Kildare ladies lift fourth trophy in 18 months with league final win over Tyrone

Lidl Ladies NFL Division 2 League Final

Kildare 2-9

Tyrone 0-12

Just eight months after Kildare’s All-Ireland Intermediate Championship win, Grace Clifford was once again walking up the steps of the Hogan Stand as The Lilies won the Division 2 league title over Tyrone.

A fourth trophy in 18 months under Diane O’Hora and the Kildare captain has to be lauded not only for her role on the field, but her ability to keep things fresh as she makes yet another winning speech.

It would be another Kildare icon that opened the scoring in this game as Róisín Byrne cut inside onto her left foot and slotted one between the posts. An early warning for Tyrone, if one were ever needed for such a player.

Two points from Emma Conroy at the other end fired Tyrone in front with the centre-forward having plenty of space to shoot.
Kildare were prodding and probing as they held possession to look for an opening. They created one too as they shifted the ball superbly with sharp hand-passes.

Aoife Rattigan found Róisín Byrne who had earned herself a rare yard of space. The Sarsfields forward made it count too and produced an outrageous reverse hand-pass around the corner to Claire Sullivan who had made a run beyond.

Sullivan faked to shoot with her right before shifting her weight to the far side and finished coolly on her left to give her side the lead at 1-1 to 0-2 after six minutes.

Kildare would win the resulting kick out too before Róisín Byrne was fouled and subsequently dispatched the free herself to extend The Lilies lead.

It would be their last for 18 minutes as sloppy passing and handling errors crept their way into the Kildare performance. At the other end of the field, Tyrone were doing all the good things you usually associate with their final opponents as they made use of the huge Croke Park pitch and were incredibly direct.

However, the trailing side’s way back into this game would largely be Maria Canavan free-kicks as a mixture of careless tackling and generous officiating looked set to cost Kildare.

Tyrone led on 24 minutes following a Sasha Byrne point as they took the lead for the first time since the fourth.

Less than 60 seconds later the board went up for a substitution as Aoife Rattigan departed for Niamh Farrelly. The Kill player was a county minor last year and it didn’t take a genius to work out that the Kildare sideline were looking for an injection for pace up front.

Róisín Byrne would kick her side back in front with a well-taken free that was followed by a superb point curled over moments later.

Byrne would turn creator again as she fed Neasa Dooley through on goal, but the Athy forward failed to gather possession.
Tyrone would look to work the ball out of the back from the resulting kick-out, but were turned over by Kildare’s press as Niamh Farrelly won possession and fed Dooley through again.

Dooley, a ruthless finisher, was never going to pass up a second opportunity and she hit the net with a vengeance to send her side in with a 2-4 to 0-6 lead at half-time.

It was an incredible accomplishment to lead by four points following a performance that few of the Kildare players would have been pleased with.

After an exceptional 1-2 just before the break, it seemed The Lilies might kick on and match the scoreline with a performance more indicative of their abilities.

The Lillies would not score for 12 minutes following the restart as Tyrone put two over the bar shooting into Hill 16. Trina Duggan would be the player to get it as another experienced member of the Kildare squad stood up to be counted.

The Lilies would do an impressive job in the second half as they maintained their lead and stifled Tyrone. The rest of the game typically followed the same scoring pattern. Maria Canavan free scored, Kildare point. Maria Canavan free scored, Kildare point, and so on.

Excellent scores from Niamh Farrelly, Ellen Dowling and Lara Curran were crucial in Kildare keeping three points in front.
The Lilies conceded just 0-5 from play in this game and that was an enormous part of their success as they lifted yet another trophy under Diane O’Hora.

SCORERS
Kildare: Róisín Byrne 0-4 (0-2 frees), Neasa Dooley 1-1, Claire Sullivan 1-0, Trina Duggan 0-1, Lara Curran 0-1, Niamh Farrelly 0-1, Ellen Dowling 0-1.

Tyrone: Maria Canavan 0-8 (0-7 frees), Emma Conroy 0-2, Sasha Byrne 0-1, Aoibhinn McHugh 0-1.

TEAMS
Kildare: Mary Hulgraine; Fiona Troute, Mia Doherty, Aoife Clifford; Lauren Murtagh, Ruth Sargent, Lara Gilbert; Grace Clifford, Hazel McLoughlin; Trina Duggan, Ellen Dowling, Claire Sullivan; Neasa Dooley, Róisín Byrne, Aoife Rattigan. Subs: Niamh Farrelly for Aoife Rattigan (25 minutes), Ellie O'Toole for Hazel McLoughlin (40 minutes), Lara Curran for Lauren Murtagh (43 minutes), Holly Tyrell for Ellen Dowling (53 minutes), Sarah Munnelly for Trina Duggan (54 minutes).

TYRONE: Caitlin Donnelly; Jayne Lyons, Joanne Barrett, Eimear Quinn; Caitlin Campbell, Emma Mulgrew, Meabh Corrigan; Aoibhinn McHugh, Meabh Mallon; Emma Jane Gervin, Emma Conroy, Aoife Horisk; Maria Canavan, Zoe Loughran, Sasha Byrne. Subs: Emer McCanny for Sasha Byrne (46 minutes), Clara Daly for Joanne Barrett (48 minutes), Aine Grimes for Emma Conroy (50 minutes), Aoibhinn Daly for Aoife Horisk (53 minutes), Katie Rose Muldoon for Meabh Corrigan (59 minutes).

Referee: Shane Curley, Galway