Lidl National Football League Division 1A
DONEGAL manager Maxi Curran says his side took a massive step towards Division One safety, even on the first day of new season, with a 2-13 to 1-7 defeat of Westmeath in Ballybofey on Sunday.
With seven of their players from last year, including Yvonne McMonagle, Ciara Hegarty, Eilish Ward and Deirdre Foley, now gone, Curran has once again had to bring on board some new blood and they along with the ‘veterans’ Katy Herron, Niamh Hegarty, Karen Guthrie, Geraldine McLaughlin and captain Niamh McLaughlin produced the goods.
Shelly Twohig, a native of Cork, made her debut while Curran singled out Roisin Rodgers, who was brought on after 18 minutes when Amy Boyle Carr went off, and fellow subs Kate McClenaghan and Suzanne White, who scored two second half points.
“It’s great to get the points on the first day out. Staying in the league is a big priority for us. There are a lot of young girls there who are going to need the experience of playing in division one when a normal league resumes and that’s probably going to make it difficult for us to get relegated today and that’s the first priority,” said Curran.
Despite a goal from captain Niamh McLaughlin after just 18 seconds, it took Donegal until the second half to get to grips with the Westmeath challenge. They led 1-5 to 0-5 at the break in a first half that was “off script” according to the Donegal boss.
They led 1-2 to 0-1 before four in a row from the visitors, two each from Sarah Dillon and Anna Jones, levelled the game by the 25th minute before Guthrie (2) and Niamh McLaughlin finished with a flurry of points to open up that three point half-time advantage.
“People were off script in the first half, wrong decisions, passes going astray, rushing things, forcing the ball in when it wasn’t on, but I think that settled as the game went on and we became a bit more composed and controlled the thing better and made better use of the possession that we had," he said.
Jones reduced the gap to two shortly after the resumption but Donegal upped the ante to take control, Geraldine McLaughlin, making her 100th appearance in a Donegal jersey, Niamh Hegarty, Herron, Guthrie and sub White all raising white flag as Westmeath could only manage a point, while their cause was not helped by the 50th minute sin binning of Niamh Spellman. They went down to 13 players with Lorraine Duncan also shown the yellow card in the 58th minute as Donegal wrapped their day just as they started with McLaughlin raising the green flag although Leona Archibold had the final say when she fired home from the penalty spot for a mere consolation.
League round-up
CAVAN got the better of neighbours Monaghan in their Division 2B clash in Clones on Sunday with a 3-11 to 2-10 win in Gerry Moane’s first game in charge
The game was in the balance until the second water break with the visitors holding a 0-10 to 0-8 lead, but three goals in six minutes effectively ended Monaghan’s challenge.
The Farney led 0-3 to no score at the first water break and it took Cavan until the 24th minute to register their first score but four in-a-row put them in front, two apiece from Aisling Gilesenan and Lauren McVeety and they led 0-5 to 0-4 at half-time. The visitors managed to keep their noses in front despite the best efforts of Monaghan captain Ellen McCarron but on the resumption for the final run in, Cavan got the all-important goal through Geraldine Sheridan with Sinead Greene and Sheridan adding further goals. Ciara McAnespie did grab a late major for Monaghan in injury time.
In Division 3A, both Down and Fermanagh suffered defeat to Sligo and Roscommon respectively. Down had a two point lead as the game entered its final 10 minutes but goals from Tara Walsh and Ciara Gorman saw them snatch victory 3-4 to 0-11.
It was goals too that cost Fermanagh as they fell 3-10 to 1-12 against Roscommon in Dr Hyde Park. The sides were level at the break 0-6 to 1-3 but an early second half goal from Natalie McHugh gave Roscommon the edge. Joanne Doonan’s 55th minute goal brought them to within a point but two goals in two minutes killed off the Erne challenge.
Antrim took the points from Derry at Celtic Park on Sunday in their Division 4A derby. The Saffrons led from the start coming away with a 5-10 to 3-4 win, Aoife Taggart, Meabh McCurdy and Emma Ferran with the first half goals that gave them a 3-5 to 1-4 lead; Orla McGeough with the Derry major. McGurk was on target early in the second half to reduce the gap to five but Antrim took charge again through Cathy Carey, who finished with 1-3, for their fourth goal. Derry pulled another goal back but Antrim made sure of victory with a fifth, this time from Teresa Mellon.
