Suncroft v Maynooth 18th July 2017. Intermediate Championship.
Suncroft 5:11(26), Maynooth 2:13(19)
Suncroft were away to Maynooth in the third round of the Championship on Tuesday evening. The evening was warm and bright and hardly a breeze. The last time the teams met was in the last round of the league in early May and they were well matched. Maynooth were up by seven or eight points, Suncroft pulled it back and took the lead, Maynooth upped it and pushed on to win by seven points. A competitive game was expected.
Suncroft had a few changes or personnel and positional changes from the last game against Clane but they continued to play the same brand of team football with good passing movements, players getting into space and good support running. Nicole Dooley opened the scoring and Carla Ennis got Suncrofts second point before Maynooth opened their account with a point in the fifth minute 0:02(2) to 0:01(1). Over the next fifteen minutes Suncroft had the better of the game and with some great fielding and passing from Aislinn Dooley, Nicole Dooley, Carla Ennis and Michelle McCormack, Trina Duggan got in for a point and Ellen Dowling got two points and two goals. For her first goal Ellen made a great run into a little bit of space behind the Maynooth full back line and got on the end of a peach of a pin point pass over the top to shake Maynooths net.
Maynooth had only scored two points in the same period but they had a good few wides. Maynooth were getting into scoring positions but the constant pressure from the Suncrofts backs, Caoimhe Doyle, Muireann Fagan and Sophie Hobbs and half backs, Anna O’Modhrain, Ciara Fennelly and Abbey Poole was enough to put them off. On the scoreboard twenty minutes in Suncroft were looking comfortable with an eight-point lead, 2:05(11) to 0:03(3), but on the field the teams were well matched. Ellen Dowling got on the end of an Nichole Dooley and Eve Kehoe passing move to score an excellent point from distance. Chloe Foy won the ball on the half back line and started the next move which Michelle McCormack finished with another point to increase the Croft’s lead to ten points. Maynooth had the better of the last five minutes of the half and got a point from a free and then, just on the half time whistle, got a goal to bring them right back into the game. Half Time: Suncroft 2:07(13) Maynooth 1:04(7).
Suncroft won the ball from the throw in and worked their way up the field. The goal opened up for them but the Maynooth goalkeeper and the upright did enough to spoil the ideal start to the second half. Maynooth had come out fighting in the second half and put the next four points on the board to bring the lead back to two points. Eve Kehoe picked the ball up in mid field, made her way in on goal, but had to be satisfied with a point. A rocket of a shot but Maynooths keeper knocked the ball over the cross bar, the second goal she had denied Suncroft in the opening ten minutes of the second half. Suncroft 2:08(14), Maynooth 1:08(11). Suncroft brought on Megan Troy, Aine Troy and Doreen O’Connor to freshen up the team but over the next fifteen minutes Maynooth had the better of the game. Three points and a goal to the Crofts single point gave Maynooth a two-point lead with five minutes to go. Maynooth 2:11(17), Suncroft 2:09(15).
After the Maynooth goal Trina Duggan got on the end of Rebecca McGuirks kick out and made an inspiring run the length of the field, a quick one two, and she pointed for the Suncroft. Maynooth worked the ball towards the Suncroft goal and got another free which they pointed (Chloe Foy put her head in the way of the Maynooth players elbow, Maynooth got the free again, and the point, and Chloe ended up in A&E after the game), Maynooth 2:12(18), Suncroft 2:10(16). With time running out Ciara Fennelly got the ball from McGuirks kick out, left several Maynooth players in her wake as she, ran the length of the field and then a perfect pass to Eve Kehoe for a goal. Suncroft intercepted the kick out and Ellen Dowling rattled the net. Carla Ennis picked off a lovely point from distance and then Eve Kehoe got on the end of a Trina Duggan pass and put the game beyond doubt. Maynooth fought hard for the last few minutes but staunch defending kept them out of the goal and they had to be satisfied with a point, the last score of the game. Suncroft 5:11(26), Maynooth 2:13(19).
Another good team performance by Suncroft with the full panel delivering on the night. In goal Rebecca McGuirk made some good saves and was accurate with the kick outs. The six Suncroft backs, with help from Chloe Foy, were immense. Full back Muireann Fagan, with help from Caoimhe Doyle and Sophie Hobbs, was rock solid and at centre back Ciara Fennelly, with help from Anna O’Modhrain and Abbey Poole, never put a foot wrong. The last time out Maynooth got seven goals and determined defending this time limited them to two. In the middle Trina Duggan put in another fantastic shift, back to support the backs, taking the pass in the middle and popping it over the bar up front. Suncroft were slow to get going in the second half and when it was needed Trina was there to make a great run and pop the point to lift their spirit and get them going again. Eve Kehoe was having a quite enough game, doing a man marking job, but when the pressure came on in the second half she upped her game and got into the right places at the right times. Up front the forwards were flying. The work rate and movement on and off the ball was super. Michelle McCormack, Nicole Dooley and Carla Ennis kicked great points and Ellen Dowling with a personal tally of 3:04(13) was in great form.
Panel: Rebecca McGuirk, Caoimhe Doyle, Muireann Fagan, Sophie Hobbs, Anna O’Modhrain, Ciara Fennelly, Abbey Poole, Trina Duggan (0:02), Eve Kehoe (2:01), Carla Ennis (0:02), Nicole Dooley (0:01), Aislinn Dooley, Chloe Foy, Ellen Dowling (C) (3:04), Michelle McCormack (0:01), Megan Troy, Aine Troy, Doreen O’Connor, Aisling Connolly.
Management team: Owen Fagan, Karen Ennis, Eamonn O’Modhrain.