Improved Tipp leave Mayo sweating

LADIES FOOTBALL: Lidl National League Division 2 Round 3

Mayo 0-9

Tipperary 0-7

Report: Michael Heverin at Swinford Amenity Park

A virtual siege on the Mayo goal in the last ten minutes just failed to reap dividends for Tipperary in their frustrating defeat to the home side in their Lidl National League Division 2 game on Sunday.

Showing a huge improvement on their display against Cavan a week earlier, Tipperary went agonisingly close to victory against a Mayo side dropping down from Division 1.

Mayo looked to have the points secured when they led by four, 0-9 to 0-5, in the 53rd minute, but Tipperary dominated the final ten minutes, including three of added time. With the side playing their best attacking football of the campaign to date, Emma Morrissey, Heather Spillane, Lauren Cunningham, and substitute Emma Buckley probed for openings and the chances came.

Morrissey – outstanding in her third game in a row – reduced the margin with a superb point and then the Aherlow player saw a shot come back off the crossbar that looked goal-bound. Buckley then had a shot on goal saved by the Mayo keeper Laura Brennan, before the constant pressure saw Heather Spillane reduce the lead to just two points in the 60th minute, with at least three minutes of added time to play.

As the pressure continued, Morrissey and Cunningham continued to weave patterns through the Mayo defence, and the final chance for what would have been a dramatic winning goal fell to Morrissey from a free – she struck it low, hard and on target but Mayo had a wall of defenders on the line to block it and clear.

“That’s a massive, massive improvement on what we did last week against Cavan”, said Tipp manager David Power.

“That’s a template for us now going forward. We cannot go backwards from this; we need to improve. The girls can be very, very proud. We got the physicality that I wanted, in abundance”, he said, namechecking Nora Martin at the heart of the defence for a superb performance.

But Power was also disappointed at the final whistle, adding: “I thought we deserved more, we were the better team and it’s just a pity that we have no points going home. And he was frustrated at a breach of the rule requiring three players in the opposition half.

“It was incredibly harsh, called by the fourth official and I have never seen a fourth official allowed to call it. They got two points off that and we lost by two points. That’s incredibly frustrating”.

It happened midway through the second half when Mayo were leading by 0-6 to 0-3, just after Lauren Cunnigham had rewarded strong Tipp pressure with a fine point. After Kayla Doherty had pointed the free for the breach, Mayo won the kickout and Maria Reilly made it 0-8 to 0-3 in less than sixty seconds. Tipperary had started in blistering fashion, dominating the early stages, with Angela McGuigan and Nora Martin involved in the build-up that led to Heather Spillane’s opening score in the second minute. Mayo were rattled by the Tipp pressure and it was no surprise when Emma Morrissey pointed a free to extend the lead. But roared on by an enthusiastic home support, Mayo settled in their rhythm that had seen them unbeaten in their first two games and hit four points without reply to lead 0-4 to 0-2 at the break. Player of the match Kayla Doherty fisted over their first and then pointed their second from a free. Centre-back Ciara Needham hit their third after being involved in the move twice and another free from Doherty extended the lead to two at the break.

The Tipp defence was under pressure, but big displays from Maria Curley, Emma Cronin and Nora Martin denied Mayo any goal-scoring chances after they had hit five past Wexford a week earlier. At the other end, Tipp had their chances but not all were converted.

The Mayo dominance continued into the second half, and they had pushed their lead out to six within six minutes, with scores from play from Maria Reilly and Tara Needham. However, Tipp were still very much in the game, and Spillane was just wide after a good build-up before Cunningham ended a spell of Tipp pressure with a good score.

The controversial infringement that so angered David Power soon followed as Mayo regained the initiative. But Tipp’s response was encouraging with Emma Morrissey converting two frees to leave it 0-8 to 0-5 in the 48th minute. Mayo pushed it out to four again through Aoife Geraghty, but Tipp’s never-say-die attitude in the closing stages offers encouragement for the remaining games in the league, starting with a home game against Monaghan on Sunday week.

Tipperary’s use of eight subs reflects a growing strength in depth in the panel – Tara Hoare was replaced in the first half after sustaining a leg injury, but two changes at half time and five more in the second half gave the side fresh legs to take the challenge to a physical Mayo side.

TEAMS – Mayo: Laura Brennan (7); Eilis Ronayne (6), Danielle Caldwell (7), Lucy Wallace (7); Ella Brennan (7); Ciara Needham (8), Lynda Hanley (6); Aoife Geraghty (7), Erin Murray (8); Aoife Kennedy (7), Aoife Staunton (7), Tara Needham (8); Maria Reilly (8), (7) Kayla Doherty (8), Meabh Delaney (6).

Subs used: Sinead Cafferky (HT), Fiona McHale (41), Saoirse Delaney (50), Hannah Reape (55).

Tipperary: Lauren Fitzpatrick (Ballymacarbry 7); Tara Hoare (Templemore 6), Maria Curley (Templemore 8), Emma Cronin (Moyle Rovers 8); Laura Morrissey (Brian Borus 7), Nora Martin (Sliabh na mBan 8), Sarah English (Ardfinnan 6); Niamh Martin (Sliabh na mBan 7), Áine O’Dwyer (Boherlahan-Dualla 7); Ava Ryan (Moyne-Templetuohy 7), Lauren Cunningham (Holycross/Ballycahill 8), Heather Spillane (Fethard 8); Angela McGuigan (St Sylvesters 7), Anna Carey (Clonmel Commercials 7), Emma Morrissey (Aherlow 8).

Subs: Ellen Moore (Moyle-Templetuohy 7) for Hoare (19), Lily Maher (Arravale Rovers 7) for English (HT), Clara English (Ardfinnan 6) for Ryan (HT), Aoibhe O’Shea (CJ Kickhams Mullinahone 6) for Carey (42), Nicole Shelly (CJ Kickhams Mullinahone 6) for Martin (50), Emma Buckley (Cahir 7) for L Morrissey (56), Kate Cashman (Templemore 6) for O’Dwyer (58), Shona Lang (Brian Borus 6) for Cronin (59).

Referee: Aaron Clogher (Roscommon).