February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Cavan 4-12, Philadelphia Harps 0-0
After Boston Shamrocks withdrew, Philadelphia Harps, remained the lone representatives from the North American Board in the 7-a-side tournament, but unlucky for them, they were matched against the Cup winners of 1998, Cavan. In what turned out to be a poor game, Cavan proved far too strong for the inexperienced Philadelphia side. Luckily for Philadelphia, Cavan were without two of their ace shooters, Ger Mahon and Gillian Bennett, who were out due to injury.
From the throw-in, Cavan’s Deirdre Maher took possession at midfield, finding Karen Shalvey to Rosie O’Reilly for the first point of the game. This was followed by the Shalvey special, a goal in the right-hand corner of the net, which came off a fine pass from Louise Fox, a newcomer to the Cavan squad. Fox had a good first-half scoring two points with additional points coming from Feeney, O’Reilly and O’Driscoll. Philadelphia just had no answer to Cavan despite the efforts of Una Molawn, who entered the game in the 10th minute and some attacking runs by full-forward Tara Fuller. Even with Cavan down 14 players right before the half (due to injuries to O’Reilly and Shalvey), Philadelphia could not take advantage of the extra player.
The second half was more of the same, with Cavan playing some nice football, using the wings and creating some easy scoring targets for Carroll, Feeney, O’Reilly and Shalvey. O’Reilly ended the game with the top score of 2-4. Time and again, Clifford took control at midfield, leaving Cavan’s fullback line uncontested for the day, and Wilson moved out of position to the forward line. Russell was also in top form with great solo runs and nice handoffs to create constant scoring opportunities. Philadelphia had no answers, with Una Mullen doing her best to get the ball into her forward line but they just had no chance against Holland, Neville and Lynch.
Cavan play Mayo in the next round.
Cavan scorers: Rosie O’Reilly 2-4, Karen Shalvey 1-1, Louise Fox 0-2, Deirdre Feeney 0-4, Maureen O’Driscoll 0-1, Breda Carroll 1-0. Cavan Player of the Game: Catherine Russell.
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Philadelphia Player of the Game: Una Mullen.
Leitrim 0-13, Ciarrai 1-2
After the break due to Boston’s no-show, Leitrim and Ciarrai contested for a semifinal spot. Letrim opened the scoring with points from Kathleen Walsh, Debbie Murphy and Jacinta Boyle. Ciarrai settled into the game and worked the ball forward with great passing from Mary Tuohy to Orla Doyle to Cathy Corcoran back to Doyle, whose shot was saved but rebounded back to play. Ciarrai’s Janinne Rynne took possession and found the back of the net to level the scoreline.
Shortly afterward Mary Tuohy pointed a free kick to put them ahead. Leitrim got back into their stride with points from Sadie Bolger, Tracey Rice and continued to put pressure on the Ciarrai defense, finishing the half with a point from Ailish Dineen from a free kick to leave them ahead by 3 points.
In the second half, Leitrim enjoyed plenty of possession and took their scores well. Ciarrai fought hard, with great play from Ann Hanrahan, Julia Enright, Mary Tuohy, Cathy Corcoran but were unable to penetrate Leitrim’s solid defense line, Colette McElligot, Mairead Casey, Paula Brophy and Kathleen Hickey. Ciarrai’s backline were under constant pressure and were thankful for the great keeping skills of Lise Rowe keeping Leitrim’s second-half scores to points from Sadie Bolger, Debbie Murphy, Colette McElligot and Eibhlish Dineen, securing their place in the semifinals on June 20.
For Leitrim, stars were Colette McElligot, AnnMarie McMunn, Sadie Bolger, Tracy Rice, Jacinta Boyle and Debbie Murphy. For Ciarrai best were Lisa Rowe, Brenda Walsh, Pauline Boylan, Ann Hanrahan, Julia Enright, Mary Tuohy, and Cathy Corcoran.
Leitrim scorers: Kathleen Walch 0-1, Sadie Bolger 0-3, Tracey Rice 0-2, Debbie Murphy 0-2, Eibhlish Dineen 0-2, Jacinta Boyle 0-2, Colette McElligott 0-1. Player of the Game: Colette McElligott.
Ciarrai scorers: Jeanine Rynne 1-0, Mary Touhey 0-1, Julia Enright 0-1. Player of the Game: Lisa Rowe (goalkeeper).
Rockland 3-7, Monaghan 1-7
Rockland were first to score with points from Kerryann Galvin and Colleen McElroy, but Monaghan replied minutes later with a point from Maudy Lynn. Monaghan held the possession and created play, but, unfortunately, it only resulted wides as Rockland’s defense denied them time to take accurate shots. However, Rockland, immediately on the offensive, ran the hard up the field with Mags Dineen finding M’ve Brennan on the wing to put one past Monaghan’s goalie Chris Gallagher. Rockland settled into a comfortable style of moving the ball up the wings and kicking long high balls into their full forwards. Monaghan’s defense of Marie Flood, Mary Nash and Catherine Flood kept Rockland’s scoring to a minimum as they pushed the forwards to lose possession or foul the ball. At halftime, it was anybody’s game with the scores standing at Rockland 1-4 and Monaghan 0-5.
Rockland began the second half with constant pressure on the Monaghan goal. Some attempts at points were kicked wide, but Rockland fought to get possession from the kick out. This constant pressure results in a point from play from Colleen McElroy. Monaghan seemed to struggle to hold possession in their forward line, but there persistence paid off in the form of a goal and two points. Rockland were able to reply with scores to again extend their lead. Rockland’s back line Cathy Dunleavy, Joanne Hoenninger, Jonie Foley were rock solid and clearances to their forwards resulted in more pressure for the Monaghan defense.
For Rockland, stars were Cathy Dunleavy, Joanne Hoenninger, Jen Miami, M’bh Brennan, KerryAnn Galvin and Mags Dineen. For Monaghan, best were Norma McCarthy, Maudy Lynn, Frances Brennan, Marie Flood, Liz Collins, Catherine Flood and Mary Nash.
Rockland scorers: Kerryann Galvin 1-2, Meabh Brennan 1-1, Colleen McElroy 0-4 and Lorraine Kiernan 1-0. Rockland Player of the Game: Kerryann Galvin.
Monaghan scorers: Catherine Donohoe 0-3, Maudy Lynn 0-2, Ann Marie Duffy 0-1, Kate McEntee 0-1 and Sandra Swinburne 1-0. Player of the Game: Norma McCarthy
May 23 schedule
1:30 p.m., Monaghan vs. Cavan
2:45 p.m., Leitrim vs. Na Fianna
4 p.m., Mayo vs. Rockland
Ciarrai — bye