Westmeath are denied by strong finishing Carlow side
Carlow 4-12, Westmeath 3-6
As the wind whipped up behind Carlow in the second half of this All-Ireland U-16 Shield final in Birr, the management of the Dolmen county sent another three tornadoes in Westmeath’s direction when they introduced Róisín Joyce, Amy Doyle and Ellen Barrett off the bench around the half-time break.
In a contest that was evenly-fought up to then, with Westmeath holding a respectable lead thanks to three first half goals from Annabel Hynes, Ali Brennan and Abbie McCauley, the Lake County simply couldn’t find the answers to the relentless pressure exerted by Carlow in the closing 25 minutes, and ten scores unanswered – including three goals – meant that Teresa Lynch’s side left St. Brendan’s Park without the trophy that they craved.
As the cars and buses filed north, packed full of disconsolate young players and their families and friends, they weren’t travelling entirely empty-handed however.
The wholehearted and committed approach that these young athletes brought to this game didn’t go unnoticed, and will give them plenty of cause for optimism as they build towards their careers at minor and adult level.
With both sides enjoying plenty of possession in the first half, and no strong wind to speak of initially, that was the principal difference between the sides and the main reason for Westmeath taking a 3-5 to 1-4 lead into the dressing room after half an hour.
After conceding the first score, intense collective tackling from Alice Galvin, Rebecca Ward and Ella Murtagh forced an overcarrying call and a chance for Murtagh to pop over the first point from a free, while at the other end, Laura Doyle, Sophie McCabe and Orlaith Dolan all made some big plays to keep Carlow at bay.
A breaking ball off a long-range shot did allow Lilly Jones to scramble in the first goal of the game for Carlow with 14 minutes gone, but Westmeath’s response was exemplary, and two goals on consecutive attacks turned the tide.
Annabel Hynes struck the first with a blistering strike across the goalkeeper and inside the far post from 15 metres out, and after Róisín Connaughton did great work to win the subsequent puckout, the Raharney player hoisted a long delivery into the Carlow goalmouth, from which Ali Brennan showed bravery, pace and quick wrists to slam in goal number two.
Tackling from the front and not letting Carlow out easily was again Westmeath’s trump card as good pressure on the Carlow captain led to a spilled ball and a kicked goal from Abbie McCauley for goal number three, with Murtagh and Brennan adding good points in the lead up to half-time.
However, it was a completely different Carlow side that emerged after half-time, and even though Westmeath held off the pressure valiantly for the first ten minutes of the second-half, it was immediately apparent that their seven-point lead was going to come under immense pressure as the contest continued.
Luck was not on their side as the breeze grew sharper and sharper, to the point that some of Carlow’s clearances and puckouts were carrying for up to 80 metres, but the real transformation stemmed from the introduction of Róisín Joyce, who immediately took control of midfield, and the attacking duo of Ellen Barrett and Amy Doyle.
After Ellen Mulvaney’s pointed free from 50 metres cancelled out Carlow’s opening point of the second half, Abhainn Coady’s excellent score hinted at a raise in the tempo of the game and the tension in the stand, and once Barrett whipped in a goal to make it 3-6 to 2-7 with 10 minutes gone in the second half, the writing was on the wall.
Doyle struck the first of her two excellent points from play, Alice Dalton showed bravery to take a hard hit on the left wing and still keep her composure to set up a goal for Kate Burke and Carlow’s first lead of the game since the opening minutes.
And throughout all this, the Westmeath attack was almost completely starved of possession, unable to register either a score or a wide from the fifth minute of the half onwards.
There was no shortage of endeavour from the midlanders, but they were taking on water in various sectors, and Carlow’s fourth goal – struck by Joyce after she pounced on an underhit clearance and fired the ball with venom from 20 metres out – crushed any lingering hopes that Westmeath might have entertained of salvaging this contest.
SCORERS FOR CARLOW: R Joyce 1-4 (0-4f), K Burke 1-2, L Jones 1-1, E Barrett 1-0, A Coady 0-2, A Doyle 0-2, A Mulhall 0-1.
SCORERS FOR WESTMEATH: E Murtagh 0-4 (0-3f), A Brennan 1-1, A Hynes 1-0, A McCauley 1-0, E Mulvaney 0-1f.
CARLOW: Kayla Holden; Mia O’Neill, India Mernagh, Holly Ryan; Róisín Collins, Sarah Joyce, Gráinne Thompson; Alice Dalton, Amy Farrell; Abhainn Coady, Anna Mulhall, Molly Kavanagh; Kate Culleton, Kate Burke, Lilly Jones. Subs used: Róisín Joyce for Kavanagh (28), Keira Doyle for Ryan (half-time), Ellen Barrett for Mulhall (35), Amy Doyle for Jones (35), Moya O’Toole for O’Neill (54), Collette O’Brien for Culleton (60), Ava O’Dwyer for Collins (60), Rachel Kennedy for Coady (60).
WESTMEATH: Laura Doyle; Holly McCormack, Elisha McCauley, Sophie McCabe; Aoibheann Murray, Orlaith Dolan, Áine Ford; Ellen Mulvaney, Alice Galvin; Annabel Hynes, Róisín Connaughton, Rebecca Ward; Ali Brennan, Abbie McCauley, Ella Murtagh. Sub used: Alisha Harte for Ford (45).
Referee: Colm Ó Mocháin (Cork).
In a nutshell
Player of the match
Róisín Joyce (Carlow): if the award was given out at half-time, then Westmeath centre back Orlaith Dolan would have been the clear winner after a dominant display at the heart of the defence, closely followed by her club colleague Sophie McCabe, who swept up a lot of loose and dangerous ball close to her own goal. However, the contest was completely flipped on its head by Carlow’s bench, in particular Joyce.
She won a free with her very first play after coming on, and ran riot from then on, carrying the ball very effectively through the heart of the Westmeath defence.
Key moment
Already momentum was growing behind carlow early in the second half, but a fine sideline cut from ellen mulvaney and a good low ball from Róisín Connaughton set up a crucial chance for Ella Murtagh with eight minutes gone in the second half. The clonkill full-forward worked very hard to evade two defenders and get her shot away, but luck wasn’t on her side as the sliotar crashed off the post and back into play. Westmeath continued to press over the next minute or so but couldn’t register a score, and when the ball went back down the field, Ellen Barrett struck the goal that reduced Westmeath’s lead to two points and really put the wind in Carlow’s sails.