New look Laois Ladies fall short against strong Donegal outfit in league opener

The Laois Ladies got their 2024 campaign underway against Donegal in the LOETB Centre of Excellence in Portlaoise. Laois Ladies football, under the guise of Arles-Killeen native Donie Brennan, had enjoyed serious improvement over the last few years and will be hoping to continue that trend this season.

The new management team of co-managers Tommy Devereux and Billy Kiernan knew that the Division 2 league opener against reigning Ulster champions Donegal was always going to be tough. 

The Kildare native duo have been forced to deal with a massive turnover of players as well from last season. They will work with a very young and inexperienced squad but there is still plenty of talent within the ranks.

Donegal 0-7

Laois 0-3

In very wet and windy conditions, Donegal were blessed with the chance to play behind the strong wind for the first half in Portlaoise. The reigning Ulster champions dominated possession for the opening five minutes, but Laois’ defence managed to keep them at bay.

It took all of eight minutes for our first score of the game to arrive as the stormy conditions made even simple handpasses a difficult task. Donegal finally managed to register a score though, as Susanne White’s shot from distance fortuitously hopped over Eimear Barry went over the bar.

Donegal were enjoying nearly all the possession here and three minutes later, they doubled their advantage. Eva Gallagher saw her effort partially blocked down by the Laois defence but the shot still had enough power to just about drop over the posts.

It was pretty much all Donegal for the first quarter, as Laois were penned inside their own half and forced to defend in numbers. 

In the fifteenth minute of the game, Laois goalkeeper Eimear Barry was penalised for not getting her kickout away in time and Susanne White punished by slicing over the resulting free.

Two minutes later and Susanne White was on target again for the away side as Donegal caught Laois out with a swift counter-attack. They turned Laois over around the middle and the ball was quickly worked to White who found the target again.

To the credit of the Laois Ladies, they improved a lot in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. They began to get a foothold in terms of possession and frustrated Donegal somewhat by holding on the ball impressively against a very strong wind.

However, despite the improvement in their general play, Laois failed to get on the scoreboard over the course of the first half. They failed to find enough space inside the Donegal defence and that left Tom Devereux and Billy Kiernan’s side scratching their heads for solutions.

The closest they came to a score was when Laois were awarded a free as we approached half-time. Mo Nerney stepped up and the Laois Ladies veteran struck the free nicely but unfortunately the wind caught it and it fell just short into Donegal keeper Clare Friel’s hands.

Donegal notched up a few wides themselves before the interval though and that kept just four points between the teams. Considering the strength of the wind they played against and the fact they would play behind it in the second-half, Laois were probably fairly satisfied with that deficit.

Shanahoe’s Alice Walsh and St Conleth’s Mary Cotter were both introduced for the start of the second-half for Laois as the management team looked for fresh energy. It did seem to aid the Laois intensity as well, as they attacked Donegal with more pace in their play.

Laois grabbed their first score of the contest in the thirty-third minute of the match. St Joseph’s player Emily Lacey, who lined out at centre-forward for Laois, launched over a delightful score from distance to get the Laois Ladies up and running.

Susanne White swiftly replied for Donegal by placing over a close-range free to get the away team on the scoresheet for the second-half. Laois would cut their lead back to three with twenty minutes remaining though, as they seemed to set themselves up for an exciting and tight finish.

Laois were awarded a free well outside the 45’ and you would have thought that a short free was the only option. Markswoman Mo Nerney had other ideas though, as she opted to take the free on. Nerney connected on the spot with the free and, with the aid of the wind, the ball dropped over the posts.

However, Laois struggled to cut into that three-point deficit for the remainder of the affair. Donegal set up with a defensive block anytime Laois held possession and the women wearing blue and white could not figure out a way to unlock them.

Donegal’s Katy Herron pushed the lead back out to four points as we approached the last ten minutes in Portlaoise. Susanne White added another three minutes later and Laois looked like they required late goals if they were to turn this around.

Those goals never looked like coming though. While Donegal were reduced to fourteen players when Roisín Rodgers received a yellow card, Laois still could not break their opposition down.

Mo Nerney managed to knock over another well-taken free but that proved to be the last score of the day. Laois will look to bounce back from this defeat against Cavan next.