Gallant Tyrone Ladies downed by All-Ireland champions

Tyrone 1-7

Kerry 4-5

By Niall Gartland

GOALS made the difference as All-Ireland champions Kerry claimed their third league victory on the spin with a deserved victory over a gutsy Tyrone team in Garvaghey yesterday afternoon.

The game was moved from O’Neill’s Healy Park to the Tyrone GAA Centre of Excellence, Garvaghey just an hour beforehand following a pitch inspection, and both teams played with commendable skill and endeavour though Kerry’s superior scoring threat made the difference on the day.

That comes with an important caveat, however – a number of Kerry’s majors came from fortuitous enough efforts, the blustery cross-field breeze playing its part in the Kingdom racking up four goals across the hour.

Still, Tyrone will take heart from their display. While they couldn’t string together back-to-back victories after their recent win over Mayo, Kerry was always going to be a different kettle of fish and they showed flashes of their undoubted ability thoughout proceedings.

Kerry, who have appeared in the last three All-Ireland Senior finals, to give you just a flavour of what exactly Tyrone were dealing with here, got off to a flying start, surging into a 1-2 to no score lead in the opening five minutes.

Danielle O’Leary got the goal, her speculative effort at a point on an extremely blustery day ending up on the back of the net with only a minute on the clock, while Mary O’Connell and Niamh Carmody contributed early points.

It looked like Tyrone were in for a long afternoon but they started to assert themselves and Aoife Horisk landed their first score of the day, capping off a fine attacking move.

The wind played havoc for a spell, both sides spurning opportunities, and it was Tyrone that found their range once again with another point from play from Horisk, who suffered a knock in the process and was replaced by Sorcha Gormley. To her credit, Horisk was fit to come back on later in the game.

Kerry hit back with a point from Caoimhe Evans, but Tyrone didn’t look at all overawed against their big-name opponents, getting the next two points, via the influential Slainne McCarroll and Elle McNamee.

Also of note was Tyrone’s crisp tackling, exemplified by the efforts of the hard-working Aoibhinn McHugh and Chloe McCaffrey among others, forcing a number of turnovers midway through the half as Tyrone kept the door shut on the visitors.

Unfortunately, their good work was undone when the Kingdom struck for their second goal of the day after the Tyrone defence was left all at sea and O’Leary stabbed the ball into an empty net.

They compounded their advantage with the final point of the half, coming from Jaydn Lucey, ensuring they carried a 2-4 to 0-4 lead into the second-half.

The game wasn’t over by a long shot, but it was still a long way back in the circumstances.

Tyrone had plenty of possession after the break but couldn’t quite work the ball into scorable positions for a long stretch, though they did muster an early goal chance from their lively sub Sorcha Gormley, her shot parried by Kerry goalkeeper Katie Hannon, who was brought in for the second-half.

Tyrone pushed and pushed but scoring chances were at a premium and Kerry extended their advantage with a 42-minute goal from the impressive Anna Galvin, who was allowed to ghost through the heart of the Red Hand defence.

To be fair, it was atypical in that sense as the Tyrone rearguard were very disciplined throughout, coughing up only a smattering of frees anywhere near the posts.

Tyrone sub Niamh O’Neill nailed two frees but Kerry were still comfortable and got their fourth goal of the game heading into the final ten minutes from sub Rachael Dwyer, though it was clear she was aiming for the other side of the crossbar,

The Red Hands kept battling and got a deserved late consolation goal from Sorcha Gormley but ultimately they could have no complaints as Kerry recorded a deserved victory a long way from home.

Scorers

Tyrone: Sorcha Gormley (1-0), Niamh O’Neill (0-3, 3f), Aoife Horisk (0-2), Slaine McCarroll and Elle McNamee 0-1 each.

Kerry: Danielle O’Leary (2-0), Roisin Dwyer and Anna Galvin (1-0 each), Jaydn Lucey, Caoimhe Evans, Mary O’Connell, Niamh Carmody and Katie Brosnan 0-1 each.

Teams

Tyrone: Amelia Coyle; Jayne Lyons, Tori McElroy, Eimear Quinn; Michaela Moore, Meabh Corrigan, Aine Strain; Aoibhinn McHugh, Meabh Mallon; Caitlin Campbell, Slaine McCarroll, Elle McNamee; Chloe McCaffrey, Cara McCrossan, Aoife Horisk. Subs: Sorcha Gormley for Horisk, Niamh O’Neill for McCrossan, A Horisk for McElroy (50), (40) Emer McCanny for M Corrigan (50), Ciara Colton for M Moore (57), Niamh McElduff for A Strain (60).

Kerry: Mary Ellen Bolger; Roisin Rahilly, Deirdre Kearney, Ciara McCarthy; Eilis Lynch, Aoife Dillane, Niamh Broderick; Mary O’Connell, Anna Galvin; Niamh Carmody, Siofra O’Shea, Leah Boyle; Caoimhe Evans, Jaydn Lucey, Danielle O’Leary. Subs: Niamh Quinn for Evans (ht), Aishling O’Connell for Broderick (ht), Katie Hannon for Bolger (ht), Kayleigh Cronin for Lucey (43), Niamh Ní Chonchúir for R Rahilly (43), Katie Brosnan for S O’Shea (50), Kayla O’Connor for A Dillane (54).

Referee: Maggie Farrelly (Cavan)