Hall’s haul opens the door for Moy girls
A blistering first-half display by Moy Davitts laid the foundations of their victory over Louisburgh on Sunday that has booked them a place in next weekend's final of the Mayo LGFA intermediate championship.
A commanding performance, for most of the game, saw Moy Davitts book their place in the county intermediate ladies football final, despite a nervy finish that saw Louisburgh score a couple of goals that pushed their hosts all the way but ultimately, weren’t enough to see them overcome a blistering first-half display by the Moysiders for whom Sandra Hall struck a pair of goals.
Louisburgh, who were beaten in last year’s final by Charlestown Sarsfields, got the scoreboard moving first on Sunday, with Tara Needham’s right-footed point from the left wing swiftly replied to by Moy Davitts midfielder Tracey Hall, after a neat one-two with Sarah Carney. A few minutes later came a huge goal for the hosts from impressive performer Sandra Hall, who gathered a handpass from Orla McHale shot past Roisin Dyar into the goal via the crossbar.
Lisa Reid, Mayo’s sub goalkeeper but playing midfield here, spotted Natasha Gaughan with a nice kick-pass and Gaughan linked up with Orla McHale to fire over. Reid struck a point of her own not far out from goal, and Siobhan Wilson collected Tracey Hall’s attempted shot and turned to fire over another close range score, that had Moy Davitts into an early 1-4 to 0-1 advantage.
Louisburgh did respond with a free from Dee McNally but Sarah Carney capped off the blitz of the opening quarter with a stunning goal into the top left corner, to leave the hosts eight points to the good.
Although her side was under pressure, Rachel O’Malley was causing Moy Davitts’ problems with her tireless running and the wing-back set-up Emma Needham who picked out her cousin Tara Needham who made no mistake by firing over off her right boot. Tara Needham then pointed a free but Sandra Hall’s second goal – and Moy Davitts’ third – put an unassailable margin between the teams. Hall received a pass from sister Tracey and spun her marker before composing herself to finish when one-on-one with Dyar.
A Louisburgh point by Dee McNally and a free in reply by Natasha Gaughan meant Moy Davitts were up by nine at the interval.
When the teams returned, Moy Davitts’ star performer, Sandra Hall, got herself a nice close range point having latched onto Rebecca Conlon’s diagonal kick-pass deep into the opposition’s defence. Natasha Gaughan’s second and third converted frees gave her side a commanding twelve points lead before a stunning 25-metre curler from Tara Needham stopped the rot for Louisburgh, but Tracey Hall, with a powerful run through midfield, countered that straight away with her second point.
A comeback by the West Mayo visitors was in the offing however, with Katelyn O’Malley receiving a great ball from Emma Needham and a quick one-two with Tara Needham freed up the space for her to kick a point. Áine O’Reilly’s strong run from wing-back then allowed Tara Needham to score from the right wing and after Sandra Hall was denied a third goal by Roisin Dyar who tipped the powerful shot over at full stretch, Louisburgh got a goal of their own.
It was Katelyn O’Malley who put an end to a nice hand-passing move that also involved Tara Needham and Emma Needham. The margin was now down to seven points.
Orla McHale’s skill showed when with five minutes to go, the Moy Davitts full-forward kicked a great score after a feint sent her marker away, but that only preceded Katelyn O’Malley’s second goal, which came courtesy of a penalty won by Tara Needham, who collected a loose ball before receiving a push from behind by Stephanie Loughney. O’Malley’s powerful kick straight down the middle beat goalkeeper Emma Galligan.
Despite their best efforts, Louisburgh were unable to make further inroads, with the game ending with an exchange of points between Dee McNally and Sandra Hall.
Moy Davitts will face MacHale Rovers in the intermediate final, aiming for a win that would return them to the senior ranks at the first time of asking.
