Sharon Little gets away from three Antrim players
Fermanagh 5-10
Antrim 3-9
Fermanagh ladies advanced to the provincial intermediate final where they will again face Down, thanks to this comfortable seven points success over Antrim at Crossmaglen on Saturday.
It wasn’t quite all plain sailing for them however.
They had produced a sound opening half performance, a hat trick of goals scored and they were to hold the interval lead.
But in the third quarter they lost some of their early zip and Antrim were to come much more into the contest, so much so that at the threequarter mark the Saffrons had edged into a slender lead.
But it was Fermanagh who were to finish the stronger side and over the final ten to fifteen minutes they dictated to run out comfortably enough, Antrim hitting their final goal in added on time to give the scoreboard a more balanced look.
The early play saw both teams take some time to settle and scores were to be only sporadic and it was not until the second quarter was well underway that Fermanagh in particular got a momentum going.
But they did have a rousing finish to the half with a haul of three goals. First up was a score from Sharon Little and four minutes later Caroline Little added the second. By this juncture Fermanagh were motoring well and they were to round off the half completing the hat trick, Sharon Little again on the mark.
Four points had also been registered but Antrim had not been entirely overwhelmed and they had kept in range of the leaders with an answering goal and a handful of points.
On the resumption Antrim were to enjoy perhaps their best period of the contest and they worked their way back into serious contention. Spearheading their recovery were strong contributions from Claire Timoney, Kirsty McGuinness and Maresa McGourty, the latter shooting a goal which narrowed the deficit considerably.
Fermanagh had been coming under pressure but over the final quarter they were able to re exert themselves and they put in the match winning finishing surge.
Ten minutes from time the Erne girls were to get a huge boost when they snapped up their fourth goal of the afternoon, substitute Maura McDonald on the mark and this score paved the way for a solid finish.
In added on time Ashling Moane was to put the result beyond doubt with the team’s fifth goal and though Antrim did have a goal in response this was far too late to have any impact. Second half points scorers for Fermanagh included Roisin O’Reilly and Lynne McFrederick.
For Fermanagh Tara Little was the mainstay in the defensive set up delivering a sound effort at centre bak and in the attack the scoring potency of Caroline and Sharon Little was again much to the fore.
Fermanagh
Shauna Murphy; Rion Gallagher; Aine McHugh; Edel Campbell; Danielle Maguire; Tara Little; Marita McDonald; Ashling Moane; Shauna Hamilton; Joanne Doonan; Caroline Little; Naoimhin Daly; Sharon Little ; Cassie Cadden; Kyla McManus;
Subs; Maura McDonald; Shannon McQuaid; Lynne McFrederick; Roisin O’Reilly.