St Paul's show their class to march on in the opening round of the Leinster Ladies JFC

It was only three weeks ago in Annanough where St Paul’s lifted the Laois Ladies Junior football championship title over Killeshin in front of a decent crowd. In a highly competitive clash, an injury-time point from substitute Anna Keegan proved enough to edge St Paul’s over the line that day. That victory would have tasted very sweet for St Paul’s but their season was finished yet.

St Paul’s would go ahead and represent Laois in the Leinster Ladies Junior football championship for 2024. They opened their journey against Carlow-based outfit Rathvilly in Emo on Saturday afternoon.

St Paul's 8-15

Rathvilly 1-3

Rathvilly themselves had only just edged over the line in their own county final. A competitive clash was expected between these two sides on a beautiful October’s day at the Emo GAA grounds.

However, it proved anything but competitive. St Paul’s were in free-scoring form on their home patch and let loose on a determined Rathvilly team.

To the Carlow-based teams credit, they were quite competitive in the first ten minutes. St Paul’s would open the scoring with a Niamh Conroy goal but Rathvilly battled back well early on.

They took advantage of some sloppy wides from St Paul’s to keep it close. Amalita O’Donoghue raised the first white flag of the day for Rathvilly.

While Clodagh Brogan landed St Paul’s opening point of the afternoon, Rathvilly responded with their first and only goal of the game. Rachel Whelan took advantage of some uncertainty in the St Paul’s square and pounced to knock home.

Rathvilly would then take the lead then after ten minutes of play. Rachel Whelan added a point to her earlier goal to see her side edge 1-2 to 1-1 in front at this stage of the affair.

However, that proved to be as good as it got for the Carlow side as St Paul’s began to find their feet in front of the posts. Clodagh Brogan levelled this contest before the Laois women went on a tear for the next five minutes of the match.

Midfielder Isabella O’Toole played a one-two with full-forward Sinead O’Rourke. O’Toole got the ball back and made no mistake with the finish.

Then it was Clodagh Brogan’s turn to add a brace of goals to her couple of points. St Paul’s were dominating the Rathvilly kickout with their high press and that resulted in Brogan bagging two in quick succession.

Captain Shannon Costello then scored another to see St Pau’s drift comfortably ahead on the scoreboard in Emo. While Amalita O’Donogue managed to return Rathvilly to the scoreboard, St Paul’s would finish the half on top.

Niamh Conroy placed over another point before Shannon Costello crashed home her second goal of the half. St Paul’s held a 6-4 to 1-3 advantage at half-time and there looked to be no way back for Rathvilly.

St Paul’s proved to be even more dominant in the second half as well. Their tenacious and disciplined defence saw Rathvilly held scoreless while they continued to punish their opponents down the other end.

Shannon Costello, Niamh Conroy, Clodagh Brogan and Lucy Kirwan all raised white flags for St Paul’s in the third quarter before the impressive and hard-working Kirwan added a goal to her name.

Sinead O’Rourke (free) and Isabella O’Toole added further points before the St Paul’s captain and centre-forward, Shannon Costello, continued to lead by example.

Costello kicked over three excellent points from play before Brogan sealed her hat-trick with the final score of the match. St Paul’s romped home easy winners and can now look forward to the next round of this competition.

While tougher tasks no doubt lie ahead for this St Paul’s side, they have shown resiliency and character throughout the year. Add to that their obvious talent on the field and they should prove to be a match for most teams in this Leinster competition.