Wexford Too Classy for Intermediates in League Quarter Final

Littlewoods Ireland Division 2 Quarter Final

Wexford 1-13
Kilkenny 1-5

By Martin Quilty

Wexford hosted Kilkenny in the Division 2 League Quarter Final on Sunday last in sun drenched Glynn Barntown.

The hosts came into the game with a 100% record having won their five league games but due to coming out of the draw last they were placed in the quarter final where they were drawn against Kilkenny who came into the quarter final having only been defeated by Waterford in the group stages. It was the hosts who started the brightest with a point from Joanne Dillon to ease the hosts into the game, this was quickly followed up with a point from Jacqui Quigley who was a late change to the starting line up.

Kilkenny couldn’t get into the game in the early stages and things got worse for the visitors when full forward Mags Byrne latched onto a ball and ran twenty metres before drilling a low shot passed Sinead Farrell in the Kilkenny goal and Anais Curran was there to make things even worse for the kittens after seven minutes when she picked up a ball that was batted out by Farrell and she slotted the ball over the crossbar. Wexford were now 1-3 to 0-0 ahead, Kilkenny could not get onto any ball and Wexford were dominant in almost every position on the park and things looked ominous for the visitors at that stage. Kilkenny then started to get a bit of possession; they had their first score on the board after 10 minutes when Asha McHardy got a point from a free.

The kittens would add three further points, Shauna Treacy and Hannah Scott from play and another Asha McHardy free saw the visitors trail at the break by only two points 1-3 to 0-4. Wexford showed their class in the second half though and where Kilkenny could have done with a brilliant start it was the yellowbellies who got it. Two points from Anais Curran who was immense all day and Amy Cardiff who had made a run from her wing back position and found herself in the full forward line and picked up possession to slot over a truly magnificent point.

Wexford were fluent throughout the game and it really came to the fore in the second half. Asha McHardy who had an excellent game for Kilkenny got Kilkenny’s first score of the second half with a free directly on the sideline, it was a magnificent score from the Boro native. This then forced Wexford to push on again and they ran in a sequence of six unanswered points. Leah Walsh (2), Anais Curran (3, 1f) and Jacqui Quigley gave Wexford a sight of the finish line with 57 minutes on the clock.

Kilkenny did fight to the end, their character was never questioned and they did battle and they didn’t give up and they were rewarded on 58 minutes when a shot for goal was batted out by Wexford goalie Aoife Mahon and Hannah Scott was on hand to rifle an unstoppable shot to the back of the net, in reality it was just a consolation score but it was a score they deserved. Wexford completed the scoring with an injury time point from Leah Walsh to leave the final score Wexford 1-13 Kilkenny 1-5. Wexford would have had aspirations of winning the Division 2 title this year and with a performance like that last Sunday they will go a long way to achieving that. For Kilkenny they were under no illusions coming into the game that it was going to be a tough one, and it gives John Scott and his management team a lot to work on for the Leinster Championship and the All-Ireland series.

Kilkenny did have some exceptional performances from Rosin Phelan and Sinead O Keeffe in the backs, and Asha McHardy, Hannah Scott and Shauna Treacy up front showed well also.

Teams and Scorers

Wexford: Anais Curran 0-6 (3f), Mag Byrne 1-0, Leah Walsh 0-3, Jacqui Quigley 0-2, Linda Bolger, Amy Cardiff 0-1 each

Kilkenny: Hannah Scott 1-1, Asha McHardy 0-3, Shauna Treacy 0-1

Wexford: Aoife Mahon, Sarah Harding Kenny, Louise O’Leary, Maeve Sinnott, Amy Cardiff, Michelle Martin, Emma Walsh, Linda Bolger, Sarah O’Connor, Anais Curran, Ciara O’Connor, Jacqui Quigley, Joanne Dillon, Mag Byrne, Aoife Guiney.

Kilkenny: Sinead Farrell, Jane Cass, Roisin Phelan, Aideen O’Connor, Sinead O’Keeffe, Ciara Murphy, Claire Nolan, Jenny Leahy, Aisling Curtis, Laura Hegarty, Hannah Scott, Carlise Comerford, Danielle Quigley, Shauna Treacy, Asha McHardy

Subs: Aine Phelan, Tara Ronan

Referee: Ray Kelly (Kildare)