Drumragh senior ladies drew with Kildress in the league at Clanabogan on Thursday
DRUMRAGH……….2-7
KILDRESS………..1-10
A brilliant second-half fightback earned Drumragh senior ladies a point against Kildress at Clanabogan on Thursday evening.
Seven points down midway through the second half, Drumragh finished the game strong to take what was a richly-deserved point.
Both defences stopped early attacks with Grace O’Neill, Nicola Taggart and Rachel Cleary standing tall for Drumragh. At the other end of the pitch, Sorcha McKenna, Beth Donaghy and Caoimhe McCarron were unlucky not to score. It was the visitors who did open the scoring and they quickly doubled their advantage with another point from play. They almost got in for a goal but were denied by an important block from Joanne Barrett.
Sorcha McKenna got Drumragh on the scoreboard with a free after she had been fouled following good play from Julieanne Quinn and Neamh Cleary in the build-up.
Kildress answered back with a point and scored the opening goal of the contest not long afterwards.
The teams went score-for-score from then until the half-time whistle. Grace O’Neill and Sorcha McKenna set up a good point for Neamh Cleary, Sorcha McKenna kicked a nice point off her left foot while a terrific run from Beth Donaghy allowed Breanna Breslin to put the ball over the bar.
All that meant, Kildress enjoyed a four-point lead at the break.
Drumragh captain Neamh Cleary pictured with the Kildress captain and the referee before the start of the game
A super score from Beth Donaghy opened the scoring in the second half, although Kildress responded with four points on the bounce. Drumragh were under pressure during this time, and strong defending from Claire McLaughlin, Iona Mills and Blanaid McGarvey in the full-back line stopped Kildress from building an even bigger lead. Drumragh goalkeeper Clodagh Loughran came off her line a few times and dealt well with high balls into the square too.
However, Drumragh were determined not to be beaten. The comeback began with a Neamh Cleary goal. Good play from Julieanne Quinn and Coblaith McKenna saw the ball go into the hands of Sorcha McKenna and her precise pass inside was gathered by Neamh, who took it past the goalkeeper and fired it into the net.
Kildress went up the field and registered another point, but that proved to be their last of the game. Drumragh upped the intensity and were rewarded with their second goal. Mia Gallagher, Nicola Taggart and Evie Gallagher were all involved in a move that ended with a brilliant goal from Neamh Cleary who fired to the top corner of the net.
Joanne Barrett followed that up with a great point leaving just a point in it. They pushed for an equaliser and were denied, at first by determined defending from Kildress. The Drumragh defence too, had to be aware with Blanaid McGarvey and Coblaith McKenna snuffing out dangerous attacks from the away side. But eventually, that equaliser came.
Aoibhinn Gallagher won the ball in the corner, laid it off to Sorcha McKenna who, with another wonderful pass, found Neamh Cleary in a bit of space and she steered the ball over the bar.
Both sides created chances in injury time to kick a winner but weren’t able to take them, and with that the referee blew the full-time whistle. A hard-earned and well-deserved point for Drumragh.
SCORERS: Neamh Cleary 2-2, Sorcha McKenna 0-2, Beth Donaghy 0-1, Breanna Breslin 0-1, Joanne Barrett 0-1
TEAM: Clodagh Loughran, Iona Mills, Claire McLaughlin, Blanaid McGarvey, Nicola Taggart, Joanne Barrett, Grace O’Neill, Neamh Cleary, Coblaith McKenna, Breanna Breslin, Julieanne Quinn, Beth Donaghy, Rachel Cleary, Sorcha McKenna, Caoimhe McCarron
SUBS: Evie Gallagher, Mia Gallagher, Aoibhinn Gallagher, Emma-Cait Gallagher, Laura-Jayne Donnelly, Aine MacRory, Kathryn Donaghey, Cassie McCabe
