Superior Antrim edge thriller against gritty Lake County girls

Antrim 2-17

Westmeath 4-7

A wonderful contest ended amid frenetic exchanges as Westmeath and Antrim traded late goals in a pulsating finish, at Home Instead Lakepoint Park on Sunday, in the ladies All-Ireland Intermediate football championship.

Ultimately, Antrim had the superior quality and prevailed by four points, but it was only after a fourth Westmeath goal from Anna Jones narrowed the gap to just the bare minimum in the fifth minute of additional time. The final kick-out was won by Antrim, who produced a slick counter attack that led to Maria O’Neill finding the net to seal victory in dramatic circumstances.

Antrim’s 19 scores compared to 11 for Westmeath is arguably the telling statistic from a splendid encounter that was level at half-time, 2-6 to 1-9, after Anna Jones and Aoife Connolly goaled for the Lake County in the 19th and 26th minutes, respectively. Second half majors from Rachel Dillon and Jones would have been sufficient to win most other games, but here Antrim were relentless and their high octane performance eventually brought its reward.

Westmeath’s Aoife Connolly was denied an obvious penalty in the 60th minute when she was pushed over in the square as she tried to engineer another goal. Westmeath manager Michael Finneran refused to make an issue out of the contentious incident afterwards, accepting that his side gave second best and expressing his pride at the level of their performance.

Played in sultry conditions, this was an excellent encounter and Westmeath had to show character from an early stage, falling four points adrift as Antrim set the pace, with Orlaith Prenter (0-2) the main protagonist and the dashing Lara Dahunsi proving a real handful.

However, a sin-binning for Bronagh Devlin in the 13th minute changed things and a ball over the top from Vicky Carr put Anna Jones in the clear; the full forward backed herself to finish emphatically to the net.

Westmeath led for a spell then, with Aoife Connolly and Ciara Blundell getting some lovely team scores, but the concession of a very avoidable goal in the 24th minute - when Prenter’s shot deceived the Westmeath ‘keeper at the crucial moment and bounced to the net - gave Antrim a 1-7 to 1-5 advantage. To their credit, Westmeath replied with an excellent Aoife Connolly goal and the sides traded further quality scores before going in level at the break.

Westmeath got themselves in a great position when Rachel Dillon got through for a goal after 40 minutes to give them a 3-6 to 1-9 lead - the wing forward managing to boot the ball home despite her run being delayed by the Antrim defence. But back came Antrim with five unanswered scores from Prenter (two), Dahunsi and Gráinne McLoughlin (two, one free). They led by 1-14 to 3-6 with eight minutes remaining.

Substitute Sarah Dillon shot a fine score to keep Westmeath firmly in contention and a gripping game remained in the balance. Antrim again established a four-point lead by the fourth minute of added time when Prenter converted a free, but Connolly’s high punt landed in the danger area and the ball broke to Anna Jones, who sent a rasping shot to the roof of the net to leave Westmeath just a point adrift (1-17 to 4-7).

The late drama continued as Antrim won the subsequent kick-out and, with Westmeath fully committed, they broke forward and found space for Maria O’Neill to fire home their second goal and finally break the Lake County’s resolve.

Scorers - Antrim: O Prenter 1-7 (0-2f), G McLoughlin 0-5 (2f), M O’Neill 1-0, L Dahunsi 0-3, C Carey and O Corr 0-1 each. Westmeath: A Jones 2-0, A Connolly 1-3 (0-2f), R Dillon 1-0, J Quinn, V Carr, C Blundell and S Dillon 0-1 each.

Antrim: Anna McCann; Duana Coleman, Emma Ferron, Aislinn Keenan; Orla Corr, Ciara Brown, Sarah O’Neill; Ana Mulholland, Áine Tubridy; Gráinne McLoughlin, Cathy Carey, Lara Dahunsi; Bronagh Devlin, Orlaith Prenter, Maria O’Neill. Subs: Maeve Mulholland for O Corr (47), Caitlín Taggart for B Devlin (55), Clare Emerson for L Dahunsi (60+3).

Westmeath: Lauren McCormack; Mary Dunne, Lucy Power, Melek Fagan; Kelly Boyce Jordan, Tracey Dillon, Chloe Kelly; Vicky Carr, Johanna Quinn; Ashley Ruane, Ciara Blundell, Rachel Dillon; Laura Kiernan, Anna Jones, Aoife Connolly. Subs: Sarah Dillon for L Kiernan (48), Caoimhe Clarke McMahon for C Blundell (54), Susanna Buckley for A Ruane (59).

Ref: Anthony Marron (Monaghan).

Examiner's Eye on the game

Player of the match

Orlaith Prenter (Antrim): The talented full forward scored 1-7 in total, 1-5 from play, and edges out colleagues like Lara Dahunsi, Gráinne McLoughlin, Orla Corr and Áine Tubridy. Westmeath had fine contributions from a range of players including Anna Jones, Aoife Connolly, Rachel Dillon and Johanna Quinn.

Score of the match

Westmeath played some lovely football and a 53rd minute point by Ciara Blundell was one of many highlights: Chole Kelly and Johanna Quinn were among the players involved before Ciara Blundell scored a fine point.

Match officials

A fine job, overall by referee, Anthony Marron, but he failed to spot the push on Aoife Connolly which would have resulted in a penalty late on.

Next up

Westmeath take on Longford (away) next Sunday in a crucial game that will decide qualification.