Moate’s Leinster final bid ended by Clonee goals

Leinster LGFA Intermediate Championship semi-final: Clonee 4-2 Moate 0-9

Moate’s Leinster title ambitions were ultimately undone after shipping goals at the start of either half in last Saturday’s intermediate semi-final against Wexford senior champions Clonee at McCauley Park, Enniscorthy.

The home side deposited to the Westmeath side's net a mere 17 seconds into the contest before doing likewise 22 seconds into the second period for what proved vital blows.

Indeed, if Moate had been told beforehand that they would only concede a couple of white-flag scores, surely they’d have fancied their chances of winning through to a shot at provincial glory.

But those major blows were ultimately the undoing of their dream, while a couple of outstanding interventions by Clonee ‘keeper Sophia Kirwan early on were also crucial in the long run.

Wexford footballer Orlaith Byrne no doubt had added motivation for the fixture after the Model County’s All-Ireland Intermediate Championship ambitions had been ended in the summer by Westmeath. Therefore there would have been added relish for the lively number 15 when she made a major incision inside the opening seconds, when palming to the net having seen her initial effort strike the crossbar after being put through by Anne Byrne.

Moate shot wide before being denied a goal after the Clonee ‘keeper pushed away a shot from Stacey Holloway for a fruitless ’45 following neat work by Tara Hughes and Eva Fox.

While Therese Geoghegan pegged back a fifth-minute free arising from a 'travelling' offence, Moate suffered a fresh setback seconds later when Clonee plundered their second major to blast 2-0 to 0-1 clear.

Ken Berry's charges had the hosts under real pressure for the first quarter, particularly by means of over-turning several Clonee kick-outs. But the Wexford champions managed to lift the siege for vastly experienced inter-county player Catriona Murray to feed team captain Emma Tomkins, who located Aoibhín Ryan to eventually bundle to the net.

Moate again kept their composure, and the home ‘keeper was forced into plucking a dangerous delivery from Emily Craven from underneath the crossbar, while the custodian also had to be alert to an effort from Tara Hughes moments later.

While Clonee weren’t getting the points flowing, they saw lots more of the opposition target for the remainder of the first half only to fire seven wides during that spell. Meanwhile, Moate had three wides in that time, but mustered four points too, Geoghegan slotting over a brace of frees, while Eva Fox and defender Holly Keenan also obliged to have it down to 2-0 to 0-5 at the change of ends.

But then came another sucker-punch in the embryonic stages of the second half, as Emma Tomkins netted Clonee’s third goal with an angled finish from the right after Aoibhín Ryan let an initial effort slip.

While Chloe Malone pegged back a 35th-minute point, Moate shot wide either side of that and also saw a shot from Tara Hughes drop short.

Clonee eventually bisected the uprights after 39 minutes, Máire Byrne opening up a 3-1 to 0-6 gap, before the Moate goal twice survived close shaves while the eventual winners also kicked two wides.

Tara Hughes shaved the margin to three points from a free which was moved in following dissent as Moate maintained strong hopes. A seventh wide slightly hurt that bid though, especially as Ríona Byrne advanced Clonee clear by 3-2 to 0-7 after 52 minutes.

But Moate were right in the mix as Eva Fox pointed a free and Chloe Malone slotted over from play to have it down to 3-2 to 0-9 with six minutes of normal time remaining.

Then came the visitors’ eighth wide before they were left facing a particularly uphill task after Clonee netted a penalty 24 seconds into added-time. Aoibhín Ryan was brought down for the penalty after a combined challenge having been set up by a sublime pass from Ríona Byrne. And goalie Kirwan jogged up the field to slot the spot-kick to open up a 4-2 to 0-9 divide.

However, almost five minutes of injury-time remained and Moate really couldn’t be counted out. They tried all they could. But ultimately they were left counting the cost of those heavy blows at the outset of either half as they miss out on a derby decider against Meath winners Boardsmill.

Scorers - Clonee: O Byrne, A Ryan, E Tomkins and S Kirwan (pen) 1-0 each; M Byrne and Ríona Byrne 0-1 each. Moate: T Geoghegan 0-3 (3f); C Malone and E Fox (1f) 0-2 each; H Keenan and T Hughes (f) 0-1 each.

Clonee - Sophia Kirwan; Danielle Hayden, Mary O’Neill, Hannah Leacy; Ríona Byrne, Marguerite Doyle, Megan Hayes; Caoimhe Ryan, Anne Byrne; Máire Byrne, Catriona Murray, Karen Tomkins; Emma Tomkins (captain), Orlaith Byrne, Aoibhín Ryan. Subs: Ruby Roche for C. Ryan (48 mins); Sarah Kirwan for M. Byrne (58); Liz Evered for A. Ryan (60+1); Ava Brennan for Leacy (60+3); Niamh Tomkins for K. Tomkins (60+4).

Moate - Grace Coughlan; Niamh Palmer, Louise Payne, Áine Bracken; Holly Keenan, Vanessa O’Brien, Chloe Moran; Therese Geoghegan (captain), Annemarie Moran; Lara Deehan, Stacey Holloway, Emily Craven; Tara Hughes, Eva Fox, Chloe Malone.

Referee - Paul Meaney (Dublin).