St.Mochtas 3-06 St.Fechins 1-08
St. Mochtas clinched a place in the last four of the Louth LGFA senior football champioship after a hard earned win over St.Fechins in Beaulieu on Sunday last.
Nadine Muckian had the the games first score in the eight minute with a cracking goal but the home side were soon level with an equally fine goal as Rachel Kinch’s superb shot nestled in the corner of the net. The louth village side added a further 1-3 without reply before the water break. Fechins were much better after the short stopage and hit four unanswered points from Catherine McGlew, Erin McDonagh and Shayleen McDonagh, The home side were level shortly after the break courtesy of McGlew and Shayleen McDonagh points but a strong Mochtas finish ensured the win.
Mochta’s goal scorer Laura McDonnell is happy to have secured a top two finish; “I’m delighted we’re through to the semi-finals. The Fechin’s are a great team. It was a tough match but we ploughed on and secured the win. When the final whistle sounded, you could fell the buzz of excitement on the pitch. Most of us did’nt expect to be playing football this year given the circumstances, but now we’re going into this week preparing for two semi-finals.
“The Mochta’s have been thereabouts for the last few year’s. Our aim at the start of the year was to win a championship medal and that has’nt changed. We’ve trained hard and thankfully our hard work has paid off so far. There is amazing talent in our team and you can definitely see the drive in everyone over the past few weeks. When you are this close, you know you have to push forward and I’ve no doubt that we have it in us now. The goal now though is the semi-final in two weeks and then we will go from there” concluded the Mochtas star.
Despite the defeat Fechin’s defender Orla Brennan feels the season is far from over; “Today we felt we had a lot to prove as a team and to the other team’s in the Senior that we deserve to be here. From the first whistle unlike other days, we tuned in and in gear. At half time we knew we were still in it, one point down and team morale still high. The third quarter was promising although the pressure got to us with a late Mochta goal leaving us four points behind. As a team we look forward to the League semi-finals with a chance to finish the season on a high and prove to ourselves we deserve to be he here”.
St. Mochtas; Niamh Kirk, Laura McDonnell, Dearbhla O’Connor ,Kayleigh Hoey Lauren Kieran, Sarah Englishby Caitlin Curley, Eimear Byrne (0-1) Aoife Byrne (0-1) Ciara Callan, Laura Kieran Emma Quinn 0-3, Roisin Curley 0-1,Katie Rafferty (1-00)
Nadine Muckian- (1-00) Subs used; Shauna Lennon, Leah Farrell, Kayla Byrne, Christine Carolan, Kate Englishby
St.Fechins; Mia Savage, Orla Brennan, Jenny Mulrey, Lynn Savage, Erin McDonagh, Rachel Beirth, Rachel Kinch, Roisin Kavanagh, Sara Moore, Hayley McDonell, Rebecca Howell, Shayleen McDonagh, Catherine McGlew, Louise McCullough
Report by Dermot Woods
