Reports by Paul Devlin and Stephen McCoey
Ulster Ladies Intermediate Championship 2024
Preliminary Round
Down 2-10 v Cavan 0-6
DOWN Ladies put on a fantastic display to power past Cavan at Pairc Esler. Division Two Cavan travelled to Newry as slight favourites against their Division Three opponents, but Down were well worth their win.
Glorious sunshine provided the backdrop for this opening round of the Intermediate Championship, with Down making early inroads against Cavan with Vivienne McCormack doing well to get her shot away in a heavily congested area and clear the bar to open the scoring.
An early yellow card for Cavan helped Down gain the upper hand and captain Meghan Doherty exploited this by splitting the posts following a crisp hand passing move through the heart of the Cavan defence. A long range score by Cavan’s Zara Fay sandwiched two good goal chances for Down that should have extended the score to reflect their possession advantage. Even after Cavan returned to a full 15, Down still dominated play, however these missed chances allowed Cavan to stay in the game. Two well taken scores by Niamh King were followed by a bit of real magic from the young Castlewellan forward.
Laoise Duffy has been a star performer for Down in the league and brought her form into this Championship clash. Her run opened the defence and as she slipped in King with a clever pass. The Down forward still had a lot to do – however a deft chip from King beat the outstretched arm of the Cavan keeper and dropped into the back of the net for the opening goal of the match.
Cavan hit back with another long range score, this time from Deirbhile McCaffery while Laoise Duffy pointed for Down following a lovely pass from Niamh Scullion that opened the Cavan back line.
Cavan and McCaffery hit back with yet another wonderful score from range.
Down squandered another goal chance just before half time, leaving the Mourne ladies delighted with their first half display but slightly disappointed at not putting their chances away to give them a bigger lead.
Half time: Down 1-5 Cavan 0-3
Cavan came out in the second half with real intent and missed a great goal chance to get back into the game. However Cavan’s Niamh McCorry continued the trend of fantastic long range scores for the away side when she put over early in the second half. But Down once again assumed control of the game with Meghan Doherty, Paige Smyth and Orla Boyle all putting in stand out performances. The Downpatrick pair of Smyth and Boyle have been excellent all season and it was fitting that Smyth got the next score that her display deserved and settle Down supporters nerves.
Despite Down again having the upper hand, Cavan punished more missed chances from Down when they pointed after a slip in the Down defence. This seemed to spur Down on and they stepped up a gear. Another great pass from Paige Smyth found Eimear Fitzpatrick wide on the left, a lovely interchange of passes between Fitzpatrick and King cleaved open the Cavan rearguard and Fitzpatrick rounded the keeper to get Down’s second goal.
Kayla Brady nearly scored a goal for Cavan but her shot just cleared the bar for one point instead of three. Niamh Scullion then supplied a beautiful pass that just cleared a Cavan defender’s outstretched fingertips and fell into Vivienne McCormack’s arms and she finished in style over the bar. Rostrevor’s talented forward Niamh Rice added another point with a lovely left foot finish. Burren’s Fitzpatrick pointed to further extend Down’s lead, but the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Orla Boyle who squeezed her shot off the post for a rare point for the Downpatrick defender who along with the rest of the Down defence have been outstanding all season.
A great win for Down who are a seriously strong outfit and on this form will be hard to beat in the Championship.
Next up will be a semi final match away to Antrim on Sunday, May 5 at 2.00pm
Down Team: M Deery, A Greene, C Byrne, O Boyle, P.Smyth, N McKibbin, O.Duffy, M Doherty (C), A Laverty, N Scullion, N King, L.Duffy, N McClorey, S Dougherty, V McCormack.
DOWN v CAVAN IN PICS (below)
Ulster Ladies U14 Festival of football Silver Final
Down 4-06 Donegal 1-04 (St McCartan’s GAC, Augher)
CONDITIONS were perfect for the Ulster Championship silver final in the Festival of Football and both teams were clearly nervous in the opening exchanges – both getting into good attacking positions but turning the ball over once they entered the final third. Donegal struck first opening the scoring with a nice point from play. Down equalised soon after following some nice interchanges and forcing Donegal into a foul – Abigail Harvey slotted the free over the bar.
This seemed to settle the Mourne ladies down as they started to apply pressure on the Donegal kick out and their defence. Grace Guest added a point for Down, then she crashed another shot off the bar. From the resulting kick out, Down managed to turn the Donegal defence over and capitalised with a goal from Khloe Davis.
A couple of wides followed and Donegal managed a point in reply but the Down girls turned their pressure into points coming towards the end of the first half with another point from Grace Guest but crucially a second goal from Abigail Hanvey.
HT: Down 2-3 Donegal 0-2.
Down started in the second half right where they had left off in the first with pressure all over the field on Donegal and, when in possession, moving the ball around from side to side with confidence. They were creating opportunities and Anaiah Lennon O’Hara capitalised, scoring two goals and a point in the opening 10 minutes of the second period. Another shot came back off the bar for Down but Donegal weren’t going to lie down and scored an excellent point in reply. However Anaiah Lennon O’Hara scored another point from play and then Izzie McCoey slotted a free over the bar with eight minutes left.
Donegal showed their fighting spirit, scoring a penalty in the dying minutes then another point but it was all over.
Captain Maria McStay lifted the trophy for the Mourne ladies and the management team expressed how proud they are of the team.
Down: Caoimhe Russell, Mollie Quinn, Maria McStay, Maisy Owens-Leonard, Caoimhe Donnelly, Ciara Doyle, Estelle Austin, Clodagh O’Donnell, Grace Guest, Ella Fallon, Maisie McAteer, Olivia McCusker, Izzie McCooey, Anaiah Lennon O’Hara, Khloe Davis, Kelsey Murray, Caitlin Bradshaw, Orlaith Mann, Olivia Dean, Anna McEvoy, Sofia Keenan Travers, Eibhlinn Poacher, Sophia Garvey, Jessica Flanagan, Eilidh O’Neill, Annie Fitzpatrick, Annie Fegan, Ruby McDonald, Caitriona Blaney & Ciara McKernan.
Down LGFA League Round up
A big win for Carryduff made it two wins from two and gives them the early lead in Division One. Bredagh, who had a big win themselves, are second, but have a game in hand that could see them draw level at the top. Downpatrick edged an exciting game, beating Castlewellan by a single point and Bryansford beat Ballymartin.
In Division Two, Rostrevor followed up last week’s win against Warrenpoint with another victory, this time beating Loughinisland away, and lead the table by virtue of playing an extra game. Second placed St.John’s won away at Warrenpoint in a bad tempered encounter that saw three red cards. Saval had a great result, winning away to Bredagh B.
A comfortable win for Saul against Clonduff sees them lead Division Three. Elsewhere Burren B and St Michael’s played out a thriller that St. Micheal’s edged by a single point. Carryduff B overpowered Mayobridge to join Saul on six points with only points scored separating the top two.
In Division 4, Clann Na Banna were too strong for St Paul’s. This could be the tightest of leagues in the county as five teams all are on three points in the early stages of the season.
Down LGFA Results
Saturday 20th April
Division 1
Bryansford 1-14 v Ballymartin 1-3
Downpatrick 2-9 v Castlewellan 1-11
Carryduff 8-15 v Burren 0-2
Kilcoo 3-4 v Bredagh 6-10
Division 2
Warrenpoint 1-7 v St.John’s 4-17
Bredagh B 0-7 v Saval 4-8
Loughinisland 1-2 v Rostrevor 2-15
Division 3
Mayobridge 0-7 v Carryduff B 3-10
Burren B 3-9 v St.Micheals 3-10
Saul 6-13 v Clonduff 1-5
Division 4
St. Pauls 0-3 v Clann Na Banna 3-13
