Manor surge in second half to take St Mary's victory

Glencar Manorhamilton overpowered a battling St. Mary's outfit in the second half of Sunday's Gotham Dry Wall LGFA Senior Championship clash in Pairc Naomh Mhuire in the battle of last year’s Senior and Intermediate champions.

Sunday's showdown was a fascinating clash with just three points between the teams at the halftime interval as newly promoted St Mary’s showed that they could match the three-in-a-row defending champions for the opening 30 minutes of the game.

But they also found out in the second half that the Glencar Manorhamilton had an extra gear as the champions extended their interval lead of three points to ten points at the end.

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St. Mary's got off to a bright start when midfielder Enya McWeeney fired over the opening score of the game seconds after the throw-in. Glencar Manor levelled matters when Muireann Devaney split the posts.

St. Mary's had a let off thanks to goalkeeper Caroline Guckian who stopped a goal bound Leah Fox shot on the five minute mark but Glencar Manor took the lead a minute later when Muireann Devaney tapped over a close in free.

It was level again when Aisling Leahy blazed a shot inches over the Manor crossbar eight minutes into the end-to-end action but Glencar Manor responded in impressive fashion at the end of the first quarter when Lauren Devaney took a well taken goal after receiving a pass from Muireann Devaney.

The champions threatened to overwhelm St Mary’s as, over the next five minutes, they stretched their lead with a Leah Fox goal and points from Anna Devaney and Orlaith Kelly.

St. Mary's have impressed in this championship and rallied to reduce the deficit to four points after Roisin Kelleher pointed and Sarah Reynolds hammered home a goal after driving at speed through the Glencar Manor rearguard.

Glencar Manor hit back with a Muireann Devaney point but the home side reduced the halftime gap to three points thanks to scores from Aisling Leahy (free) and Ellie Barnes to leave them trailing 2-6 to 1-6 at the break.

After the restart, Glencar Manor got down to business in a very determined manner when they added four unanswered points in the opening ten minutes of the second half with Aoife Gilmartin, Muireann Devaney, Roisin Rooney and Orlaith Kelly all on target.

Aisling Leahy opened St. Mary's second half account from a 42nd minute free but Glencar Manor closed the door two minutes later with a goal when Leah Fox finished from close range to the net.

St. Mary's reduced with two Aisling Leahy fees for the Carrick women while the champions were put under severe pressure with two yellow cards in the closing ten minutes for Karen Connolly and Orlaith Kelly, leaving them with 13 players.

Despite this, Manor still stretched their winning margin further when Muireann Devaney shot two points and Leah Fox added a point.

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THE LAST POINT

ST. MARY'S KILTOGHERT

Scorers: Aisling Leahy 0-5, 4f; Sarah Reynolds 1-1; Enya McWeeney, Roisin Kelleher & Ellie Barnes 0-1 each

Team: Caroline Guckian, Jasmine Maye, Isabelle Chandler; Ellie Barnes, Kasey Bruen, Bláithín McCrann; Enya McWeeney, Emma Clarke; Elise Bruen, Sarah Reynolds, Sara Crowe; Roisin Kelleher, Lorraine Butler, Aisling Leahy

GLENCAR MANORHAMILTON

Scorers: Leah Fox 2-1; Muireann Devaney 0-6 f; Lauren Devaney 1-1; Orlaith Kelly 0-2; Anna Devaney, Aoife Gilmartin & Roisin Rooney 0-1 each

Team: Cammie McPartland; Victoria Golden; Mary Alice Carson, Clare Cullen; Melissa Hewitt, Rebecca Rooney, Karen Connolly; Aoife Gilmartin, Anna Devaney; Roisin Rooney, Muireann Devaney, Lauren Devaney, Chloe Rooney, Leah Fox, Orlaith Kelly.

REFEREE: Kieran Moran