Senior Ladies win critical league encounter
However, this Syl's team are getting better as time goes on at working on their game and grinding down the opposition. This one they won convincingly, 5-16 to 3-9.
The match was played on Clanna Gael's main pitch under lights, in contrast to our Championship encounter played on the same pitch but the lights were not working.
The game started with Syls showing their intent, Niamh McEvoy winning the throw-in, transferring the ball forward where it reached Sinead Aherne who, following a characteristic space making move, popped the ball over the bar.
Clanna Gael also showed their intent with strong running up the middle and they managed to score 1-7 in the first half. However, Syls followed up on their initial showing and, despite some uncharacteristically inaccurate short passing, still managed to post a score of 3-8 to be 7 points clear at half time.
Syls cut down on the error rate in the second half and surged ahead with a score of 2-8 (10 scores) while holding Clanna Gael to 2-2 (4 scores).
This was an excellent team effort by St. Sylvester's. While the Clanna Gael attack looked potent as they surged up the middle, our last line of defence was superb and snuffed out most of the attacks, especially in the second half. A feature here was the impressive performance by Kim White in the unaccustomed position of full back marking the seasoned Dublin campaigner Kim Flood. Carol Hickey was equally industrious while Leah Harrold came forward in attack on a few occasions in addition to her defensive work. Goalkeeper Maeve Killen put in your usual intelligent and competent performance.
Michelle Walls at wing back also did an impressive one to one marking job, being seldom beaten by her direct opponent. Anne Clarke did her usual job at the heart of the defence, making several good runs and setting up attacks, while Emma Lynch was very effective in one-to-one marking, winning ball and providing a link between defence and attack.
Niamh McEvoy put in a hard night's work around midfield, winning hard ball when it needed to be won, ably assisted by Sinead Treacy. All three half forwards, Louise Ryan, Lucia Hughes and Emer Tracey, made an impression, with intelligent running and ball carrying, setting up opportunities for the full forward line.
This line made the biggest impact, all three in their own distinctive ways. On several occasions, Niamh Harney made intelligent runs into space when Sinead Aherne took possession, knowing that Sinead would see her and give her the perfect pass. This worked a treat three times in the second half, yielding 3 points for Niamh.
Sinead herself, apart from showing for and winning the ball on numerous occasions, put on a master class of seemingly effortless scoring, racking up an impressive total of 3-5, with only one of those eight scored from a free.
However, one of the most memorable features of this game was the energetic performance of Nicole Owens who foraged all over the field for the ball and made several unstoppable runs mostly ending in scores or transfers to team mates in better positions. In addition to her attacking prowess, however, her defensive work was equally energetic and effective. On at least two occasions, she shadowed her marker so effectively that there was nothing the defender could do with the ball.
Another memorable feature was the performance of the entire defence on a few occasions in the second half when, under pressure from the Clanna Gael attack who were pressing high up the field, they won possession, then played the ball around until an opportunity arose to break out of the Clann stranglehold and sweep the ball upfield at pace where the forwards secured the inevitable score
Scorers for t. Sylvester's were: Sinead Aherne 3-5, Nicole Owens 1-5, Emer Tracey 1-2, Niamh Harney.0-4
Next up is what should be an easy game against Round Towers (C). A win there would mean that the only team that can catch us (with 4 games in hand) is St. Maurs. Our last match in the League is against Maurs on Wednesday, October 15th, 7.30pm, in Lawless Park (Fingallians) under lights. A win there gets us promotion to Senior League, Division 1, to copper fasten our status alongside our Senior Championship ranking.