Sligo are squeezed out by Saffrons
Bronagh Devlin of Antrim collides with Sligo goalkeeper Ellen McGuire during the LGFA TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship semi-final at St Tiernach's Park in Clones. Picture: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
A gallant Sligo team were forced to bow to last year’s beaten finalists Antrim on Sunday, as the Ulster side’s lethal forward Maria O’Neill scored 3-5 to help her side book their place in this season’s TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship final.
The Moneyglass player was in superb form and her goals came at crucial times for Antrim. But full credit to Sligo who fought until the very end.
Early points were traded between Alyssa Davidson and Anna McDaniel before Antrim took a hold of proceedings. They grabbed their first goal in the seventh minute when Bronagh Devlin’s ball was flicked to the net by O’Neill. The Saffrons were seven points ahead when Sligo got their second point of the game in the 13th minute through Sinead Regan.
O’Neill kicked an excellent two point free in the 16th minute and two minutes later grabbed her and her side’s second goal to extend the lead to 10 points. It looked ominous for Sligo but they made a fightback.
Leah Duffy kicked three points while McDaniel, two, and Regan were also on target as the Yeats County cut the gap to four points in the 26th minute. O’Neill got a point two minutes later to stifle Sligo’s comeback. Theresa Mellon fired over a lovely point just before the break to give Antrim a 2-9 to 0-09 lead.
Sligo cut the gap to just two points within minutes of the restart, McDaniel with another point before Rachel McGoldrick played the ball to Denise McGrath and she fired past Aine Devlin.
But just like earlier Antrim responded with three points in-a-row but Sligo were resilient and came back at them. Blaithin Lavin fired over a point before McGrath got her second goal of the game in the 48th minute to cut the lead to just one point.
The next score was going to be important and it came from the boot of the clinical O’Neill who scored her third goal in the 49th minute. Prenter and O’Neill, a free, followed up with points.
Sligo needed a third goal and as they went in search of one Antrim’s defence held firm. Subs Lauren Normanly, a free, and Aife Haran hit over late points for Sligo but it was Antrim who advanced to another All-Ireland junior decider.
Scorers – Antrim: M O’Neill 3-1-3 (1tpf, 2f,), O Prenter 0-0-4 (1f), T Mellon 0-0-2, L Dahunsi, A Tubridy and A Davidson 0-0-1 each.
Sligo: D McGrath 2-0-0, A McDaniel 0-0-4, L Duffy 0-0-3, S Regan 0-0-2, R McGoldrick, B Lavin, A Haran and L Normanly (f) 0-0-1 each.
Sligo: E McGuire; H Gilligan, C Dunne, A Durcan; C King, C Walsh, T Breheny; S Regan, S Cunney; A McDaniel, D McGrath, S Feeney; L Duffy, R McGoldrick, B Lavin. Subs: C Gorman (for McGoldrick 50), S Dalton (for Feeney 52), A Haran (for Duffy), L Normanly (for Lavin 57).
Antrim: A Devlin; E Kearns, M Blaney, M Mulholland; L Agnew, D Coleman, C McKenna; L Dahunsi, Á Tubridy; T Mellon, B Devlin, A Davidson; E Louise McAreavey, M O'Neill, O Prenter. Subs: A Monaghan (for Davidson 36), C Maguire (for Prenter 55).
REF: Barry Redmond (Wexford)
