Cavan 1 – 11
Clare 0 – 11
Disappointment was the order of the day for the Clare Ladies footballers in Meelick on Sunday where they suffered a three point defeat at the hands of a more determined Cavan side. Even more disappointing from a Clare point of view was the fact that the home side had a two player advantage for nearly ten minutes during the second half when both Roisín O’Keeffe and Emma McDermott of Cavan were sin-binned in quick succession. In this period of numerical superiority Clare could muster only two points and crucially they also conceded two similar scores to the 13 player Cavan side.
The tone of this game was set very early on when the normally clinical Eimear Considine spurned a glorious goal chance when having been put straight through by Niamh Keane and had only the keeper to beat. A hesitant Considine delayed her shot which allowed corner back Gráinne McGlade to get a deflecting hand in to force a forty five when a goal was there for the taking. This was to signal a Cavan defensive dominance which persisted throughout the game as they constantly forced the Clare forwards into blind alleys and poor shot selections.
Clare did have the game’s first score with an Emer Hillary point on five minutes but this early lead was the only time the Banner side had their noses in front for the whole game. Cavan had the next three pointed scores and from here on in Clare were always trying to play catch up. Louise Henchy and Sinéad Greene swapped points and Minnie Considine narrowed the gap to a single point in the twenty sixth minute before the Cavan attack ripped the Clare defensive lines asunder to put Geraldine Sheridan through for a well worked goal. Louise Henchy pulled a point back for Clare with a free on the stroke of half time but having been wind assisted in the first half to retire at the break 1 – 4 to 0 – 4 in arrears was not the position Clare had hoped to be in.
Clare did have the opening score of the second half with another point from Louise Henchy but wind assisted Cavan replied on the double with points from Greene and their excellent full forward Clara O’Reilly. Two more points from Henchy and one from Minnie Considine saw Clare narrow the gap to a single point after forty minutes and with Cavan soon to be reduced to thirteen players one felt that the game was going Clare’s way. Unfortunately for the home side it was the visitors who raised their game when faced with this double adversity. Joanne Moore stretched their lead to two points before a brace of Eimear O’Connor points gained parity for Clare in the fiftieth minute. O’Reilly and Roisín Howley then exchanged points before a now restored fifteen a side Cavan dominated the last six minutes of the game and O’Reilly scored three unanswered points to ensure a comfortable journey home for the Breffni side.
This was a disappointing display from Clare especially coming off such a good opening victory over Fermanagh and certainly they will have to show more determination and flair if they are to trouble Galway in their next game in two weeks time. However the players will know both individually and collectively that they are capable of much better than this lack-lustre performance and hopefully this will be just a minor blip in their endeavour to maintain Division 2 status and possibly qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
Though not securing the desired result one could not fault the Meelick GAA pitch which was in remarkable condition given the recent very inclement weather. Great credit is due to the club and its grounds-man for this achievement.
Clare: Louise Henchy 0 – 5, Marie Considine 0 – 2, Eimear O’Connor 0 – 2, Emer Hillary 0 – 1, Roisín Howley 0 – 1.
Cavan: Clara O’Reilly 0 – 7, Geraldine Sheridan 1 – 0, Sinéad Greene 0 – 2, Rachel Jordan 0 – 1, Joanne Moore 0 – 1.
Report with thanks to Dr. Paul McKenna, Clare Adult PRO.
