resulted in another point for Down from Laoise Duffy in the 3rd minute.
Limerick ladies got their first score in the 4th minute when a score attempt was blocked down and Cathy Mee collected the rebound and popped it over the bar.
This was answered with a lovely point from Down’s Niamh Scullion in the 5th minute.
Limerick worked the ball back up the field and Amy Ryan put a high ball in which slipped over Amy McGiverns head scoring a goal for Limerick, followed closely by another point to put them in the lead for the first time.
The Green and white wall of Limerick worked hard to deny the Mourne Ladies any goal chances. However this did not deter Ferris, who pointed a further two scores to level the sides in the 20th minute.
The Limerick ladies were on the attack again, and a long ball into Iris Kennelly was pointed, putting them back in the lead for the second time.
The Down Ladies retaliated with a further two points from Ferris and Aimee O’Higgins before the half time whistle, leaving the score Down 0-07 Limerick 1-03.
Down again won the throw in and went immediately on the attack, with Orla Swail getting fouled. Ferris took the free, but it glanced off the post and went wide.
Another free for Down was again taken by Ferris, but this time it slipped over the keeper’s hands and into the back of the net.
Down were playing high paced football and a further two points were scored by Ferris. Limericks Kennelly pelted it up the field pointing a much needed score for Limerick in the 40th minute, followed by a second Kennelly point in 42nd minute.
The Mourne ladies refreshed legs including Eimear Fitzpatrick who pointed a score in the 49th minute followed by another Ferris point.
The Mourne defence lead by captain Meghan Doherty and Orla Boyle put the pressure on the Limerick attack preventing any goal chances.
However two frees were converted by Limericks Caoimhe McGrath to close the gap.
Down’s Ferris put a final point over in the 56th minute to seal the win for the Mourne Ladies and top the table in Group A.
Final Score Down 1-13 Limerick 1-8
Next up for Down is the All Ireland Semi-Final against Carlow on 23rd July.
Down Team: A McGivern, A Greene, C Byrne, O Boyle, N McKibbin, Meghan Doherty (C), O Duffy, A Laverty, A Keown, N Scullion (0-1), V McCormack, L Duffy (0-1), A O’Higgins (0-1), N Ferris (1-9, 1-6F), O Swail, K McKay, E Fitzpatrick (0-1), A Cull, N McClory, E Sands, E McArdle, E Martin, K Howlett, N Loudon, O Blaney, N King, B Rogan, P Smyth, C Mulvenna & S Dougherty.
Limerick Team: C Bateman, M Mac Namara, Y Lee, A Quaid, G Lee, L Walshe, L Ryan, R Ambrose, A O’Sullivan, D Murphy, C Mee, I Kennelly, L Coughlan, A Ryan, K O’Leary, S Hennessy, F Bradshaw, C McGrath, R Hyland, E Woulfe, A O’Dea, C O’Meara, A Curtin, R Breedy, S Dillon, L Browne, C Brosnahan, K Kennedy, G McKenna & A O’Sullivan.
