Lidl LGFA National League Division Three
Antrim 1-6
Louth 1-10
A late rally from visitors Louth turned this division 3 league opener at Davitt Park on its head on Sunday as the visitors came from four in arrears to win by four against a new look Antrim side.
The Saffrons appeared to be heading for victory when they held what looked like a healthy lead going into the final quarter and with a gale at their backs, but a Kate Flood inspired visitors hit 1-2 going down the home straight to break Antrim’s resistance.
Emma Kelly’s side went into this game with a much changed side as more than a dozen of last year’s side have stepped away from the panel but for long periods in the game the new-look Saffrons more than held their own.
Losing team captain Ciara Brown to the sin bin late on didn’t help, but despite this the home side continued to engineer scoring opportunities but tired legs and that little bit of inexperience seemed to creep into their play as they were turned over on a number of occasions.
Antrim were first to threaten but a promising attack came to nothing and it was Louth’s Niam Rice who gave the Wee County the lead when she pointed in the 6th minute and Kate Flood doubled the visitors advantage with ten minutes gone.
Antrim created a number of early opportunities but the swirling wind made scoring difficult while at the other end the Antrim defence was playing out of its skin with Sarsfield’s pair Duana Coleman and Carla McKenna making a number of excellent tackles and turn overs.
Emma McFerran was another who came well to the fore in a resolute Antrim defence while her St. Brigid’s colleague, Hannah Donaghy impressed, despite still being a minor.
Ana Mulholland and Lara Dahunsi were more than holding their own at mid-field but it would be 23 minutes before Antrim would open their account when Caitlin Taggart converted a free and the same player tied the contest from another in their next attack.
Things got even better for Emma Kelly’s charges as half time approached as Duane Coleman launched an attack from deep in her own half and a smart build up saw Blaithín Ní Cathail finish superbly to the Louth net.
Kate Flood replied with a late point for Louth but it was looking good for the home side as the half time whistle sounded as they led by two with the elements in their favour for the second half.
With the wind now at their backs Antrim began the second half in impressive fashion as Lara Dahunsi split the posts in the opening minute but at the other end it took and interception from Duane Coleman to prevent Niamh Rice from finding the Antrim net.
It seemed to be going Antrim’s way when Aoife Taggart pointed another free to extend their advantage but Rice replied immediately for the visitors but Theresa Mellon kicked an excellent point and then Dahunsi cancelled out a Flood reply.
It was looking good at this stage for Antrim but Louth slowly began to gain the upper hand as they drove forward and drew a hat-trick of frees which Flood greatly excepted to close the gap to the minimum.
The Antrim problems were compounded when Ciara Brown saw yellow with four minutes remaining but they continued to battle but were unable to turn promising attacks into scores.
It was visitors Louth who would take advantage and substitute Mischa Rooney cut in from the right and pointed before Rice kicked her third point of the evening before Ciara Woods got the final touch to a speculative delivery to finish to the Antrim net.
Wood’s goal put a rather flattering gloss on the final score and it was rough justice on an Antrim side who had performed well throughout the contest.
The performance augers well for an Antrim side who were forced to make wholesale changes from last year’s lineout and hopefully they can gain a win sooner rather than later as they fight to maintain their division 3 status and build for the future.
“The wind was difficult for both teams, but it was just silly mistakes that cost us,” said Antrim manager, Emma Kelly.
“We can look at the positives where we are up in Division Three and didn’t look out of place, but it is very disappointing as we could and should have won it.
“Some of our kicking (in the second half) was carrying long or skidding away. We just have to learn from it and go again.” She concluded.
Antrim: S Murphy; D Coleman, E Ferran, C McKenna; G Shannon, C Brown, H Donaghy; A Mulholland, L Dahunsi (0-2); T Mellon (0-1), C Taggart (0-1f), A Sheehan; B Ní Cathail (1-0), A Taggart (0-2f), C Logan.
Subs: N McArdle for G Shannon (27), C Maguire for B Ní Cathail (39), C Finucane for A SHeehan (47), E Rodgers-Duffy for C Taggart (58)
Louth: R Lambe; K Mathews, A White, C O’Reilly; H Lambe, A Breen, S Mathews; E Byrne, A Halligan; M Duffy, R O’Connor, L Byrne; N Rice (0-3), K Flood (0-6, 5f), A Russell.
Subs: L White for A Russell (17), C Keenan for R O’Connor (39), C Woods (1-0) for M Duffy (45), M Rooney (0-1) for E Byrne, K Murphy for H Lambe (60+3)
Referee: Raymond McBride (Dublin)
