Marino waltz to tune of Mayo College girls
Grace Naughton from Knockmore was among the stars for Mayo College FET who beat Marino College at the Connacht GAA Air Dome.
In what is their first year to compete in the Ladies Higher Education football championships, the Mayo College FET continued their meteoric rise with a brilliant win last week that saw them reach the HEC Development All-Ireland Final. Having topped a group that included Drogheda IFE and Monaghan Institute before Christmas, the Mayo College students found themselves drawn against Marino College from Dublin.
Home advantage was secured and the game was set for the Connacht GAA Air Dome but with Marino arriving with a bigger panel, it was feared that they would have too much firepower for the newcomers. However, the Mayo College FET students set the tempo from the throw-in and hardly looked back, registering a 3-7 to 2-5 victory over the visitors.
Grace Naughton and Louise Slattery both carried ball into the danger area and after a good first ten minutes, Mayo College FET led by two points to no score, with Katie Lynch and Grace Naughton both splitting the posts. Marino, after soaking up the initial pressure, grew into the game and responded with three points from one of their midfielders. But then Laoise Coyne took matters into her own hands, constantly driving up the field from full-back and setting up two scores, a point for Katie Hoban and then an excellent goal finished to the net by Sophie Keaveney at the end of a brilliant team move. The scoreboard read 1-3 to 0-3 in favour of the Michael Moyles-managed team with only minutes of the first-half left to play, but unfortunately a misplaced pass out of defence led to a long range shot from Marino College creeping over the head of goalkeeper Diane McManamon and just beneath the crossbar to leave the scores all-square at the interval.
The second-half continued with the ladies of Mayo College FET setting the tempo, as points by Natalia Fasciszewska and Louise Slattery, two, were supplemented by an excellent goal from wing-forward Katie Hoban, which extended the lead out to seven points. Time and time again, excellent defending from Leah Forry, Elizabeth Loftus and Laoise Coyne turned back the Marino attacks, and Diane McManamon’s restarts from kickouts were the platform for the majority of attacks by Mayo College, with her success rate proving very high in both halves.
Louise Slattery turned in one of those performances every player dreams about, covering every inch of the field while also scoring 1-3 from midfield. Overall. It was an excellent team performance and a great achievement for the Mayo College FET in their first year competing.
The HEC Development All-Ireland Final will be played at the ATU Midlands campus this Thursday, February 1 at 3pm. The opposition is Blackhall Place College (Dublin).
