All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Round 1
Dublin 1-10 Mayo 0-5
Donegal 1-6 Kerry 0-9
Cork 6-13 Laois 1-5
TEAM CAPTAIN CARLA Rowe struck 1-2 at Parnell Park as defending champions Dublin kick-started their TG4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Group 4 campaign with victory over Mayo.
Following on from their recent Leinster title, Mick Bohan’s side had eight points to spare over their Connacht counterparts. Despite Lisa Cafferky chipping in with three points, Mayo ultimately came up short in the capital and will now face into a crunch group stage encounter at home to Kildare next weekend.
Playing with the aid of a breeze in the first half, Dublin edged in front when full-forward Hannah Tyrrell knocked over a free less than two minutes into the action. Yet Mayo levelled matters with a score on the run from midfielder Erin Murray and Liam McHale’s westerners subsequently squeezed ahead after Cafferky split the uprights on 10 minutes.
While Rowe restored parity moments later, a strong defensive effort from their opponents ensured attacking opportunities weren’t easy to come by for Dublin. Nevertheless, the Jackies regained their slender advantage with a Lauren Magee point that shook the woodwork before floating over the bar.
Having found the range earlier on in the contest off her trusty left boot, Tyrrell registered a point from play with her right foot and Rowe was also on hand to convert a close-range free that propelled Dublin into a 0-5 to 0-2 cushion at the end of a low-scoring and cagey opening period.
Whereas Mayo enjoyed the majority of possession prior to the interval, Dublin established a foothold in the early stages of the second half. The Mayo defence did initially hold firm, but Dublin eventually opened them up and Rowe palmed to the net on 40 minutes via a pass from industrious half-forward Caoimhe O’Connor.
Despite now dealing with a tricky wind, Dublin added points through Tyrrell and Olwen Carey to open up an eight-point buffer inside the final quarter.
A successful Maria Cannon free ended a 38-minute scoring drought for Mayo, but Dublin immediately responded with a Sinead Goldrick point following a superb team move by the hosts. The experienced Cafferky did add a brace of scores for the visitors as the final whistle approached, but with Magee and Carey contributing their second points of the game, Dublin eased towards a convincing triumph.
Meanwhile in MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey, Donegal pegged back Kerry as Susanne White held her nerve late on to split the spoils in this Group 2 opener.
In dreadful conditions, nothing separated the sides at half time as a Caoimhe Keon goal helped send Donegal in level at 1-3 to 0-6.
Niamh Ní Chonchúir had opened the scoring for the visitors but with Keon rattling the net for Donegal just four minutes in, the hosts stole an early march.
Anna Galvin and Danielle O’Leary then managed to tie matters up for a settled Kerry by the tenth minute.
Katie Dowds did hit back for Donegal but three Kingdom points on the bounce from of O’Leary, Lorraine Scanlon and captain Niamh Carmody helped open up a two-point advantage.
White reduced the margin after 18 minutes with a point from a free to make it 0-6 to 1-2.
But with conditions continuing to deteriorate and underfoot now extremely difficult, that was the end of the scoring action right up until the half-time hooter as Aussie Rules star and Donegal captain Niamh McLaughlin squared it.
Kerry jumped two clear once more at the start of the second half as Carmody and Scanlon lobbed over.
Another White free kept Donegal on the visitors’ coattails but a smart Emma Dineen clip, on the three-quarter hour mark doubled Kerry’s upper hand once more.
Nearing the final five minutes, the away side still led 0-9 to 1-4 but a searing Dowds break from the back saw her drive at goal just clear the crossbar. And with White nailing that pressure free at the end, the points were split.
Meanwhile, Cork opened their All-Ireland campaign with a decisive victory when they struck for six goals against Laois at O’Moore Park.
Cork got on top from the outset, proving successful in finding gaps in the Laois defence and securing 1-4 in the opening ten minutes. A Katie Quirke free opened the scoring followed by Sadbh McGoldrick raising the white flag and Emma Cleary pointing two in a row.
Cork were awarded a penalty when an Eimear Barry pass went astray and was collected by Ava McAuliffe who was brought down in the square and Daire Kiely stepped up and found the back of the net.
Amy McDonagh added another point for Cork while McAuliffe raised their second green flag. Mo Nerney fired home past Sarah Murphy earning Laois’s only score of the half.
Cork added four more points courtesy of Cleary, Abbie and Laura O’Mahony, and Quirke (free), before Quirke found their third goal of the contest in the 32nd minute of the first half to lead by 3-9 to 1-0.
In the opening ten minutes of the second half, Kiely got Cork’s 10th point and McAuliffe got her second goal while Nerney pointed a free and Aoibhe Byron kicked Laois’ first score from play.
But Hannah Looney and Rachel Leahy rattled the Laois net within minutes of one another. Nerney kicked her second free and Quirke replied with her first from play.
Cork went through a period of kicking wides before clubmates Daire Kiely and Eimear Kiely added a further two points to their sides tally while Nerney pointed her third of the contest followed by a Katie Donoghue free for a 23-point win.
The win puts three points on the board for Cork and they will hope to add to this as they face Galway at home next weekend while Laois face Galway on 23 June.
– Daire Walsh, Frank Craig and Keely Burke
