Ladies football coverage on LaoisToday is brought to you in association with Meaney Plant and Civil, proud spoonsors of Laois LGFA
Laois 3-13 Fermanagh 3-13
Ladies NFL Division 3
Laois and Fermanagh played out a thoroughly entertaining encounter in Heywood this afternoon in Division 3 of the Ladies NFL.
This was the first competitive game under the new rules and it was certainly a fine advertisement for it.
The ladies have adopted the three up, two pointer and solo and go rules from the men’s game and have also allowed for more tackling.
It has resulted in a far more open game with fewer frees and more scores.
Laois had the better of the first half and Fermanagh had the better of the second so a draw was probably a fair result.
Emily Lacey was outstanding for Laois and finished with eight points from play, midfielder Fiona Dooley was everywhere while teenager Mia Branagan’s debut was perfect as she scored two goals from the bench.
Lacey opened the scoring for Laois but the lively Eimear McMahon responded for Fermanagh.
Katie Donoghue and Lacey re-established the lead for Laois and they held it for much of the first half.
That was helped by them scoring a brilliant goal where a quick exchange of handpasses ended with Donoghue feeding Kelly O’Neill who palmed home.
That made it 1-3 to 0-4 but Fermanagh kept going with wing back Brenda Bannon scoring three times to bring her side level.
Laois did take the lead though before the interval but there was a fair amount of controversy attached to it.
Sub Aisling Fitzpatrick was fouled but hopped the ball instead of using the solo to restart play which ended with Lacey scoring.
Fermanagh were incensed but the score stood and Laois led 1-6 to 0-8 at the break.
Lacey scored again when play resumed but then two Fermanagh goals in the space of 90 seconds from Joanne Doonan and Niamh McManus turned the game on its head.
Fermanagh moved six clear but scores from Lacey and Andrea Moran cut the gap to four as we entered the final quarter.
Teenager Mia Branagan was now on the pitch and it didn’t take her long to make her mark as she broke free of her marker and shot low to the corner.
And then Laois were back ahead in the 48th minute when Lacey was fouled for a penalty which Branagan converted with ease.
Lacey’s seventh point gave Laois a three point lead but Fermanagh refused to give up as sub Caoimhe Gallagher scored the game’s sixth goal.
Ciara McGarrigle gave Fermanagh the lead but Fiona Dooley punched back.
Laois were then punished for not having three up as Doonan tapped over to give Fermanagh the lead as we entered four minutes of added time.
Lacey levelled the game in that time and then had the chance to win it with the final kick but her effort from an extremely tight angle just went wide.
Laois are at home again next Sunday where they will face Down.
SCORERS – Laois: Emily Lacey 0-8, Mia Branagan 2-0 (1-0 penalty), Kelly O’Neill 1-1, Katie Donoghue 0-2 (frees), Andrea Moran and Fiona Dooley 0-1 each Fermanagh: Joanne Doonan 1-3 (0-2 frees), Caoimhe Gallagher and Niamh McManus 1-0 each, Brenda Bannon 0-3, Eimear McMahon 0-2 (one free), Sinead Barrett, Aisling O’Brien, Aine McCarthy, Sarah Britton and Ciara McGarrigle 0-1 each
LAOIS: Ava Shanahan (St Joseph’s); Sinead Farrelly (St Joseph’s), Aishling Saunders (Portlaoise), Faye McEvoy (Ballyroan); Aoife Gorman (Timahoe), Mary Cotter (St Conleth’s), Andrea Moran (Captain, Ballyroan); Fiona Dooley (Portlaoise), Shifra Havill (St Conleth’s); Ciara Crowley (Portlaoise), Eva Galvin (St Conleth’s), Lauren Kearney (Sarsfields); Emily Lacey (St Joseph’s), Katie Donoghue (Timahoe), Emma Lawlor (St Conleth’s). Subs: Aisling Fitzpatrick (The Heath) for Crowley (25, inj), Mia Branagan (Graiguecullen) for Larkin (36), Ciara Byrne (Portlaoise) for Gorman (47)
FERMANAGH: Aisling Quinn; Erica Douglas, Shannon McQuade, Aisling Keenan; Aisling O’Brien, Sarah McCarville, Brenda Bannon; Joanne Doonan, Catriona Breen; Aine McCarthy, Eimear McMahon, Sinead Barrett; Niamh McManus, Joanne Doonan, Ciara McGarrigle
REFEREE: Patrick Smith
Ladies football coverage on LaoisToday is brought to you in association with Meaney Plant and Civil, proud spoonsors of Laois LGFA
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