Kildare ladies suffer first defeat of league campaign

Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 3 Round 4

Louth 1-5

Kildare 0-7

Kildare suffered their first defeat of their Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 3 campaign at the hands of Louth. The story of this game was straight forward, after a tight opening half, Kildare pushed on and took control of this game. However, their command of possession and chance creation didn’t result in scores as the Lilies kicked 10 wides in the second half, with 14 overall.

The missed chances proved fatal as Kildare slumped to a first league loss. An understandably disappointing afternoon for Diane O’Hora’s team but the Kildare boss wasn’t overly concerned about the result post-match citing “decision-making and shot selection” as the key reasons for the defeat.

Chances and scores were scarce in the opening exchanges as Louth set up in a tight defensive structure that is now seemingly more and more commonplace in GAA.

Kildare’s big early chance came to Ellen Dowling as she found space, that was hard to come by, in the Louth defence but saw her effort saved by Louth goalkeeper Rebecca Lambe Fagan.

Leading by a point following a score from Aoife Russell, Louth would have a goal chance of their own on 12 minutes as Laura Collins got in behind the Kildare defence. Collins took aim but saw her powerful effort saved superbly by Mary Hulgraine.
Kildare’s attempts to break down the stern Louth defence were sloppy in the opening minutes but they got their first score after 13 minutes when Neasa Dooley got the home side off the mark.

Five minutes later, Ellen Dowling would give Kildare the lead as she popped over a free-kick from close range.
Kildare would take the lead with perhaps the score of the game as they showed a glimpse of that free-flowing attacking that has been a trademark of the league campaign so far. Kildare moved the ball with pace, dragging Louth defenders where they pleased. There was still plenty to do as the ball was off-loaded to Aoife Rattigan who took aim from an angle but converted for a superb score that all in Hawkfield hoped would inspire Kildare onwards and upwards.

The sides were level at 0-3 a piece following a Lauren Boyle and Louth showed no signs of deviating from their game plans to absorb the Kildare pressure and hit them on the break. It had worked to that point and would continue to do so as the visiting team were given a gift just before half-time.

Kildare held possession of the ball deep in their own half, the ball was played back into Mary Hulgraine who looked further up the field for options but misplaced her effort and was now stranded far from her goal line.

The stray pass fell into the arms of Kate Flood who still had plenty to do from well outside the 21’ but the Louth centre-forward superbly lobbed her effort over Hulgraine and all the rapidly retreating Kildare bodies and into the net.

An absolute sucker punch for Kildare just before the break and they would carry that three-point deficit into the break.
Kildare substitute Elaine Keogh would get her side’s scoring under way in the second half with a fine point and all the signs looked positive as Kildare started superbly.

Keogh’s score wasn’t followed by another until seven minutes later as Kildare’s wides mounted up. The next score would also come at the wrong end as Laura Collins got Louth’s first score since the restart. Kildare had bodies forward to try to break the Louth defence but failed to do so meaning Louth could counter and the eventual winners appeared to be able to always get a score at the right time for their team.

The home side were pouring on the pressure but four wides in a row was undoubtedly a worrying sight as Louth’s organised set-up forced low-percentage shots.

However, with the good Kildare play keeping them on top in this game you felt it was only a matter of time before the points began to flow.

That free-scoring never came and after a similar test against Clare, Kildare were in another dog fight. Ellen Dowling’s last action before her substitution was to close the gap between the teams to one as she knocked over a superb score with five minutes to go. It was a moment of quality when Kildare needed it and it set this game up for a grandstand finish.

Roisin Forde would draw the sides level with just a few minutes to go and it looked like all the world that Kildare would close this one out on top.

They continued to press for the winner Kildare but Louth goal-scorer Kate Flood had other ideas and her score just before the end of the 60 minutes was enough for Louth to hold onto for the win.

Of course disappointing for Kildare to suffer such a defeat but all the signs were there of a good performance. Frustrating as it might have been, Kildare will have to tackle many more of these challenges against defensively organised and deep-lying teams and suffering a hiccup in such a game in the league may prove beneficial in understanding what is needed moving forward.

Scorers

Louth, Kate Flood 1-1, Aoife Russell 0-2, Laura Collins 0-1 (0-1 frees), Lauren Boyle 0-1 (0-1 frees).

Kildare, Aoife Rattigan 0-2, Ellen Dowling 0-2 (0-1 frees), Neasa Dooley 0-1, Elaine Keogh 0-1, Roisin Forde 0-1.

Teams

LOUTH: Rebecca Lambe Fagan; Eimear Murray, Rachel Berth, Eilish Hand; Mia Duffy, Shannen McLoughlin, Caitlin O'Reilly; Aoife Halligan, Derbhla O'Connor; Aoife Russell, Kate Flood, Ceira Nolan; Lauren Boyle, Aine Breen, Laura Collins. Subs: Niamh Rice on for Lauren Boyle (25 minutes), Grace Traynor on for Derbhla O'Connor (48 minutes), Hannah O'Neill on for Aoife Russell (58 minutes), Lucy White on for Aoife Halligan (63 minutes), Abi Keenan on for Ceira Nolan (65 minutes).

KILDARE: Mary Hulgraine; Aoife Clifford, Laoise Lenehan, Lara Gilbert; Triona Duggan, Ruth Sargent, Sarah Munnelly; Grace Clifford, Aoife Rattigan; Claire Sullivan, Róisín Byrne, Amy Larn; Ellen Dowling, Neasa Dooley, Lara Curran. Subs: Elaine Keogh on for Claire Sullivan (20 minutes), Ciara Price on for Amy Larn (47 minutes), Roisin Forde on for Ellen Dowling (55 minutes).

Referee: Paul McCaugh