Laois Minor Ladies lose out to Westmeath

Leinster Ladies Minor ‘B’ Championship Round 3

Laois 3-12

Westmeath 5-10

The Laois Minor ladies fell to Westmeath in Round 3 of the Leinster ‘B’ Championship today with a four point defeat in Timahoe.

They lost their opening round clash to Longford before going on to secure a nine-point win in a nine-goal thriller against Wexford last month. While they lost today, they are still likely to go through to semi-final stage but await the result of tomorrow’s Longford v Wexford game at 2pm - with the decision coming down to either head-to-head or score difference.

Tom McKittrick’s side trailed by seven points on a scoreline of 2-7 to 1-3 at the interval with Portlaoise’s Leah Loughman accounting for Laois’ 1-3 tally in a difficult opening half against the wind. Westmeath’s Grace Halligan goaled less than a minute in, and Jessica Hennessy followed suit within the opening quarter of an hour.

St Conleth’s Sarah Walsh aided the Laois cause with 1-1 and Caoimhe Fitzpatrick dispatched a penalty in the closing half as Laois looked to stage a revival, but Westmeath substitute Ruth Martin grabbed a goal while Halligan would finish with 3-3 for the day as Westmeath ran out victors.

All eyes will now turn to tomorrow’s clash of Longford and Wexford as Laois await the result.

LAOIS

SCORERS: Leah Loughman 1-5, Sarah Walsh 1-2, Caoimhe Fitzpatrick 1-0, Jade Nolan 0-3, Julia Cahill and Danielle Forbes 0-1 each.

TEAM: Niamh Phelan (St. Brigids); Lisa Walsh (St. Brigids), Sarah McMahon (Ballyroan), Sara Kerfah (Graiguecullen); Danielle Forbes (Graiguecullen), Niamh Crowley (St. Pauls), Julie Cahill (Portlaoise); Jade Nolan (Graiguecullen), Rebecca Balfe (St. Pauls); Leah Kelly (Ballyroan), Caoimhe Fitzpatrick (Graiguecullen), Emer Brennan (St. Brigids); Jenny Murphy (Timahoe), Sarah Walsh (St. Conleths), Leah Loughman (Portlaoise) Subs: Aine Lacey (St Brigids) for E Brennan, Amy Fitzpatrick (Ballyroan) for Kerfah, Ciara McDonald (Killeshin) for Cahill.

WESTMEATH

TEAM: Sinead Byrne; Aoife Kenny, Emma Kelly, Clodagh Dillon; Abbie Sheerin, Vicky Carr, Niamh Mullarkey; Sinead Murtagh, Susan Glennon; Amelia Shaw, Jessica Hennessey, Roisin Killian; Sinead Robbins, Grace Halligan, Jasmine Maloney.

REFEREE: Ciaran Groome (Offaly)