All action Dalton leads Cats into Leinster Final

Kilkenny 4-21

Westmeath 1-7

In a sun drenched Nowlan Park last Saturday night, Kilkenny blasted past Westmeath in the Leinster Senior Semi Final

Kilkenny got off to the perfect start with 40 secs on the clock, when Anne Dalton latched onto the ball, soloed through the defence & dispatched it passed stranded Westmeath goalie. Five minutes later, the forementioned player extended Kilkenny’s lead with a lovely point

Westmeath captain, Mairead McCormack scored their point in the 8^th minute from a 21m free

Katie Power and Mairead McCormack (45’) traded points in the 8^th & 12^th minute

Kilkenny took control of the rest of the first half, keeping Westmeath scoreless and scoring 1-8 themselves with points through Anne Dalton (2), Denise Gaule (3, 1f), Aoife Doyle (2), Michelle Quilty (1f) and the goal through Anne Dalton

Anne Dalton was on fire in the first half, scoring 2-3 from centre forward, but she also tracked back into the defence when the Kilkenny forwards had lost the sliotar. One such track back led to one of her goals,  she played the ball forward, finding its way into one of ‘country end corners’, Katie Power soloed through the defence, giving a perfectly laid off hand passed to an rushing Dalton and she blasted it into the net

Kittens were leading at half time, 2-10 to 0-2

From the resumption of the new half, Kilkenny continued from where they had left off. With two minutes gone, Aoife Doyle played in Katie Power and she hand passed the sliotar into the net over the Westmeath goalie’s head

The next two scores, a point and a goal from Katie Power, extended Kilkenny’s lead 4-11 to 0-2

In the 39^th minute, Megan Dowdall (WH) stopped the rot when she soloed through the Kilkenny defence and dispatched the sliotar to the bottom corner of the net

Kilkenny scored the next three points through Miriam Walsh (2) and Michelle Quilty

Ava Balfe (WH) and Aoife Doyle traded points in the 44^th & 45^th minutes

Michelle Murtagh and Megan Dowdall scored two points for Westmeath which left the score 4-15 to 1-5 by the end of the third quarter

Both teams emptied their benches and brought on subs

Over the closing 11 minutes, Kilkenny scored 6 points through Miriam Walsh (1), Aoife Doyle (1), Michelle Quilty (3, 1 45’, 2 f) and Steffi Fitzgerald (1) and Westmeath scored 2 points through Emma Flynn and Pamela Greville to leave the full time score Kilkenny 4-21 to Westmeath 1-7

Next up is the Leinster Final against Offaly on Sunday 2^nd June in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise @ 4pm

Kilkenny will be going for a three in a row against the same opponents

Kilkenny Scorers – Anne Dalton (2-3), Katie Power (2-2), Michelle Quilty (0-5, 4f), Aoife Doyle (0-4), Denise Gaule (0-3, 1f), Miriam Walsh (0-3), Steffi Fitzgerald (0-1)

Westmeath Scorers – Megan Dowdall (1-1), Mairead McCormack (0-2, 2f), Sheila McGrath, Michelle Murtagh, Ava Balfe, Emma Flynn (0-1 each)

Kilkenny – Aoife Norris, Colette Dormer, Catherine Foley, Edwina Keane, Kellyanne Doyle, Claire Phelan, Grace Walsh, Denise Gaule, Anna Farrell (C), Aoife Doyle, Anne Dalton, Katie Power, Michelle Quilty, Miriam Walsh, Danielle Morrissey

Subs – Michelle Teehan for Colette Dormer, Niamh Deely for Anne Dalton, Grace O’Donnell for Danielle Morrissey, Steffi Fitzgerald for Katie Power, Mary O’Connell for Claire Phelan, Emma Kavanagh, Meg Farrell, Michaela Kenneally, Davin Tobin, Edel Coonan, Katie Brennan, Miriam Bambrick, Eva Hynes, Aine Phelan

Westmeath – Fiona Keating, Sandra McGrath, Sarah King, Laura Doherty, Aoife Higgins, Fiona Leavy, Niamh Horan, Meabh Scally, Megan Dowdall, Michelle Murtagh, Sheila McGrath, Sinead McKenna, Mairead McCormack (C), Pamela Greville, Caoimhe McRossan

Subs – Aoife Doherty for Meabh Scally, Ava Balfe for Sinead McKenna, Aoife O’Malley for Aoife Higgins, Aisling Egerton for Caoimhe McRossan, Emma Flynn for Mairead McCormack, Anna Weir, Emma Broughan, Joanne McCormack, Roisin Scally, Shauna McGrath, Aideen Dermody, Amy Cully, Caoimhe Gaffney, Edel Conaty, Hannah Core, Jade McKeogh, Jane Nangle, Katie Coleman, Muireann Scally, Olivia Glynn