Naomh Mearnóg’s Aoibhe Dillion Hits Impressive 11 Point Haul In Dublin Premier Juniors Comfortable Win
Dublin 0-22
Armagh 1-08
Brendan Graham reporting from Parnells
The Dublin Premier Juniors got their 2018 Championship season off to the perfect start yesterday evening with a commanding eleven point victory over Armagh in very warm and difficult conditions.
They couldn’t have asked for a better start with a quick succession of points from Aoibhe Dillon, Caragh Dawson and Laoise Quinn giving them a three point lead within the first five minutes.
Right from the throw in, Armagh struggled to deal with the quick running and pace of the Dublin players and were finding themselves with no option but to bring the Dublin players down by fouling.
It wasn’t until the seventeenth minute that they registered their first score and it came from Ciara Donnelly from the penalty spot.
The Eglish centre forward tried to slot her shot low and to the corner but she was denied by a superb save from Kathryn Kantounia in the Dublin goal.
She got down low to flick the ball over the bar and give Armagh their first score of the game.
Donnelly’s opening score for the away side led to an increased confidence among the team and they really tightened things up at the back for the next ten minutes.
As well as they were doing at the back they were also struggling to score themselves thanks to a dominant performance by Caoimhe Ni Maolagain at centre half back for Dublin.
The Dublin forwards were made to work extremely hard for every ball that came their way with Armagh happy to just clear the ball out of defence as soon as they gained any possession.
Dublin’s sharpness and superior fitness began to tell as the half wore on though and they made sure to make it count on the scoreboard too.
A further five points from the impressive Aoibhe Dillon either side of a classy individual score from distance from Laoise Quinn left the Dubs leading 0-12 to 0-3 going in at the break.
Armagh began the second half looking refreshed and rejuvenated and had the ball in the back of the net within two minutes of the second half throw in.
A rare moment of slack defending from the Dublin Premier Juniors rear guard left Emma Mone the chance to tuck the ball into the net following a goalmouth scramble.
Another quick point immediately after the goal from free taker Ciara Donnelly had Armagh back within five points jut five minutes into the second half.
Dublin’s first score of the second half came after eight minutes through Aoibhe Dillon before herself and Bernie Murray for Armagh exchanged scores at either end to leave Dublin’s lead at 0-16 to 1-05 heading into the final twenty minutes of the game.
For every one point Armagh managed to string together Dublin were responding with two or three.
Armagh points in the closing stages from Catherine Beagan and again Ciara Donnelly were quickly replicated at the other end by the girls in blue.
They began to flex their muscles as the game drew to a close with points from Aoife Walsh, Evelyn Twomey Hannah O’Dea and Louise O’Shea and a further two from Dublin sharp shooter Aoibhe Dillon edged the Dublin Premier Juniors to an eleven point victory as they head for Roscommon next weekend.
Dublin Scorers:
Aoibhe Dillon 0-11
Caragh Dawson 0-03
Aoife Walsh 0-02
Laoise Quinn 0-02
Evelyn Twomey 0-02
Hannah O’Dea 0-01
Louise O’Shea 0-01
Armagh Scorers:
Ciara Donnelly 0-06
Emma Mone 1-00
Catherine Beagan 0-01
Leanne Donnelly 0-01
Dublin Team:
Kathryn Kantounia, Emma O’Flynn, Deirdre Johnstone, Niamh Gleeson, Emma Barron, Caoimhe Ni Maolagain, Sinead Murphy, Hannah O’Dea, Louise O’Shea, Aoife Dooley, Aoibhe Dillon, Caragh Dawson, Aoife Walsh, Laura Walsh, Laoise Quinn.
Dublin Substitutions:
Sinead Noolan for Aoife Walsh
Evelyn Twomey for Aoife Dooley
Ciara Carolan for Laura Walsh.
Armagh Team:
Ciarrai Devlin, Caella Casey, Grainne McWilliams, Nicola Woods, Siodhna Woods, Catherine McCooey, Sarah Mooney, Eimear Smyth, Aoibhinn McManus, Leanne Donnelly, Eimear Smyth, Catherine Beagan, Rachael Merry, Ciara Donnelly, Emma Mone.