Red Hand girls lose out narrowly to Dublin

Tyrone 3-4 Dublin 1-11

TYRONE ladies produced a hugely commendable showing against Dublin on a rainy Saturday afternoon in O’Neill Park, Dungannon – and with a shade more luck could even have got something more tangible out of the game.

Chloe McCaffrey’s second goal of the afternoon left only a point between the teams in injury-time, and while there wasn’t enough time to force an equaliser, it was a valiant effort all round from the Red Hands.

In their previous outing they slumped to a 6-15 to 0-6 defeat to Waterford, and there was only one way to rectify matters – by going out and doing themselves justice against a Dublin side that have gobbled up five of the last eight All-Ireland titles.

And that they did: Dublin were deserving victors but at no stage were they able to truly stretch their legs against a Tyrone side whose ultimate league fate hinges on the final round of fixtures next Saturday. They take on Kildare and it’s basically a three-way battle between themselves, the Lilywhites and Mayo to avoid the two relegation spots.

On Saturday afternoon Tyrone enjoyed a decent start but were left a goal behind when Hannah Tyrrell – a former Ireland Rugby International of considerable renown – poked the ball home with Dublin’s first meaningful attack of the hour.

Tyrone got their first score of the day when Niamh O’Neill steered over a free after team captain Aoibhinn McHugh was fouled after a trademark burst forward.

Dublin corner-forward Caoimhe O’Connor, a real live-wire, got the next score of the game, but Tyrone were by no means over-awed by their star-studded opponents and conjured a brilliant goal, Aoife Horisk unleashing an unstoppable shot to the net after purposeful build-up play. They even went ahead for a short spell when Niamh O’Neill again found the target in the 13th minute, and again – Tyrone’s attacking play was highly impressive, unlocking a strong Dublin defence for the second time in quick succession.

The visitors dominated the second quarter, using their considerable height and physicality to good effect in the middle of the park, making life difficult for Tyrone goalkeeper Amelia Coyle, who did very well in the circumstances, doing her level best to find her teammates on the flanks from restarts.

The Dubs were in the mood, however, rattling off the final four points of the half, including a goal-bound effort from Chloe Darby, whose shot was tipped over the bar by Coyle. Tyrone were struggling to get their hands in the ball, but they did well to keep the dam from bursting, players like Aoife Quinn, Meabh Corrigan, Slaine McCaroll, Caitlin Campbell and Aoibhinn McHugh just some of those to shine when Dublin were overall in the ascendancy.

Tyrone trailed by 1-5 to 1-2 at the interval, but they weren’t out of it by any means. Dublin got the first two scores of the second-half – frees from Tyrrell – though Tyrone could afford to be annoyed when Niamh O’Neill was cynically dragged down on the edge of the square with no more punishment directed Dublin’s way than a free, which O’Neill duly converted.

Dublin moved into a six-point lead with two fine points from Niamh Hetherton and Kate Sullivan, but at times they were guilty of being over-elaborate and the Tyrone defence held up well throughout proceedings.

The Red Hands were handed a life-life with around ten minutes remaining when second-half substitute Chloe McCaffrey, who was very impressive, went for the point from 30 metres out the pitch, her effort somehow ended up in the back of the net after Dublin goalkeeper Abby Shields was left flat-footed due to some iffy positioning.

Dublin kept on driving forward in droves, Kate Sullivan popping over a free after she herself was fouled before Tyrrell, who had been sin-binned earlier in the half, left the scoreboard reading 1-11 to 2-3 with 57 minutes gone.

The result didn’t look in doubt at this point but Tyrone enjoyed a seriously strong finish to proceedings, Sorcha Gormley scoring the point of the afternoon, weaving in from the flank before finding the target from way out the pitch. The Red Hands kept on driving forward and got their second goal of the afternoon after Chloe McCaffrey expertly lobbed the Dublin goalkeeper, leaving Tyrone just a single point in arrears as full-time approached.

All eyes were on the referee Brendan Rice, who allowed another period of play before calling time on a thoroughly watchable contest in Dungannon. Tyrone will take great heart from their performance even if the result ultimately didn’t go their way, and the important thing is that they’re still in the mix for survival.

Scorers

Tyrone: Chloe McCaffrey (2-0), Aoife Horisk (1-0), Niamh O’Neill (0-3, 2f), Sorcha Gormley (0-1)

Dublin: Hannah Tyrrell (1-3, 1f), Kate Sullivan (0-4, 1f), Niamh Hetheron (0-2, 1f), Caoimhe O’Connor and Chloe Darby (0-1 each)

Teams

Tyrone: Amelia Coyle, Jayne Lyons, Caitlin Campbell, Eimear Quinn, Tori McElroy, Meabh Corrigan, Slaine McCarroll, Meabh Mallon, Aoibhinn McHugh, Elle McNamee, Emer McCanny, Aoife Quinn, Niamh O’Neill, Aoife McGahan, Aoife Horisk. Subs: Sorcha Gormley for Quinn, Chloe McCaffrey for McNamee, Aine Strain for McElroy, Sasha Byrne for McGahan, Grainne McKenna for Lyons, Aoibhinn Daly for McCarrol., Maria Canavanand Michaela Moore

Dublin: Abby Shiels, Jess Tobin, Leah Caffrey, Aoife Kane, Aoife Curran, Martha Byrne, Grace Kos, Eilish O’Dowd, Hannah McGinnis, Caoimhe O’Connor, Chloe Darby, Kate Sullivan, Hannah Tyrrell, Niamh Hetherton, Sophie McIntyre. Subs: Annabelle Timothy for Curran, Jodi Egan for Darby.