Penalty woe sends Mitchels crashing out of Connacht

Connacht LGFA Club Intermediate Championship – semi-final 

Drumcliffe-Rosses Point 3-3 

Castlebar Mitchels 1-7 

Stuart Tynan at Páirc Josie Munnelly, Castlebar 

A late Keela Scanlon penalty sent Drumcliffe-Rosses Point into the Connacht LGFA intermediate final at the expense of Castlebar Mitchels in Páirc Josie Munnelly last Sunday afternoon.

As stoppage-time in the second-half approached, the Sligo side broke forward and the ball was played into substitute Kate Smith. She sidestepped one Mitchels defender and ran through before Orla Conlon intercepted her shot inside the area. The umpires directed for a ’45 but after consultation with the umpire and linesman, the referee deemed that Conlon had tripped her opponent and awarded a penalty, which was buried by Scanlon.

The game was played in desperate conditions, as the rain poured from the heavens in the county town and large puddles of water were visible across the pitch in the second-half. Such was inclement weather that a couple of supporters in the stand were commenting it was just as bad as the previous week during Storm Ashley, where the game fell victim.

Castlebar Mitchels will feel the rub of the green went against them, with two of Drumcliffe-Rosses Points’s goals coming from point attempts that dropped over the head of Ava Scully, while a few 50/50 calls didn’t go their way.

Nonetheless, Drumcliffe-Rosses Point were very much in the contest at half-time. They trailed only by four going into the second-half and would have the advantage of the breeze. It was used to full effect, in particular for their second goal on 41 minutes. Only one winner looked likely from there, as any Mitchels chances were snuffed out by a resolute Drumcliffe-Rosses Point backline.

A couple of Mitchels wides early on were not captialised on by DRP, who were giving the ball away cheaply back to Mitchels throughout the first quarter. Suzanne Tuohy set up captain Gráinne Flynn for her first point on eight minutes before they rattled the net a minute later. A brilliant run by Orla Conlon through the centre saw her play in Niamh Hughes and she finished emphatically.

Flynn nailed her second, a free, before Rianne Smith got the North Sligo side up and running on 14 minutes.

Out of nothing, Drumcliffe-Rosses Point found the net on 18 minutes when a point attempt from Sinead Regan from 20 metres dropped over the head of Ava Scully and into the net, and Rianne Smith followed up with another free to draw the visitors level.

It was all Mitchels from here, however. Aisling O’Reilly will feel she should have found the net after a swashbuckling move down the field, with Orla Conlon and Niamh Hughes heavily involved, but O’Reilly’s strike went over instead of under the bar. Flynn popped over her second free and followed it with two skyscrapers to put Mitchels 1-6 to 1-2 ahead at the interval.

Niamh Hughes extended the lead to five points on 36 minutes but it would be the home side’s final score of the game. As the conditions worsened, Rianne Smith brought her side back in contention when her strike from 30 metres out sailed high before dropping over the Mitchels goalkeeper and into the goal.

Another Riane Smith free brought the gap to one on 51 minutes. It appeared that Mitchels would hold on as the Sligo champions were unable to hold possession before Kate Smith’s late break to win a penalty. Scanlon converted and sent Drumcliffe-Rosses Point into next weekend’s final against Galway champions Annaghdown.

Scorers – Drumcliffe-Rosses Point: Rianne Smith 1-3 (0-3f), Sinead Regan and Keela Scanlon (pen) 1-0 each.

Castlebar Mitchels: Gráinne Flynn 0-5 (2f), Niamh Hughes 1-0, Aisling O’Reilly 0-1.

Castlebar Mitchels: Ava Scully; Karagh Neary, Sinead O’Boyle, Rebecca Lawless; Belinda Patterson, Danielle Caldwell, Grace Filan; Kathryn Sullivan, Orla Conlon; Lucy Molloy, Suzanne Tuohy, Maia Ludden; Niamh Hughes, Gráinne Flynn, Aisling O’Reilly. Subs: Anna Tuohy (for Ludden ht), Aimee Wilson (for O’Boyle 55).

Drumcliffe-Rosses Point: Rachel Quigley; Avril Clancy, Aisling Ewing, Ruth Flanagan; Isabella Henry, Michelle McNamara, Grace Casserly; Sinead Regan, Caoimhe Connor; Gemma O’Callaghan, Rianne Smith, Anna Currid; Keela Scanlon, Maeve Casserly, Katie McDonagh. Subs: Kate Smith (for McDonagh 45), Katie McGuire and Jasmine Dunleavy (for Currid and O’Callaghan 51).

REF: Gerry Carmody (Roscommon)