Edenderry’s Leinster dream ended by goal-hungry Boardsmill

Edenderry’s hopes of reaching the Leinster Club Intermediate Ladies Football Championship final were dashed by Boardsmill in glorious Halloween sunshine on Saturday afternoon.

Leinster Club Intermediate Ladies Football Championship semi-final

Boardsmill (Meath) 6-9

Edenderry (Offaly) 0-7

The impressive hosts recovered from a slow start to blitz Edenderry with six goals and set up a provincial decider against Wexford’s Clonee. Backboned by the brilliant Troy sisters - Rachel, Nicole, Emma and Amy - the Meath champions never looked back after full forward Susan Kealey palmed home their first goal in the 17th minute after the visitors had opened up an early 0-3 to 0-1 lead.

There was a suspicion of ‘square ball’ about the goal, but it was allowed to stand after referee Barry Moore consulted with his umpires. Much to Edenderry’s frustration, Kealey’s opposite number Rebecca McDonnell had a goal disallowed for ‘square ball’ on the stroke of half-time. But even if it had been awarded, it’s unlikely that it would have made much difference to the result such was Boardsmill’s superiority all over the field.

The winners were excellent for three-quarters of the game, with centre forward Amy Troy helping herself to 3-1 and Kealey, captain Laura Dempsey and second half substitute Claudia Durkan also finding the net. They only kicked two wides compared to their opponent’s eight, and nullified the threat of the Edenderry full forward line by deploying Hannah Kealey as a sweeper. Corner back Mae Fahy also had a super game on Moya Cummins, who had been scoring goals for fun all year.

While it was a disappointing end to Edenderry’s campaign, it will still go down as a very successful year for Greg Farrelly’s side who achieved their objective of winning the Offaly Intermediate Championship and making an instant return to the senior ranks. They were also crowned Division 1 League champions and enjoyed a fine win over Shanahoe in their Leinster opener.

In contrast to that game which was played in the midst of Storm Boelo last weekend, it was t-shirt weather in Boardsmill where conditions were next to perfect. On a pristine pitch, the hosts opened the scoring from a Laura Dempsey free before Edenderry took control. Tara Tyrrell got them off the mark after Isabelle Liu Lyons went short from a free before another quickly-taken free from Moya Cummins resulted in a Rebecca McDonnell point. Liu Lyons also split the posts to leave the Reds two up after eight minutes.

The Gaelic Park outfit were comfortably the better team up until the 17th minute when everything changed with Kealey’s controversial goal from Emma Troy’s centre via Shauna Farrelly’s fingertips. Boardsmill suddenly clicked into gear after that, playing some outstanding football in the process.

Dempsey (free) and Amy Troy made it 1-3 to 0-3 before Edenderry reduced the deficit to the minimum through points from McDonnell and the hard-working Grace Foran. But the game got away from them in the final five minutes of the half when Amy Troy and Dempsey cracked home superb goals and former county star Emma Troy added a point.

The visitors thought they had grabbed a lifeline in injury-time when McDonnell forced the ball across the line from Maria Doyle’s high delivery, only for the match officials to rule it out.

While Boardsmill took their time to return from their dressing-room for the second half, they didn’t waste any time in raising their fourth green flag through the rampant Amy Troy after Demspey set her up. That came within 90 seconds of the restart and Edenderry had to wait until the 36th minute to open their second half account from a Doyle free.

But the home side were in complete control at this stage and had stretched their advantage to 6-7 to 0-6 by the end of the third quarter thanks to further majors from a contentious Troy penalty - which Aoife O'Neill was unlucky not to save - and Claudia Durkan as well as points from Susan Kealey, Dempsey and Nicole Troy.

Dempsey registered their first wide in the 49th minute before substitute Ellie O’Brien kicked Edenderry’s seventh and final point. But despite emptying their bench, Boardsmill didn’t let up and had all of 20 points to spare in the end thanks to a Paula Dorian free and Kealey’s second minor in stoppage-time.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Player of the Match: Nearly all of the standout performers were wearing blue and white, with hat-trick hero Amy Troy getting the nod ahead of her sister Emma, corner back Mae Fahy and corner forward Laura Dempsey. Grace Foran and Rebecca McDonnell played well for Edenderry, but Boardsmill were just too good.

THE SCORERS

Boardsmill: Amy Troy 3-1 (1-0 pen), Laura Dempsey 1-3 (0-2fs), Susan Kealey 1-2, Claudia Durkan 1-0, Nicole Troy, Emma Troy and Paula Dorian (0-1f) 0-1 each.

Edenderry: Rebecca McDonnell 0-2, Tara Tyrrell, Isabelle Liu Lyons, Grace Foran, Maria Doyle (0-1f) and Ellie O’Brien 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

Boardsmill: Ciara Ashe; Mae Fahy, Aideen Guy, Sarah Bagnall; Kate McEvoy, Rachel Troy, Kym McGrath; Nicole Troy, Emma Troy; Laura Bagnall, Amy Troy, Paula Dorian; Hannah Kealey, Susan Kealey, Laura Dempsey (captain). Subs: Claudia Durkan for L Bagnall (38 min), Abbie Reilly for McGrath (49 min, injured), Aoife Byrne for S Bagnall (51 min), Lucy-Mai Dunne for H Kealey (54 min), Holly Reilly for Dempsey (54 min).

Edenderry: Aoife O’Neill; Shauna Farrelly, Lily Murphy, Aoife Tyrrell; Kiah Farrelly, Emma Maher, Aimee Dunne; Tara Tyrrell, Hazel O’Brien (captain); Grace Foran, Maria Doyle, Emer Lawless; Isabelle Liu Lyons, Rebecca McDonnell, Moya Cummins. Subs: Saoirse Hoey for S Farrelly (29 min), Ellie O’Brien for Lyons (48 min), Katie Doyle for A Tyrrell (49 min), Emma Collins for Maher (50 min).

Referee - Barry Moore (Kildare)