Dee Rangers (Meath) 4-18 Shamrocks (Offaly) 0-5

Offaly’s involvement in the AIB Leinster LGFA Club Championships is over for another year after Shamrocks suffered a heavy defeat to Meath’s Dee Rangers at a wet Bretland Park last Saturday.

This Leinster Intermediate Championship quarter-final was every bit as one-sided as the scoreline suggests with the winners dominating from start to finish. Originally fixed for Mucklagh, it was switched at the 11th hour to Clara after referee Eoghan O’Neill had an issue with the layout of the pitch. While this was a huge inconvenience to both teams and led to the throw-in time being delayed by almost 45 minutes, it didn’t affect the visitors in the slightest as they romped home with all of 25 points to spare.

Superior in every facet of the game, the Drumconrath / Syddan combination signalled their intent with a goal after just two minutes. They went on to build up an unassailable 3-11 to 0-3 lead at the interval and continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over in the second half as they eased to a semi-final meeting with O’Dwyers of Dublin.

It just didn’t happen for Shamrocks who were without the soccer-tied Ellen Dolan and had been through a tough few days following the unexpected passing of club member Mark Lee. They are better than they showed and will be disappointed at not doing themselves justice. But like Naomh Ciarán and Edenderry at senior and junior level the previous weekend, they exited Leinster at the first hurdle with a whimper.

As stated, Shamrocks got off to the worst possible start when midfielder Lara O’Neill rattled the net from Dee Rangers’ first attack. The lively Grace Durnin and Eva McConnell quickly added points before Becky Watkins – who scored a whopping 4-6 against Rhode in the county final – opened the Rahan-parish side’s account in the seventh minute following a well-worked  ’45.

Lisa Young and Durnin stretched the visitors’ lead before Watkins converted a free. But Dee Rangers took over completely after that to end the game as a contest before half-time. Between the 14th and 28th minutes, they scored 2-7 without reply to leave the charges of Lisa Flaherty-Grogan, Brian Cosgrave, Lauren Dolan, Pat Heffernan, Pat Glackin, Alan Cooney and Helen Watkins totally deflated.

Meena McConnell started the scoring sequence with a point before O’Neill won possession from the kickout and raised her second green flag. O’Neill tagged on a point before Shamrocks ‘keeper Susan O’Grady lost possession of the wet ball and Eva McConnell capitalised with Dee Rangers’ third goal in the 17th minute.

There was no respite for Shamrocks as Durnin (two), Briona Rowe (two, one free) and Young piled on further scores before the Offaly champions got a point back before the break when Emma Flaherty split the posts after Becky Watkins’ free had come back off the upright.

Another Watkins free after the restart proved to be a false dawn for Shamrocks who soon found themselves on the backfoot once again. Rowe tapped over a brace of frees, while Eva McConnell, Young (free) and Durnin were also on target before Watkins registered Shamrocks’ final score from her third free in the 45th minute.

As the rain got heavier and both sides ran in substitutes, the game became disjointed in the final quarter, but it didn’t stop the impressive Royal County outfit from adding a fourth goal through Eva McConnell and a brace of injury-time points from full back Orlaith Duff and substitute Kelly Farrelly.

It’s interesting to note that both number 5s – Shamrocks’ Sinead Moore and Ellen Carolan from Dee Rangers – were team-mates rather than opponents when they spent the summer working and playing football in the US.

Scorers – Dee Rangers: Eva O’Connell 2-2, Lara O’Neill 2-1, Grace Durnin 0-5, Briona Rowe 0-4 (3fs), Lisa Young 0-3 (1f), Orlaith Duff, Meena McConnell and Kelly Farrelly 0-1 each. Shamrocks: Becky Watkins 0-4 (3fs), Emma Flaherty 0-1.

Dee Rangers: Sinead Carolan; Anna Myles, Orlaith Duff, Ellen Cassidy; Ellen Carolan, Alanna Reilly, Alanna McNulty; Orlaith Sheehy, Lara O’Neill; Eva McConnell, Lisa Young, Emma Halpenny; Meena McConnell, Briona Rowe, Grace Durnin. Subs: Niamh Byrne for Halpenny (42 min), Kelly Farrelly for Durnin (48 min), Ava Curran for M McConnell (52 min), Aíne Byrne for Cassidy (52 min), Aoife McNulty for A McNulty (55 min).

Shamrocks: Susan O’Grady; Noelle Minnock, Niamh Glackin, Tara Phelan; Sinead Moore, Ava Dolan, Liadhan Murray; Marie Cantwell, Anita Watkins; Nicole Merriman, Aoife Minnock, Sarah Minnock; Éabha Enright, Emma Flaherty, Becky Watkins. Subs: Eimear Gillespie for Murray (44 min), Eva Rose Kelly for Flaherty (48 min), Aoibhinn McDonagh for S Minnock (50 min), Liadhan Murray for A Minnock (55 min), Emma Flaherty for Merriman (55 min).

Referee – Eoghan O’Neill (Laois).

Tweet

Most Read Stories