Three successive wins for ladies

CLARE eventually made it three successive wins after they were made fight all the way by a young and determined Wicklow team at Bray Emmetts GAA grounds last Saturday.

Despite registering 18 scores to Wicklow’s 12, Clare, who face Cork in the Munster senior semi-final in June, had to pull out all the stops against this junior side. This was largely due to the scoring returns of Eimear Considine (1-6), midfielder Louise Henchy (0-5) and centre-forward Niamh O’Dea (0-4). Apart from their contributions on the scoreboard, their work rate was immense, as were the efforts of centre half-back Louise Woods and wing-forward Marie Considine, while for the third week in-a-row Emma O’Driscoll made some fine saves.
Lucy Mulhall pointed inside the opening minute for Wicklow before Clare equalised through an Eimear Considine fisted effort. At the quarter stage, the sides were level at three points each. Points from Louise Henchy and Considine had been cancelled out by two from Aimee Byrne. Clare then hit a purple patch. Further points from Henchy, team captain Niamh Keane and two from Eimear Considine put the visitors five ahead but the home side responded with two through substitute Monica Lynch and Loretta Gilbert.
Aimee Devereux in the Wicklow goals somehow managed to pull off a point-blank save from Eimear Considine, diving full length to turn the ball around the post. This save was followed by an equally fine one from Emma O’Driscoll, which saw Clare keep their noses in front and soon after, Louise Henchy’s point from a free opened a three-point gap as Clare now led 0-8 to 0-5 with the first half gone into stoppage time.
Wicklow centre-forward, Loretta Gilbert was quickest to react to a dropping ball from a high drifting lob from Aimee Byrne, when she rose and connected to punch home her side’s first goal at this crucial stage. Clare then introduced Grace Lynch, who impressed at full-forward and soon after referee Garryowen McMahon blew the half-time whistle.
The second half had plenty of excitement as 16 scores were registered. The finest score of the match came from Niamh McGettigan, a point from an acute angle early on. Niamh O’Dea and Aimee Byrne traded points before Rionach Craul put Wicklow ahead for the first time. Six unanswered points from O’Dea, Grace Lynch, Eimear Considine and Louise Henchy restored Clare’s lead, 0-15 to 1-7.
Then Wicklow’s Lorna Fusciardi was sin-binned for a foul on Niamh O’Dea and despite playing with 14, they came storming back. Two Niamh McGettigan points and a goal from Lucy Mulhall, who had been reintroduced following some time out to treat a knock, brought Wicklow back on level terms with everything to play for in the eight minutes that remained. It was now Wicklow 2-9 to Clare’s 0-15.  Mulhall, much to delight of the home crowd, put Wicklow ahead with a point, which turned out to be her side’s last score. Niamh O’Dea produced two points in-a-row and Clare held on to a one-point lead with two minutes remaining. Finally, Clare got the goal they so badly needed when Kilmihil’s Eimear Considine did the business and gave Clare some breathing space. They held on in the few minutes of additional time and were relieved to hear the long whistle.
While 1-17 was great scoring and one must take into consideration the long trip to Bray, Clare definitely have to tighten up in defence. They have two weeks now to work on this as they prepare for a home match in Round 4 against All-Ireland junior champions, Limerick on March 6. So far, Clare have tried a number of players in various defensive positions and a different midfielder to partner Louise Henchy, who for the third week in-a-row was outstanding. Clare have put the scores on the board and has racked up 9-37 over the course of their three league outings, while they have conceded 4-27.
On the plus side, Rachel Lenihan, Áine Kelly and Lorraine Kelly have yet to line out, while Naomi Carroll, Ailish Considine, Róisín McMahon and Carol O’Leary were playing with their colleges on Saturday and should be available for selection for the Limerick game. Management may yet decide to call in a few more players as Clare aim towards a semi-final place and promotion to Division 2.

Clare: Emma O’Driscoll (Banner Ladies); Clare Hester (Fergus Rovers), Eimear O’Connor (Coolmeen), Laurie Ryan (Banner Ladies); Niamh Greene (Coolmeen), Louise Woods (Banner Ladies), Carmel Considine (Liscannor); Louise Henchy (0-5, 2f) (Banner Ladies), Niamh Keane (0-1) (Banner Ladies); Marie Considine (Liscannor), Niamh O’Dea (0-4) (Banner Ladies), Colette Corry (Shannon Gaels); Niamh Lardner (West Clare Gaels), Eimear Considine (1-6) (Kilmihil) Katie Geoghegan (West Clare Gaels).
Subs: Grace Lynch (0-1) (Coolmeen) for N Lardner (32) and Áine Burke (Liscannor) for K Geoghegan (48).
Wicklow: Amy Devereux (Arklow Geraldine’s Ballymoney); Emma Kelly (Eadestown), Caitriona Byrne (AGB), Lisa Brady (Bray Emmetts); Claire Walsh (Kilbride), Sarah Miley (An Tochar), Niamh Kelly (Éire Óg); Caitriona McKeon (Kilbride), Jackie Kinch (Tinahely); Amie Byrne (0-2) (An Tochar), Loretta Gilbert (1-1) (Tinahely), Laurie Ahern (Éire Óg); Niamh McGettigan (0-3) (St Patrick’s), Rionach Craul (Kilbride), Lucy Mulhall (1-2) (Tinahely).
Subs: Monica Lynch (0-1) for L Mulhall, Niamh Coleman for R Craul, Aoife Heffernan for L Brady, Lorna Fusciardi for E Kelly, Lucy Mulhall for J Kinch and Mikaela Shelly (0-1) for A Byrne.
Referee: Garryowen McMahon (Monaghan).