Offaly 2-8 Antrim 2-8

Report by John Gavin

Offaly welcomed Antrim to St Rynaghs GAA Grounds on Saturday for a double header with both the Senior and Junior teams lining out against the Saffron girls. 

The Senior teams last met in last year's Championship in Birr when the visitors left with a somewhat surprising comfortable victory.  With that in mind and coming off the back of two defeats in their two outings to date in this year's League, Noelle Kennedy and her team knew they were in for a sizeable challenge on Saturday.  Kennedy made two changes to the team that lined out against Antrim but made some positional changes too with Orlagh Phelan and Alana Roddy swopping places in defence and last week's full forward line of Mairead Teehan, Sarah Harding and Siobhan Flannery moving out to the 45 to play on the half forward line.

Offaly got off to a good start and after three minutes they led by three points to one with Siobhan Flannery converting two placed balls and Lisa Gorman hitting over from play.  Antrim were struggling to get a foothold in the game but got a boost minutes later when Aine Magill shot past Ellen Gilligan to give her team a one point lead.  Offaly hit back immediately and a shot by Sarah Harding was saved by Caitriona Graham but Antrim struggled to clear the ball and Siobhan Flannery was on hand to hit over and level the game.  Minutes later Flannery had another opportunity from a free which went just wide.  She did however win the puck out and as she lobbed it into the forward line Sarah Harding stroked the ball past Graham.  

The home team continued to dominate and a converted 45 by Flannery was soon followed by a fabulous point by Sarah Harding as she struck over her shoulder to extend her team's lead.  With just five minutes left in the half Mairead Teehan soloed through and finished to the Antrim net to give Offaly a comfortable seven point cushion.  Antrim replied with a point from a free by Caitrin Dobbin with time ticking down in the half Rachel Brennan hit over to restore the afore mentioned lead for the Faithful girls.

The game proved to be the proverbial game of two halves and when play resumed after the break Antrim quickly hit over 4 points to narrow Offaly's lead with 3 of the scores coming from placed balls.  They had a further opportunity from a 45 but unfortunately for Antrim, Caitrin Dobbin fumbled the chance and Louise Mannion was on hand for Offaly and won possession.  She quickly fed Sarah Harding who hit a fantastic long range point from the 65 yard line to leave five points between the sides.  Incredibly with seventeen minutes still to play, that proved to be Offaly's final score of the game.

Antrim were more efficient with the opportunities that followed and after a goal mouth scramble Siobhan McKillop won possession and finished past Gilligan in the Offaly goals.  The game was now in the melting pot and both teams battled hard but it Antrim managed to convert two frees, with the equaliser coming with the last chance of the game. 

Afterwards Offaly manager, Noelle Kennedy talked about her panel and that she is happy with the competition for places.  She pointed towards the number of debutants that started against Antrim and went on to say that "every game is a learning opportunity for the players and coming away with a draw in this game was an exceptional result".  She was pleased with the work rate displayed by her team and given how Antrim came back in the second half she thought all her players worked really hard and fought right to the end.

As she looked towards next weekend's outing away to Wexford, the Offaly manager reported that she still has a few players out with injuries.  She also had some players pick up some heavy knocks in the Antrim game but she hoped that they would be fit for their trip to the south east.

Teams:

Offaly:    Ellen Gilligan, Sinead Moore, Alana Roddy, Aisling Feeney, Sarah Walsh, Orlagh Phelan, Orla Gorman, Grainne Dolan, Louise Mannion, Aoife McLoughlin, Rachel Brennan, Lisa Gorman, Mairéad Teehan, Sarah Harding, Siobhan Flannery.

Subs:  Becky Bryant for Aoife McLoughlin (44), Caoimhe Darcy for Louise Mannion (50), Hannah Geenane for Órla Gorman (55)

Antrim:  Caitriona Graham, Colleen Patterson, Caoimhe Conlon, Maria Lynn, Amy Boyle, Lucia McNaughton, Niamh Cosgrove, Shannon Graham, Siobhan McKillop, K McKillop, Maria McKillen, Áine Magill, Fionnuala Kelly, Cassie McArthur, Caitrin Dobbin

Subs:  Niamh Anne Donnelly for Fionnuala Kelly (50), Nuala Devlin for Cassie McArthur (59)

Scorers:

Offaly:  Sarah Harding 1-2, Siobhan Flannery 0-4 (2 '45, 1 free) Mairead Teehan 1-0, Lisa Gorman 0-1, Rachel Brennan 0-1

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