This article is from page 65 of the 2011-05-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 65 JPG
Clare 3-10 – Fermanagh 1-12 at Parnell Park, Dublin
IT was a struggle at times, but then again it was never going to be, or supposed to be a canter. That said when it came to the crunch, Clare’s class in front of goal shone through as they maintained their unbeaten record over Fermanagh by laying claim to a first National League success in three years.
Back then it was a Division 2 title over Donegal – this time it was Division 3 honours over their near neighbours thanks to a three-goal blitz in the second half that finally put paid to dogged Fermanagh persistence.
The key for Clare was that they had the more balanced team against a Fermanagh side that relied too much on the three Little sisters. It was their collective performance in the first half that gave Fermanagh a fighting chance, but ultimately the Ernesiders’ failure to build up a first half lead was their undoing as they turned to face the elements in the second half.
Shauna Hamilton rattled the crossbar early on for Fermanagh, while Sharon Little blasted over the bar when teed up for a great goal chance by her sister Caroline after 15 minutes, but two minutes later Clare had their best goal chance of the half when Roisin Gleeson made a great double-save from Niamh O’Dea and Naomi Carroll.
It was that kind of game – always open, with a bit of controversy thrown in as Fermanagh’s Marcella Connolly was sin-binned in the 20th minute for a high tackle on Eimear O’Connor while Clare captain Niamh Keane’s sin-binning in the final minute of the half seemed very harsh.
However, it was Fermanagh who suffered most because, their numerical disadvantage in the closing ten minutes of the half meant they only had a share of the spoils at the break with matters resting at 0-5 apiece.
In all the sides were level on five occasions in the half, trading point for point after Marcella Connolly opened the scoring in the fifth minute. Louise Henchy levelled matters before the Sharon Little showcased her talents with a great point from play.
In all she scored three from play in the half, tormenting the Clare defence as Fermanagh threatened briefly to cut loose and bag what could have been a crucial breakthrough goal.
However, Clare had Louise Henchy, her sheer energy around the field as she ranged from one end to the other took the fight to Fermanagh, while the understanding between Clare’s forwards was also key. It kept them in the game by half-time – Henchy hitting two points on the way, while Niamh O’Dea hit three.
Then came a stunning second half display as Clare rattled off 3-5 in the half-hour to move up to Division 2 as champions.
Making light of their numerical disadvantage they hit the ground running, Niamh O’Dea pointing in the first minute before responding to Caroline Little’s equaliser in the fifth by a great goal a minute later when midfielder Marie Considine raided from midfield and slammed the ball past Roisin Gleeson to give Clare a 1-6 to 0-6 lead.
Fermanagh did rally with points from Marcella Connolly and Sharon Little, but they were always fighting a losing battle once Eimear Considine illuminated the game when blasting to the net after 48 minutes.
Running on to a long delivery from midfield, the Kilmihil star hit a thunderbolt to the net from all of 14 yards. Clare led by 2-7 to 0-8 and were never going to surrender the initiative from there, despite Fermanagh’s never-say-die attitude that kept them fighting to the end.
Points by Eimear Considine and Ailish Considine ensured that Clare’s five-point lead was intact at the final ten minutes loomed when but then the result seemed to be put beyond any doubt when Niamh O’Dea struck for Clare’s third goal.
In truth, the Banner Ladies star had goals on her mind all afternoon and was finally rewarded for her busy hour when from a long punted free from Louise Henchy, she outfielded three Fermanagh defenders on the edge of the square and coolly sidefooted the ball to the net to put Clare seven points clear.
A Caroline Little point and then a goal by her sister Sharon when she pounced on a rebound from Aisling Moane’s shot left only a goal in it with two minutes remaining, but Clare nerves were eased when O’Dea brought her tally for the afternoon to 1-5 with a last minute point.
Clare
Emma O’Driscoll (The Banner), Claire Hester (Fergus Rovers), Lorraine Kelly (Fergus Rovers), Laurie Ryan (The Banner), Eimear O’Connor (Coolmeen), Róisin McMahon (Newmarket), LouiseWoods (The Banner), Marie Considine (Liscannor) (1-0), Louise Henchy (The Banner) (0-2, 1f), Colette Corry (Shannon Gaels), Niamh Keane (The Banner), Naomi Carroll (The Banner) (0-1), Eimear Considine (Kilmihil) (1-1), Niamh O’Dea (The Banner) (1-5, 2f)), Sarah Bohannon (Shannon Gaels).
Subs
Ailish Considine (Kilmihil) (0-1) for Corry [half-time], Katie Geoghegan (West Clare Gaels) for Carroll [53 Mins], Sinead Eustace (Coolmeen) for Bohannon [55 Mins], Carmel Considine (Liscannor) for Hester [59 Mins], C O’Leary for O’Dea [62 Mins].
Fermanagh
Roisin Gleeson, ClaireWoods, Nuala Curran, OReihill; DMurphy,Tara Little, Patricia Melanaphy, Marcella Connolly (0-2),Aisling Moane (0-1) Shauna Hamilton, Sharon Little (1-4, 1f), Louise McFrederick, Nuala McManus, Caroline Little (0-5f),Aine McBrien.
Subs
Kyle McManus for Hamilton (37), Joanne Doonan for McFrederick (46), Roisin O’Reilly for Woods (57), Aisling Maguire for McManus (58), Louise Slevin for Melanaphy (59).
Player of Match
Louise Henchy (Clare)
Referee
Des McEnery (Westmeath)