LIDL NFL DIVISION THREE ROUND TWO
Fermanagh 4-08
Roscommon 3-11
By Martin McBrien
FOR the second week in a row, Fermanagh ladies were denied a first league win by an added time free, as Roscommon staged a late comeback.
But this time around in Tempo, their frustration was certainly tempered by sheer relief at the avoidance of defeat from a last kick missed free.
For having just slotted the equaliser, Rosie Lennon’s effort came back off the upright to the sound of the final whistle.
It was a fair enough result though as the game had ebbed and flowed, an early critical turning point being the 20th minute introduction of scoring supremo, Eimear Smyth.
In bright winter sunshine on a fine Tempo pitch, Fermanagh were hit by a throw in goal, Rachel Fitzmaurice the scorer, with Aisling Hanley quickly adding a point.
The Erne girls were unfazed, striking for a goal of their own when Ciara McGarrigle blasted home from a Joanne Doonan pass.
A brace of Eimear McMahon points then had them in front by the seventh minute but a similar return by Caoimhe Lennon triggered a strong Roscommon surge.
Hanley, lively throughout, struck for goals in the 14th and 19th minutes either side of a point for an eight points lead.
It was then that manger Barry McKenna pulled off his substitute masterstroke, simultaneously sending on Smyth and Cadhla Cara Bogue, with the duo making an immediate impact to turn the game around.
A McMahon free conversion was followed by a Smyth point before she placed Sinead Barrett for a 26th minute goal.
Right on the half-time whistle, Smyth burst through only to be blocked by diving goalkeeper, Caoimhe O’Reilly, but Doonan alertly snapped up the break ball to net the equaliser.
That came at the end of a 10 minute spell of Roscommon dominance which had seen the Rossies surge into a 3-04 to 1-02 lead.
But Smyth’s timely return to action injected renewed belief and purpose into the home effort.
Pointing with her first touch of possession, Smyth was also hugely instrumental in fashioning two subsequent goals to leave it all square at half-time, 3-04 apiece.
Though boosted by an early restart 1-01, Smyth again the goal provider, Fermanagh had to play the mid section of the second half with a player short, following the 40th minute sin binning of Joanne Doonan.
They did effectively manage the situation, not adding to their score tally but crucially holding Roscommon scoreless until Doonan returned to shoot their last score for a 4-08 to 3-08 lead.
Roscommon were first off the mark after the restart from a Lennon free, but Fermanagh hit back with a second Barrett goal, Smyth again the provider, and a Niamh McManus point.
Rossies points by Hanley and Abby Curran were then answered by a 37th minute McManus single and there wasn’t to be any further scoring until Hanley landed a 54th minute free.
Doonan cancelled two minutes later, 4-08 to 3-08, but the closing spell saw Fermanagh increasingly pinned into their own half as points by Niamh Feeley, Hanley and Lennon whittled away the deficit.
Teams
Fermanagh: Aisling Quinn, Aisling Keenan, Shannan McQuade, Erica Douglas, Aisling O’Brien, Sarah McCarville, Brenda Bannon, Caitriona Breen, Seana Feeley, Sinead Barrett (2-00), Niamh McManus (0-02), Aine McCarney, Ciara McGarrigle (1-00), Joanne Doonan (1-01), Eimear McMahon (0-03, 2f). Subs: Eimear Smyth (0-2, 1f) for C McGarrigle (20), Cadhla Cara Bogue for S Feeley (20), Sarah Britton for A McCarney (35), Hannah Murphy for E Douglas (56), Caoimhe Gallagher for E McMahon (60). Yellow card: J Doonan (40).
Roscommon: Caoimhe O’Reilly, Aine McGrath, Rachel Brady, Mia Macken, Grainne Lohan, Ellen Irwin, Megan McKeon, Abby Curran (0-01), Ruth Cox, Niamh Feeney (0-01), Lauren Shanagher (0-01, 1f), Niamh Watson, Aisling Hanley (2-05, 1f), Caoimhe Lennon (0-03, 1f), Rachel Fitzmaurice (1-00). Subs: Kate Nolan for L Shanagher (HT), Saoirse Wynne for G Lohan (40), Rosie Lennon for R Fitzmaurice (51).
