Curraha/St.Vincents 2-14 St.Colmcilles 4-6 

The Curraha/St.Vincents Ladies were back in action on Monday evening, looking to follow up on their impressive opening game win against Castletown.

From the throw-in, it was clear that they would have a tough task on their hands, as the hosts burst out of the blocks and had the ball in the back of the net in the opening 30 seconds.  Curraha/St.Vincents responded well and settled into the game and got their first score of the game after 5 minutes. Some good work from Katelyn McMahon and Shauna White released Róisín O'Connor to drive through the centre before being pulled down, and converting the resultant free. St.Colmcilles canceled that out with their next attack, and soon after this they had the ball in the net again to open an early 6 point lead. Again,  Curraha/St.Vincents responded well and didn't let the heads drop. Niamh Byrne scored an excellent close range after good approach play from O'Connor and Ciara Morgan. Morgan opened her account in the 15th minute. Katelyn McMahon turned the ball over in midfield and fired into Morgan who played a sharp 1-2 with Byrne and fired over. Morgan was beginning to cause serious problems for the Colmcilles backline, and when she saw an effort for a point come back off the post, she gathered the ball again and fired for goal only to see it somehow stay out, off the inside off the post. Thankfully, Larissa Carey was on hand to fire the ball over after Hannah Keogh had won back possession. This left the posts points ahead, but  Curraha/St.Vincents  were very much in the ascendancy at this point. O'Connor was on target from a free as she was again fouled while running at the defence. Completely against the run of play, Colmcilles then broke forward and netted their third goal of the game, to push their lead out to 4 points. 

Curraha/St.Vincents once again had to respond to a conceded goal, and following great work Keogh and White again to secure possession, O'Connor broke through the middle and found Laura McNally who fired a shot against the top of the crossbar and over for a point. A long range O'Connor free from the right-hand side reduced the gap further, after a foul on Morgan. Some great work in midfield from Larissa Carey had  Curraha/St.Vincents  on the attack again, and a  long ball from left to right by O'Connor found Morgan in space who knocked over an excellent point. As the clock ticked towards half-time,  Curraha/St.Vincents  poured forward again, with O'Connor again leading the charge as she broke through a couple of tackles before seeing her effort for a point charged down. the ball broke kindly for Morgan, who gathered it well and finished expertly into the corner, nicking the inside of the post and settling in the back of the net.  Curraha/St.Vincents  deservedly went into the break with a 2 point lead after an outstanding opening 30 minutes.
 
Half-time: Curraha/St.Vincents 1-8 St.Colmcilles 3-1

Curraha/St.Vincents strong finish to the 1st half looked to have carried over as they registered the opening score of the second half with a left footed effort from O'Connor after great link-up play between Morgan and Byrne. The hosts started to come back into it, with a couple of changes around the centre of the pitch allowing to gain a foothold there. They scored the next 2 points to level the game again after 5 minutes of the half.  Curraha/St.Vincents had to wait until the 11th minute to strike again. A turnover and pass from Katie Tuite found half-time substitute Kirsty Greene who pointed with an excellent strike off the outside of her right foot. The hosts leveled it again soon after with the game now being played at a great pace with end-to-end action. Katie Tuite was invovled again as she found Morgan who took on her marker before scoring off her left. The hosts then regained the lead with 10 minutes to play as they secured possession from a long ball in and managed to convert another goal chance.

They followed this up with another point to go 3 ahead and were threatening to take control of the game. a great catch from Curraha/St.Vincents keeper Carly Parsons prevented another score, and she played a pinpoint long pass out to Larissa Carey to launch a counter attack. She found Ciara Morgan who again ran at the defence and found O'Connor, who slipped the ball to McNally to fire to the net for an outstanding goal. Colmcilles pushed forward again and were rewarded with a score to give them the lead again with 5 minutes to play. They were defending well, but Curraha/St.Vincents kept going at them, and were rewarded with a free with 2 minutes to go. O'Connor made no mistake and the sides were level once again. Substitute Gene Andrews won possession back from the kickout and Morgan scored another fine score to push Curraha/St.Vincents into the lead. Katelyn McMahon and Ciara Tuite then combined to find Morgan again and she fired over her 5th point with time almost up. Colmcilles never gave up and threw everything at Curraha/St.Vincents in the closing moments, but some excellent defending meant they couldn't create a clear opening. There were 2 very dangerous balls delivered into the square but Parsons was on hand on both occasions to deal with them and close the game out.

After a thrilling second half, Curraha/St.Vincents were delighted to emerge as the victors in a game that swung back and forth a number of times. St.Colmcilles were a tough opponent and in the 2nd half particularly will feel they played well enough to get something from the game. Curraha/St.Vincents work-rate and determination, along with some outstanding scores, helped them to get over the line, and it's great to see the team spirit that is already evident in this newly formed team. Next up is a home game against St.Peters Dunboyne, with details to be confirmed.

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