North Tipperary Women's League Review

By Gary Culbert

Premier League

With Birdhill crowned champions the previous week, there was not much to play for in the final round of premier league games last Wednesday - which may have had a part to play in throwing up a shock result in Holycross as Killavilla United tasted defeat for the second time in as many weeks.

It looked to be business as usual in Glenbane as skipper Abi McMahon fired the Roscrea side in front after seven minutes with her third goal in her last four games. Abby Martin O’Meara doubled the Villian’s lead two minutes later with her fourth of the season, and the league runners up were in cruise control, but prematurely, as there was a sting to come in the second half from Holycross.

Miah Bourke landed the first blow to the Villa rearguard in the 55th minute, then Lily Ryan levelled proceedings in the 71st minute. Substitute Louise McGrath secured Holycross only their third win of the campaign in the 77th minute.

Killavilla have had the past week to lick their wounds before another battle with league winners Birdhill this Wednesday (this evening) in the Cup quarter final. When all was said and done, five points separated these two at the top of the table, but the truth is there was only one goal between them in their two meetings.

Carly Wright’s charges will have home advantage this time, where a much more open game is expected in comparison to the tense league show-down of two weeks ago. Goals are on the cards so the Villa defence will have to be extra vigilant of the league’s top scorer – Birdhill’s Abbie Lenihan.

It is impossible to call a winner so, much like Peake Villa who await in the semi-final, we will just have to sit back and enjoy the spectacle.

Moneygall are also in action on Wednesday against Holycross, where they will look to put their difficult debut campaign behind them with a run in the cup. But it won’t be easy; Holycross are recent cup winners and having massively underperformed in the league, will be looking to pull out all the stops to salvage their season.

Shield

Having gone to battle the previous week in the league title decider, Newport Town and Knigh United met once more on Monday in the Shield semi-final, and these two sides proved even more inseparable than ever.

Isabelle Kingston scored Knigh United’s only goal while Lauren Bailey netted Newport Town’s reply; the dreaded penalty shootout would be required to decide who advanced to the final. Ailín Rochford, Aoife Shinners and Lauren Bailey all scored for Newport, who won 3-1. However, it has been a hugely impressive debut season for Knigh United’s first ever junior women’s team.

Not to be outdone by the top two teams in the league, Shinrone and Nenagh Celtic played out a nine-goal thriller in their semi-final on Monday evening.

The hosts had Leona McLeish and Ella Keeshan to thank with a brace each, with Kerry McLeish rounding off the scoring. Nenagh Celtic’s Saoirse Morrissey rattled the net three times, including one from the penalty spot, whilst Emily Talbot netted their other goal.

Inter-League Trophy

The North Tipperary Inter-league side bowed out of the Angela Hearst Trophy at the semi-final stage on Sunday.

Players from Holycross, Killavilla United, BT Harps, Newport Town, Birdhill, and Peake Villa were all included in the squad that travelled to Ozier Park to take on hosts Waterford.

Experience is everything in football, and on the day North Tipp just came up against a team full of it to get the job done on a convincing 5-0 scoreline.

The hosts had two goals scored after just twelve minutes. This was the start Waterford needed, and they went on to lead 4-0 by half time. With conditions warm and dry, North Tipp played with great energy again in the second half and the girls dug in and defended well. Waterford got their fifth midway through the half, and as much as the visitors tried, they just could not find a way through the home side’s defence.

In this year's campaign there were stand-out performances from Ailin Rochford, Abby Challen, and Abby Martin, while on Sunday the player of the match was goalkeeper Roisin Dwan.