O'Connor Cup: Queens impress to reach final
March 21, 2014
Queen's University are through to the O'Connor Cup final.
QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY 3-14
DCU 2-5
Defending champions Queen's University are through to Saturday's O'Connor Cup final following an emphatic victory over DCU in Belfast.
Queen's, who are unbeaten all year, did most of the damage in the first half when they used a strong wind advantage to rack up an interval lead of 2-7 to 1-3.
DCU scored the first two points of the game from Siobhan Woods and Lindsay Peat inside three minutes, but from there the home side completely took over and scored an unanswered 2-7 in the next 20 minutes.
Antrim full-forward Mairead Cooper scored the opening goal in the tenth minute with a low finish across the goalkeeper, and Westmeath's Ruth Kearney fisted home the second into an empty net after 21 minutes.
Siobhan Woods ended DCU's long scoring drought with a much-needed point in the 26th minute.
Laura McEnaney, a daughter of former Monaghan and Meath manager Seamus McEnaney, then fisted home a DCU goal deep in first-half stoppage time after a pass from Cliodhna McHugh.
Queen's quickly killed any hopes of a DCU revival by scoring the first three points of the second half.
Laura McEnaney led the DCU challenge and scored a point in the 37th minute and three minutes later the Dublin side won a penalty when Cliodhna McHugh was flattened by goalkeeper Katie Day.
Peat converted the penalty to bring DCU to within six points, 2-10 to 2-4, but that was as close as they got as Queen's finished strong in the last quarter.
Armagh's Caroline O'Hanlon, who switched from midfield to full-forward for the second half, scored two points from close range and Louise Kelly killed the game with Queen's third goal after 51 minutes.
Caitlin Malone's shot came off the upright and Kelly slotted home the rebound.
Kearney and McCleary tagged on further scores for the Cup holders who are now just one hour away from completing a clean sweep of All-Ireland league and O'Connor Cup titles this season.
Scorers for Queen's University - M Cooper 1-3, F McKenna 0-5, R Kearney 1-1, L Kelly 1-0, S McCleary 0-3 (2f), C O'Hanlon 0-2
Scorers for DCU - L McEnaney 1-1, L Peat 1-1 (penalty), S Woods 0-2, S Greene 0-1
QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY: K Day (Armagh); D Morgan (Armagh); T McLaughlin (Tyrone), L Kilpatrick (Tyrone); N Woods (Tyrone), S McCleary (Armagh), L McConville (Armagh); C Malone (Armagh), C O'Hanlon (Armagh); M Doherty (Down), F McKenna (Armagh), R Kearney (Westmeath); A Canavan (Tyrone), M Cooper (Antrim), L Kelly (Tyrone). Subs: C McCrossan (Tyrone) for Canavan (52), A McCoy (Armagh) for McConville (55) G Byrne (Donegal) for O'Hanlon (57)
DCU: A Tarpey (Mayo); N Doonan (Cavan), L Ryder (Mayo), A Bell (Mayo); S Greene (Cavan), M Naughton (Mayo), D Murphy (Dublin); C McManamon (Mayo), B Walsh (Galway); L Peat (Dublin), L McEnaney (Monaghan), L Caffrey (Dublin); L Collins (Dublin), C McHugh (Roscommon), S Woods (Dublin). Subs: B O'Sullivan (Cork) for Collins (28), L O'Shea (Tipperary) for McHugh (44), A Brady (Westmeath) for Murphy (45), R Colleary (Sligo) for Caffrey (56)
REFEREE: Keith Delhaunty (Tipperary)
Video by Jerome Quinn Media for ladiesgaelic.ie and HEC Ladies Football. Tweet
