Sligo, Donegal and Leitrim all lost in round four of the National League at the weekend.
Donegal suffered their second successive defeat in Division One, losing out by 2-17 to 3-7 to Dublin in Parnell Park.
In Division Two, Sligo went down to Laois on a scoreline of 2-14 to 0-11.
And Leitrim’s game against Wexford was switched to Mullingar, and the Leinster county claimed the points on a scoreline of 1-11 to 0-11.
Away Days Blues for Sligo Ladies by Keith Gilroy
Sligo Ladies made the long trip to Killeshin, four kilometres from Carlow Town, to take on high flying Laois on Sunday. After putting back to back wins together over Westmeath and Waterford in recent weeks Paddy Henry’s girls were hopeful of getting their first point on the road in 2017, unfortunately that was not to be.
Strong winds and heavy rain played havoc in the first half as both teams found it hard to comes to terms with the conditions. It was Laois that had the better of the chances in the opening ten minutes hitting the Sligo crossbar before Noelle Gormley got down low to save from Mo Nerney. Laois did get off the mark first with three points before Ciara Gorman got Sligo’s first from a 14-yard free. Stephanie O’Reilly slotted over from play to leave the gap at a point. That was as close has Sligo would get as Laois extended their lead. A pointed free from Gorman and one from play from Karen Maloney kept Sligo in touch until Laois were awarded a penalty in the 23rd minute that was hit perfectly to the bottom corner to give Gormley no chance in the Sligo goals. Laois were showing their dominance and added three more points before the half time whistle.
Sligo started the brighter of the teams in the second half with Ciara Gorman hitting two points and Karen Maloney pointing for the visitors to cut the gap to five. Rachel Williams then pointed for Laois before things got worse for Sligo when Grainne O’Loughlin was sin binned, from the free the home side extended their lead to eight points. Laois were then reduced to 14 players when full forward Meaghan Dunne was shown a yellow card for a tackle on the Sligo keeper. Two points from Noirin Kirwan and one from Clare Conlon added to the home side’s lead, before two points from Stephanie O’Reilly and a point from substitute Sarch McMoreland narrowed the gap. Gorman added the last score of the day but it was not enough for the visitors, and it could have been worse for Sligo only for Noelle Gormley, who got down to deny Laois a third goal right at the end.
Laois go back to the top of the table, Sligo drop to fourth place. With a trip to take on last year’s intermediate champions Kildare on March 18th before they welcome Cavan and Clare, Paddy Henry’s team will know that a big improvement is needed to secure a semi-final spot.
Sligo Team
1 Noelle Gormley (Capt) St Nathys
2 Michelle McNamara Drumcliff/Rosses pt
3 Grainne O Loughlin St Michaels
4 Jacqui Mulligan St Farnans
5 Ruth Goodwin St Mary’s
6 Eilise Codd St Michaels
7 Etna Flanagan St Nathys
8 Bernice Byrne Geevagh
9 Sarah Reynolds Geevagh
10 Laura Ann Laffey Coolera/Strandhill
11 Ciara Gorman St Nathy’s
12 Lisa Casey Eastern Harps
13 Karen Maloney St Mary’s
14 Stephanie O Reilly Geevagh
15 Mary Ann O Kennedy St Nathys
16 Katrina Connolly St Nathy’s
17 Rachel Monaghan Drumcliff/Rosses pt
18 Sinead Naughton Eoghan Rua
19 Sinead Regan Drumcliff /Rosses pt
20 Leah Kelly St Farnans
22 Sarah McMoreland St Mary’s
23 Annmarie Coleman St Nathys
24 Denise McGrath Ballymote
25 Elaine O Reilly Geevagh
26 Amie Cawley Fox Eoghan Rua
Manager:Paddy Henry
Selectors :Liam Murray
:Liam Naughton
:Aisling Ewing
:Katrina Connolly
:Margaret Davey
Physio:Michael Duffy
Lidl Ladies National Football League round-up
Compiled by Jackie Cahill
The battle for the precious top-four places in Division 1 of the Lidl Ladies National Football League intensified on Sunday as Dublin and Galway drew level with Cork on nine points at the head of affairs.
A superior scoring difference leaves Cork, winners on their travels to Mayo on Saturday, on top of the pile but Dublin and Galway turned up the heat with victories a day later.
Dublin were comfortable 2-17 to 3-7 victors against visiting Donegal at Parnell Park – with both of the home side’s goals coming in the second half.
Lethal Donegal forward Geraldine McLaughlin scored 2-1 in the first half but Dublin, with four frees from captain Sinead Ahern, were 0-8 to 2-2 clear at the midway point.
Carla Rowe’s 39th-minute goal eased Dublin into a 1-11 to 2-3 advantage and Mick Bohan’s charges never looked back from there.
Lyndsey Davey netted with nine minutes left for the Sky Blues and while Niamh Hegarty bagged Donegal’s third goal, Dublin ran out winners with seven points to spare.
Galway, despite losing Dora Gorman to a red card in the first half, clinched a dramatic 2-11 to 1-12 victory against Armagh at Tuam Stadium.
Mairead Seoighe came off the bench to score two goals in the last four minutes – and her second goal was the final kick of the game to seal victory in a sensational finish.
Roisin Leonard top-scored for Galway with seven points, with Caroline O’Hanlon leading the way for Armagh with a personal haul of 1-2.
At half-time, O’Hanlon’s goal had Armagh 1-3 to 0-5 in front and while the visitors looked set for the win late on, Seoighe’s introduction turned the game on its head.
Meanwhile, improving Kerry collected their second victory of the campaign, running out 3-11 to 2-9 winners against Ulster champions Monaghan.
On the day her brother Jack scored 1-3 for the Monaghan men’s footballers against Kerry, Ellen McCarron bagged 2-5 against the Kingdom but it wasn’t enough to prevent defeat.
Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh collected eight points for Kerry as they boosted their hopes of a top-four finish.
McCarron netted in the second minute but that goal was cancelled out by Laura Rogers eleven minutes later as Kerry settled.
Sarah Houlihan and Amanda Brosnan added further goals for Kerry, before McCarron collected another before half-time to leave the visitors to Listowel Emmets in touch at the break, trailing by 2-3 to 3-3.
After Ní Mhuircheartaigh scored two early frees in the second half, Monaghan were awarded a penalty in the 37th minute, with Kerry goalkeeper Ciara Murphy sin-binned for a foul on Laura McEnaney, but Cora Courtney fired her effort over the crossbar.
That was a let-off for Kerry but the hosts took control of proceedings from there to run out five-point winners.
In Division 2, emerging Laois and Tyrone sides leapfrogged Waterford to take the top two spots in the pool.
Laois were 2-14 to 0-11 winners against Sligo, while Tyrone won their Ulster derby clash with Cavan by 4-9 to 2-14.
In Division 3, Wexford were winners on their visit to Leitrim and in Division 4, there were victories for Fermanagh, Wicklow, Louth and Longford.
Results:
Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 1
Dublin 2-17 Donegal 3-7
Galway 2-11 Armagh 1-12
Kerry 3-11 Monaghan 2-9
Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 2
Laois 2-14 Sligo 0-11
Cavan 2-14 Tyrone 4-9
Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 3
Leitrim 0-11 Wexford 1-11
Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 4
Antrim 0-10 Fermanagh 5-8
Derry 2-2 Wicklow 5-9
Louth 2-19 Kilkenny 1-6
Longford 8-16 Carlow 0-5
