LGFA-ACFL Division 4
Antrim 3-8 Leitrim 1-10
Antrim senior ladies entertained the current all Ireland intermediate champions Leitrim on Sunday and got over the line with a 4 point victory.
At a very windy Dunsilly both teams served up an excellent game of football considering the underfoot conditions and the strong wind.
Leitrim flew out of the traps first and had two points on the scoreboard in the first seven minutes.
Inspirational captain Bronagh Devlin settled the home side down with a glorious point from 35 meters after 12 minutes and after Blaithin Ni Cahill was brought down in the box 5 minutes later up stepped Devlin to hammer the resulting penalty to the Leitrim net.
But Leitrim hit back with a 3 pointer of their own and also put a 20 metre free over the bar before Antrim replied and the hard working Aine Lynch scored a great point after good work from Ana Mulholland.
The Antrim girls were more than disappointed at half time with their first half performance and they showed great character and composure in the second 30 minutes.
Antrim had so much more fluency in their play and this resulted in them controlling most of the second half.
Lara Dahunsi and the inspirational Bronagh Devlin both hit brilliant points before Devlin then found Maria O’Neill with a quick free kick.
O’Neill rounded two defenders and hammered the ball to the roof of the net, to give the Saffron’s a massive lift.
Dahunsi and Bronagh Devlin then added further points but Leitrim showed why they are all Ireland champions and hit back with 4 points of their own.
Back came this never say die Antrim team and after great work from Laura Agnew she found Maria O Neill and she duly obliged by giving the keeper no chance by putting the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Lara Dahunsi had the final score of the game with a brilliant point from a very tight angle.
The Antrim management commented after the game.
“We started slow but our game management from the players was excellent in the second half. Our girls were more than disappointed at half time. We regrouped and put a much better performance in in the second half.
Everyone in this group works so hard and these types of games are won by the full group who push each other so hard week in week out.
This group is also very aware that we are still very much a work in progress and it’s important we all keep pulling in the one direction and trust each other and the process”
To see more pics by Elaine Kelly click on the link below
https://myalbum.com/album/cxU8Qrhm3gqCHZ/?invite=ddef9816-a220-44cf-9962-4ce51c333d15